Semester 96-1

EDUC 420 -

4 COGNITIVE STRATEGIES IN LEARNING

Section: E1.00

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Scheduled Final Exam: NO

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Instructor:

N. Perry

Office: 8642mpc

Tel:

291-4143

Fax: 291-3203

E-mail:

PREREQUISITE

Educ 220 & Educ 320

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Why a Course about Cognitive Strategies?

There are three main reasons why a course on cognitive strategies is one critical element in a really thorough education

about teaching and learning:

Reseach indicates that more effective learners know about and are effective users of cognitive and

metacognitive strategies that provide means for and guidance about learning.

Research also shows very clearly that teachers who command theoretical and practical knowledge

about cognitive and metacognitive strategies, and how to teach strategies, are more effective

teachers.

The Year 2000 curriculum in British Columbia advocates process-oriented instruction.

Process-oriented instruction means that, in addition to teaching school subjects, teachers are

charged with teaching methods for learning and solving problems--tactics and strategies-- that

support students in adopting an active, self-regulated approach to learning.

OBJECTIVES

We

have several goals for the students who take this course. One goal is that you learn about major, research-based

cognitive and metacognitive strategies. A second is that you learn about individual differences (such as motivation,

cognition, and metacognition) and instructional methods (such as direct explanation and scaffolded instruction)that

influence whether and how well students use strategies. Finally, we intend that you will begin to develop simple means

for assessing when and how well students use strategies, and for evaluation programs that claim to offer effective

instruction in strategies.

REQUIREMENTS

Grades for the course will be based on the following assignments:

a)

course journal (30%) - journal entries will be guided by exercises, assigned each week, designed

to foster understandings of information presented in the course. These will be collected

three times during the semester.

b)

term project (45%) - this assignment provides students with opportunities to synthesize and apply

information learned in the course by designing a unit of strategy instruction.

c)

final exam (25%) - this exam will survey key concepts presented in the course.

READINGS Cognitive Strategies in Learning: Course Reader. Available in the Bookstore.

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