Transcript Gestalt Theory

Gestalt Theory
Gestalt Theory
Definition (useful to us): a concerte
individual and characteristic entity, existing
as something detached and having a
shape or form as one of its attributes
Simplified: the Gestalt psychology is how
people see and understand the relation of
the whole to the parts that make up that
whole.
Gestalt Theory
• Perceptual Organization
– Good figure
– Figure-ground separation
– Continuity
• Helped form basis message design
principles
• The part of a whole property is the basis of
its importance
Gestalt Theory
• Visual Literacy - what can be seen and how we interpret
what is seen.
– study the physical processes involved in visual perception
– use of technology to represent visual imagery
– develop intellectual strategies used to interpret and understand
what is seen.
• http://www.academic.marist.edu/pennings/viswhatis.htm
• http://www.csuohio.edu/history/exercise/vlehome.html
• http://www.channel1.com/users/bobwb/vlit
Cognitive Theory and Ed Tech
Theory, Practice, and Instructional
Design
• Design is how theory guides practice
• Design works through a process called
satisficing
• Degree of success
– The validity of our knowledge oeffective
instruction in a given subject domain
– The reliability of our procedures for applying
that knowledge
Theory, Practice, and Instructional
Design
• Instructional theory – (opposition) – guided by
conditions, methods, and outcomes
Ie. To teach how to form the past tense of regular English
verbs (outcome) to advanced students of English who
are familiar with all relevant grammatical terms and
concepts (conditions), present them with a written
description of the procedures to follow (method).
• Problem: designer is usually not
– Able to make such specific statements
– A subject matter specialist
– The prescription may not be valid – the test cannot account for
every case but rather infers from a sample
Theory, Practice, and Instructional
Design
• Task analysis
– Identify exactly what the student must achieve in
order to attain the instructional outcome
• Learner analysis
– Determine the most critical o the conditions under
which instruction is to take place
Instructional designers must know instructional
theory AND how to do task and learner analysis
Theory, Practice, and Instructional
Design
Why behaviorism is only a part of our whole
Behavior is not predictable
Cognitive Theory and the
Predictability of Behavior
• The theory shift has occurred, but the procedures of
instructional design have not
• Cognitives challenges to behavior
– Instructional theory is incomplete – there is not a prescription for
ever possible combination of conditions, methods, and outcomes
– Mediating cognitive variables differ in nature and effect from
individuals
• Response to stimulus varies among individuals
– Metacognition (student)
• Students monitor their own progress
• Students adjust for poor performance
– Plausible thinking
• People make decisions and take actions on basis of incomplete
information
Cognitive Theory and Ed Tech
Unlike behavioral task analysis, which produces task
hierarchies or sequences, cognitive analysis produces
either descriptions of knowledge schemata that students
are expected to construct, or descriptions of the steps
information must go through as the student processes it
or both
Cognitive approach provides descriptions of students’
mental models, not descriptions of their levels of
performance prior to instruction
Instructional strategies are selected on the basis of their
likely ability to modify schemata rather than to shape
behavior
Instructional Design
• Conceptualization and doing of instruction
must occur simultaneously
• Demand for “empty technologies” that can
be filled with anything the student or
teacher wishes
Scholarship
3 “Ages”
• Age of Instructional design
– Dominated by behavioral theories
– Decisions are driven by task analysis – we need all 3
• Age of Message design
– Shift from Instructional content to instructional formats
• Format of content affects how it is encoded in memory
structures
• Age of Environment design
– Based on cognitive theory
– Interaction leads to construction of understanding
• Virtual environments can empower educators to control this