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4. Learners Use What They Already Know and Believe to Help Them Make Sense of New Experiences

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4. Learners Use What They Already Know and Believe to Help Them Make Sense of New Experiences

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I am highly impacted by this area, because I use my prior knowledge and beliefs to consistently understand topics that are new or confusing to me. One example I can think of is in my Research Methods class. We are expected to use and interpret statistics based on APA journal articles. Although I've never interpreted the statistical evidence found in journal articles before, I've relied tremendously on the basic statistics I learned in the class PSY 111 to grasp this new concept and experience. Additionally, in working at a daycare and now at an elementary school, I've used the (very introductory) classroom management and teaching strategies I learned from Intro to Education and Working with Special Needs Students in order to better understand how to help my students. Even though I am not an education major or anywhere near a certified teacher, I've still used my prior knowledge to make sense of my new experience as a teacher's aide. These methods have definitely helped me to engage my students and gain control of the classroom setting.

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3. Learners Actively Create--Rather than Passively Absorb--Much of What They Know and Believe About the World

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3. Learners Actively Create--Rather than Passively Absorb--Much of What They Know and Believe About the World

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I am impacted by this area, because rather than passively absorbing as the textbook states, I, too, use constructivism frequently in my classes. I have always been one to read chapters ahead (or before class) so that I could have a basic understanding going into the lecture for the day. I especially do this with classes that I am not as good at, such as when I had taken Human Genetics, Biopsychology, and From Telescope to Microscope last year. Although reading beforehand doesn't allow for me to immediately get the teacher's lectures and instruction, I feel that constructing information to a general understanding will help me to comprehend the information better. Many times, when I did this, I still misinterpreted a few concepts, but I had also given myself a very basic understanding, so that when class started, I wasn't feeling completely overwhelmed by the material--my individual constructivism helped me to form a basic comprehension of what would normally be difficult subjects for me.

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2. Learners Must Be Selective About What They Focus On and Learn

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2. Learners Must Be Selective About What They Focus On and Learn

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This area impacts me because I am constantly surrounded by plenty of information on a regular basis, and I need to decide what is important to focus on and what isn't, because there simply isn't enough time to focus on it all. My selectivity comes to mind with both high school and college. I remember during my senior year of high school at Souderton, we were expected to prepare our senior project entirely on our own by its due date. Different from class projects where teachers would typically accommodate some in-class time to work, I had to factor in the extra time to work on my senior project in addition to working on the assignments for my other classes and my other responsibilities like my job. This involved me having to pay extra attention to what I had to focus on in class. I made sure to listen to what was going to be on tests and final exams and also what readings were required, whereas before, I wasn't as conscious of my time and would study more than I probably needed to. It definitely had repercussions, because when it came time to take a quiz or test, I'd find that I'd focused on the wrong things and should have studied more on other content areas. I definitely took this idea of selectivity with me to college, where I make sure that I'm focusing solely on what I need to focus on and studying solely what I need to study. This has definitely aided me in my learning and understanding throughout college, because I seem to be better prepared for exams.

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1. Cognitive Processes Influence What is Learned

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1. Cognitive Processes Influence What is Learned

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This area greatly impacts me, because it helps me to learn what I am expected to learn and remember it over a long period of time. Without using cognitive processes, I would not be learning, because I wouldn't be interpreting or comprehending the concepts. I definitely group things in order to learn; I've done this throughout my many years of school, and I did it even with the twelve-word exercise in the book. When I noticed there were a handful that all were fruit, a handful that all were flowers, and a handful that all were tools, I stuck that to memory and rewrote them in that order. When I was taking French in high school, I would always take my vocabulary words and order them in relatable categories--I would group all the words describing food, actions, clothing, colors, etcetera, together and try to remember them in that order/category. Similarly, I remember I would do this in high school chemistry class. I would memorize the elements by two groupings: metals and nonmetals. I still use this method to this day--in my psychology classes, I group the things I have to learn and memorize by common theories, psychologists, or something else that they hold in common. Encoding by grouping is definitely my go-to cognitive process, as it has been throughout most (if not all) of my schooling. It is definitely a beneficial technique for me.