Metacognitive theory considers learning as the result of the activation of several conscious processes. Our project aimed to support reading comprehension and meaningful learning by the use of conceptual maps, to investigate the processes involved in motivated learning when the children’s attention is turned to learning objectives and suitable strategies are made explicit and shared. Motivation to learn is favoured by a general strategic attitude towards learning, by perseverance in reaching goals in general and learning objectives in particular. When the goal is the accomplishment of a task, it is important that the goal of the the task is clearly defined, desirable, and desired by the pupils themselves. Several strategies can be used to support the child in identifying and organising the necessary steps for reaching the given goal (goal setting): the graphic organizers such as the lines of time, the diagrams of Venn, those of flow. Among these, there are the conceptual maps (Novak, 2001; Novak, Gowin, 1989, Guastavigna, 2000). Ausubel’s (1968) theory stretches along this perspective when he claims that cognitive learning not only refers to the acquisition and usage of knowledge, but also entails emotional learning. This assumption means that an important interaction exists between information coming from internal signals and cognitive learning – an interaction that has been highlighted also by recent studies in neuropsychology (Nelson, Luciana, 2001). The conceptual maps are well-known and used as strategies of elaboration of the information in the learning processes. They help the teachers but also the students to represent in a visual way their knowledge and their points of view, furthermore conceptual maps are useful to recognize and represent the relations between the concepts. Meaningful learning (Jonassen, 1999) is the result of the integration of new pieces of information and pre-existing ones. When meaningful learning takes place, new data are inserted into existing knowledge and extend the previous knowledge through integration and elaboration processes. In this framework, meaningful learning takes place only when a potentially meaningful material is integrated and re-organized into previously acquired knowledge. Our project inserted the creation and use of conceptual maps into this theoretical background using the computer and Addizionario, a software that presents many of the characteristics advocated by Atkinson et al. (1972), and so the new knowledge is supported by intentional learning. A further interesting issue is the possibility to train subjects in the use of strategies: in this work, conceptual maps created with Addizionario were used as strategies to facilitate learning (Cornoldi, 1995). The final results and the comparison between initial and final tests allowed us to observe the development of some processes involved in the learning and the acquisition of a greater competence, also by qualitative evaluations. Furthermore we observed the development in the ability to make explicit, also in the reasoning processes, every single conceptual passage. Finally, a greater self-monitoring capacity has been observed in the progressive re-elaboration of the knowledge. We think that the active elaboration of the material was always important to consolidate, due to the proposed exercises, not only one’s major expertise, but also a more correct capacity to select and identify the aims, identifying at the same time the most correct strategies to obtain the wished results.

Conceptual Maps And Computer Lab: Learning, Cognition and Metacognition

ZANETTI, MARIA ASSUNTA;MIAZZA, DANIELA;PAZZAGLIA, ROBERTO
2008-01-01

Abstract

Metacognitive theory considers learning as the result of the activation of several conscious processes. Our project aimed to support reading comprehension and meaningful learning by the use of conceptual maps, to investigate the processes involved in motivated learning when the children’s attention is turned to learning objectives and suitable strategies are made explicit and shared. Motivation to learn is favoured by a general strategic attitude towards learning, by perseverance in reaching goals in general and learning objectives in particular. When the goal is the accomplishment of a task, it is important that the goal of the the task is clearly defined, desirable, and desired by the pupils themselves. Several strategies can be used to support the child in identifying and organising the necessary steps for reaching the given goal (goal setting): the graphic organizers such as the lines of time, the diagrams of Venn, those of flow. Among these, there are the conceptual maps (Novak, 2001; Novak, Gowin, 1989, Guastavigna, 2000). Ausubel’s (1968) theory stretches along this perspective when he claims that cognitive learning not only refers to the acquisition and usage of knowledge, but also entails emotional learning. This assumption means that an important interaction exists between information coming from internal signals and cognitive learning – an interaction that has been highlighted also by recent studies in neuropsychology (Nelson, Luciana, 2001). The conceptual maps are well-known and used as strategies of elaboration of the information in the learning processes. They help the teachers but also the students to represent in a visual way their knowledge and their points of view, furthermore conceptual maps are useful to recognize and represent the relations between the concepts. Meaningful learning (Jonassen, 1999) is the result of the integration of new pieces of information and pre-existing ones. When meaningful learning takes place, new data are inserted into existing knowledge and extend the previous knowledge through integration and elaboration processes. In this framework, meaningful learning takes place only when a potentially meaningful material is integrated and re-organized into previously acquired knowledge. Our project inserted the creation and use of conceptual maps into this theoretical background using the computer and Addizionario, a software that presents many of the characteristics advocated by Atkinson et al. (1972), and so the new knowledge is supported by intentional learning. A further interesting issue is the possibility to train subjects in the use of strategies: in this work, conceptual maps created with Addizionario were used as strategies to facilitate learning (Cornoldi, 1995). The final results and the comparison between initial and final tests allowed us to observe the development of some processes involved in the learning and the acquisition of a greater competence, also by qualitative evaluations. Furthermore we observed the development in the ability to make explicit, also in the reasoning processes, every single conceptual passage. Finally, a greater self-monitoring capacity has been observed in the progressive re-elaboration of the knowledge. We think that the active elaboration of the material was always important to consolidate, due to the proposed exercises, not only one’s major expertise, but also a more correct capacity to select and identify the aims, identifying at the same time the most correct strategies to obtain the wished results.
2008
01639676
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11571/140577
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