wk 3 blog

· 1.Summary: This chapter’s first section discussed the three kinds of attention processes-divided, three kinds of selective attention processes, and saccadic eye movements. The second section explained neuroscience research and theories relating to attention. The last topic was consciousness and how it relates to attention.

· 2.We must attend to /use the visual and auditory cues to process information. It goes hand in hand.

· 4/6Divided attention and selective attention- I see student task performance suffer when students try to divide their attention. As a teacher, I am constantly roaming, changing up the routine, trying to keep my students on their toes to hopefully keep their attention. The chapter and the article information reinforces difficulties people have with attending and what is helpful in relation to learning and visual and auditory media. On p. 70 I found the working memory information interesting. ( I suppose we will be learning about more of that in Chap. 4 )

· 5.I believe the information because I witness it in myself and others and the author validates through studies that have been performed on others/or has the reader trying out the demonstration task themselves.

· 7. Many of my students have difficulty attending to tasks but especially my struggling students. An example: If they hear a pencil drop, they have been known to run across the room to pick it up, of course disrupting their train of thought as well as many others. When the task is found to be difficult it seems that their attention is considerably weaker and thought process is even more challenged. I have a little girl in my class that is a classic example of divided-attention difficulty. I could be carrying on a private conversation with an adult/child and she is suppose working independently on her writing essay…before I know it she is pipes up with some comment (thinking she is helpful)from the back of the room. Now as I look at her writing-I see little to no work and what is completed is disjointed. Her accuracy has decreased because she was attempting to attend to two tasks. Ugh! She is such a capable student but her work quality often suffers as a result of such instances. I try to keep background noise minimized. I give clues to help them remember information or keep examples on the board for them to refer to if they are having a difficult time.

· 8. What???

Week 2-blog

1. Summary: Mayer and Clark presented the positive effects of graphics/multimedia on learning and content areas. In addition they highlighted what principles could hurt student learning.
2. This fits with concepts we have learned. Examples: Such as extraneous noise/irrelevant noise can be harmful to learners. Visuals have an influence when paired with speech.
3. I actually understand this article.
4. When working with my lower students that have little background knowledge, they struggle to acquire/retain new vocabulary. Using differently modalities helps students retain the information. Ex. Students have difficulty remembering the fact (7 X8) so I brainstormed to think of some silly way for them to remember it. I thought of how dance instructors /music instructors keep time to have their dancers or singers begin at the correct time. So I thought of clicking my fingers and singing out 5, 6, 7,8 the 56 is the answer for (7X8). If a student comes up to ask me for help with that fact my clicking of the fingers get the class calling out…5, 6, 7, 8 7 times 8 is 56.
5. I am not sure if the author offers any proof but the explanation just makes sense. I have also witnessed so much of it when working with kids.
6. This topic is important as a reminder/reinforcement of what helps students learn and what should be eliminated.
7. The article mentioned ways particular principles improve learning and ways learners are hurt by particular features…again, this reminds us of ways to help learners and what to avoid.
8. I believe this article gave good information. Our tech department is of course always promoting student use of the computer. Sometimes having the students use the computer, let’s say to create a web that they would use for writing or a graph for math, becomes such a hassle. Computers are slow or not always working or students have many questions-only one of me. It scares me off and I find an easier way to carry out the task.