Cognitive Theory

Cognitive teaching methods aim to assist students in assimilating new information to existing knowledge, and enabling them to make the appropriate modifications to their existing intellectual framework to accommodate that information. Thus, while cognitive teaching allow for the use of exercises in the memorization of facts, formulae, and lists, they place greater importance on strategies that help students to actively assimilate and accommodate new material.

Till that end, and to check out how teachers are trying to induce the self learning of students through cognitive theory, and if they are applying it the right way with their students an observation was done in biology class of grade 10 at the sixth hour in an official high school in Bekaa Valley.

The class room was different from other classes, where it was at the first floor, larger, has only chairs with no desks, in addition to the LCD projector. The teacher was free to choose whether to explain the lesson on board in regular class rooms or using the LCD class. The lesson was about photosynthesis and the class was designed to solve exercises to develop the students understanding. But, the exercises were not from the book. The teacher decided to take the figures and documents from the book and put his own questions that were divided into parts in a way similar to that is asked in the exams.

At the beginning, the teacher waited the students to finish their routines and get ready to pay attention to him. He talked then about what they are going to do in this class and the way they will do, where they will be supposed to discuss the question and the answers with him then he will give them time to write the answers on their note books.

They then started where he chose a student to read the exercise and claimed that they should solve using the scientific method and asked them to start proposing hypothesis based on the observation of figures only, then he asked for the explanation that leaded them to each hypothesis and at last to prove their answers based on the results of the figures and their acquired knowledge to get the best answer. Students were sharing their answers vey actively and the teacher was trying to bring them closer to the desired one by verbalizing their answers and using certain body language and various tones while explaining. Then he gave the students time to write the answers while he was walking between desks and checking their note books.

During that time, some male students were bullying and making noise by their side talks while writing the answers. They were saying bad words in their jokes, but the teacher did not let them continue their talk, separated them to the sides of the class and gave them advises that they should not talk like that because the ladies later on do not prefer men that are not respectful and gentle.

After that he chose a student and asked him to read the next exercise. When the student finished the teacher explained the exercise and asked them to predict the consequence of the experiment mentioned in the exercise. But, a student asked the teacher about how he should predict and that there is no prediction in education, which made the teacher explain for the students what he meant by prediction and the ways that they could be asked to predict. After that the teacher asked about the student answers, verbalized them for each part and emphasized the main point s reached by solving these exercises.

The teacher then wanted to check the students if they are concentrating well on the figures that he was showing them. Thus, when they finished writing he asked them to draw a figure and label it with the wards that he wrote on the board. The students denied that, but the teacher insisted and told them that it will not be directly graded, it will be part of the class work grade. In addition he should invest the five minutes left of the class. The students then tried their best and challenged their selves to remember as much as they can, dropped their papers at the teacher's desk after the bell rang and they went out of the class.

These strategies that the teacher used seemed efficient in cognitive learning where the teacher was trying to teach his students by the active learning and by making them responsible of what they are learning and deducting the information instead of giving it to them. The teacher was trying to help them to conclude the results by showing them many figures and give them hints and verbalizing their answers to insure that all understand, in addition to giving them appropriate time to think.

This way of teaching keeps the students active and in the mood of learning that include responsibility in the way of gaining knowledge and aim to assist students in assimilating new information to old one, and enabling them to make the appropriate modifications to their existing intellectual framework to relate that information.