Families of teaching- learning models



Families of teaching- learning models

The information-processing family of models

The main components related to the model

The introduction of new information to the students or learners is collected, processed and then stored in their memories just like a computer. It has been observed from the researches of several cognitive psychologists that this information processing is not away from the description of the truth while explaining the structures incorporated in the mental operations of the learners. The theory and model of information processing is one of the most important and significant theories in psychology that concisely describes the process of learning. Cognitive psychologists describe the process of learning as a difference that takes place in the mental structure of the person which led towards the creation of capacity within them. This capacity intends to demonstrate the varying behaviors in the person (Eggen & Kauchack, 2007).

The main components related to the information processing family of models include sensory memory, working memory and long term memory as primary components of the model.

Sensory memory processing is the process in which the information coming from sensory memory for each interval of the time. The usual period for the processing of the information through sensory memory is around half to three seconds. The retention time period of the information in the sensory memory is around 5 to 7 seconds based upon the amount of information and some other elements such as the pictorial representation of the faces of humans or the alphabets or letters that are easily recognized by the learners. For example, if a person is presented with ten letters or alphabets continuously for a second only then it is not possible that the learner will remembers all ten of them rather he or she will remember only 5 to 7 letters that were being presented in front of them.

Working memory is the second most important component of the sensory memory in which the stimuli is entered into the sensory memory which is then forward to the working memory for processing or it can also be deleted from the whole system if the ability or intention of retention is lower in the learner. The working memory serves as the place in which the temporary information is retained and the information is also assigned some meaning. The information is linked to the subsequent information in the working memory and the important mental operations also take place in the working memory such as the performance of inference from the information (Shah & Miyake, 1999).

The third primary component of the information processing model is the long term memory which is different for sensory memory and working memory. The ability of long term memory is not influenced by the time limit or the capacity of the memory such as the limitation or constraints of the attention or retention. In this way, the long term memory serves as the repository place of high capacity and ability to the learner in which the learner can ...