Information Processing Theory and Approach

Do you know about the complicated brain-based procedure that is the basis of how students (or almost anyone) acquires new concepts and knowledge? This is the issue that the theory of information processing aims to explain. The theory explains the complex method of recording, observing and processing information in our brains and returning it when needed.

Learn more about theory and methods to implement it into online classes that will aid your students. Let's take a short overview of where the whole thing began.

Skip ahead:

•       An overview of Information Processing Theory
•       Concepts at the heart of Information Processing Theory
•       What does it mean? It happens inside the brain?
•       Your students should be focusing on online content in your class
•       Information processing basics that will help students learn better.
•       A Limitation of Information Processing Theory in online learning
•       Strategies for making information processing theory work better to facilitate online learning
•       Humanize the theory of data processing and create relevant online courses

     Brief history of Information Processing Theory    

Back in the 1950s, researchers discovered that computers are essential to comprehending how our minds work. George Armitage Miller and Edward C. Tolman created the foundations of how we work with short-term memory and can discover things. On the basis of this concept, two well-known theories of theory of information processing arose - The Atkinson and Shiffrin Model and the Baddeley and Hitch Model of Working Memory.

The Atkinson and Shiffrin Model discusses the three stages of processing information. They includes sensorimotor memories and short-term memory (working memory) and long-term memory. The focus is on the significance of concentration and the intricate rehearsal patterns that contribute to information being stored in the long-term memory. The model is based on The Baddeley and Hitch Model of Working Memory is based on these ideas and describes the processes involved in processing language and spatial patterns.

Are you confused by the jargon of psychology? Don't worry! We've combined elements of all these theories in order to help you understand how we humans process information. Explore how human beings make use of information in solving everyday problems, and examining each of these processes more in depth.

     The most fundamental ideas in Information Processing Theory    

As an educator of creators, it's vitally important to know the facets of information processing.

Let's do that by using the following illustration

Imagine walking down an area where there is an abundance of people and being faced with an assortment of sights, sounds and smells. Some people may even rub your shoulders if unintentionally oblivious and happen to be amongst the unruly crowds. To stay clear of this agitation and noise it is suggested that you visit a place which you know will be quiet and tranquil. It is also a good suggestion to be aware that they have the best breakfast and coffee in the area of town.

This is the theory of information processing working in the real world. We'll see:

1. It is possible to feel various stimulations (people moving around, someone touching your shoulder, a automobile speeding by, and on. - sensation. It could refer to an external input or information)
2. The area you are looking at is interpreted as being overcrowded (perception is the method we interpret the information we sensed).
3. Based on your previous experiences (long memories of time) This situation is thought with being unpleasant and potentially hazardous (being in a position of being bullied or having a past connection)
4. Then, you recall an area which once provided the comfort you needed (another chain of memories results in retrieving details about the café's peaceful atmosphere and croissants, which is a form that is a form of memory in the sense).
5. The memory activates and then take a walk toward the cafe (judging/analyzing and making a decision. Walking towards a cafe may be an example of the procedural memory).

First, you sense your environment

Humans are able to receive information also referred to as "stimulus" through five senses: smell, touch, vision, auditory (hearing) and tasting. The sixth sense is related to the body's posture, as well as movements and balance the vestibular sense exists.

senses and the related sense organs

• Vision Eyes
• Audio - Ears
• Touch Skin
• Taste - Tongue
• Aroma - Nose
• Vestibular sense: Ears and other components of the nervous system.

When your sense organs convert actual world data into electrical signals, and then your brain interpret them these signals into data that you recognise in a conscious way. What you perceive is influenced by previous connections (similar data that's saved in your brain that can be recalled and draw connections).

If you are a creator, and as long as you do not incorporate VR or AR into your lesson content, you will primarily use inputs (stimuli) that are related to both visual (reading texts and watching videos) and audio (voice as background music).

     Perception is a result of sensing.

Every one of the sense organs responds to various stimuli in the environment around them and transform their signals into electrical signals that are recognized by various areas of the brain. The processes of sensing take place within the organs that sense and perception is carried out in the brain. Individuals with different perception and disordered learning might have difficulty absorbing the information in a timely manner.

Writers: If you're planning to make your lesson content accessible to people with disabilities, it's a good idea to consider accessible design practices. Some examples of accessible design include making sure that words are spaced evenly and breaking lengthy paragraphs into shorter paragraphs and making sure there is enough white space.

The information perceived is processed (encoded), it enters memory.

Memory is an umbrella concept that encompasses a range of different aspects of cognitive function. It starts by storing the information for a period of time (sensory and also working memory) before transferring it to long-term storage by consolidating (encoding).

Sensory memory lasts between two and three minutes. If you don't pay attention to the sensation and are unable to be aware of it, you'll not ever develop short-term memory. Research has found that short-term memory holds approximately seven pieces of information for a span of between 15 and 30 minutes. With practice, the brain will be able to store this information until it becomes less useful or vanishes.

If you are practicing the art of encoding, your brain undergoes a process referred to as encoding, which leads to the data being transferred to long-term memory. After being transferred to long-term storage and you are able to access the information at any time so long as you don't let it go through the process of degeneration or interference. The term "long-term memory" can refer to something you saw just a moment ago, to what happened several years ago -- going back all the way to the time of childhood.

Rehearsing is a method that can be viewed to facilitate the learning process in a classroom. However, we are aware that the majority of pupils cannot understand the notion of rote-learning which is why it's not a good strategy to master complex concepts and abstract knowledge.

The various kinds of memories that are long-term include:

1. Explicate memory is the kind of memory that is available in conscious. If you are asked by someone what the capital of Great Britain is, you could answer that it's London. This is why explicit memories are also known by the term declarative memory. Declarative memory further breaks down into

• The memory of a single event memories of specific events which occurred in your life. Examples include visiting a friend's home in childhood
• Semantic memory refers to the capacity to remember things that you've learned about the world, such in the case in World War 2 (September 1 1939).

1. Implicit memory: It's kept in your long-term memory however it is linked to movement and performance. Examples of this include swimming, as well as remembering the way to drive your vehicle following an extended period or other.

Attention could help make to keep your memory longer in addition to helping you learn more quickly.

While our sense organs are able to receive a lot of information however, they do not register in our minds unless you pay attention. They're stored within "sensory memory," upon perception. They last for only some minutes (between 1 and 3 seconds).

Paying attention to a certain stimulus while surrounded by other stimuli. As an example, say you go to the cafe that you love and select the croissant you want in spite of the fact that there are numerous different options available.

When you think of the busy road you may have perceived the presence of various individuals. But, you may not have paid enough attention to remember their faces. This is why the data associated with the faces of every person has been deteriorating until it's gone forever.

     What happens to this? happen inside our brains?    

As an educator who creates the curriculum, you could be concerned about how all information you provide your students with is thought through by their brains. Baddeley along with the Hitch Model of Working Memory offers a simple solution to this.

They've explained how the frontal lobe (a part of our brain) is an encoder that stores data and is then used to retrieve it. There are different kinds of memories that are stored in diverse parts of the brain. According to Hitch:

• Audio information (information in the form of the sound, which is typically recognized as music, language or any of the other types of sounds) is stored in the loop of phonological sound.
• Phonological loop is made up of storage of phonological information, where the data is saved for a brief period of time along with the articulatory rehearsal, in which brains practice audio signals, which are stored for a longer time.
• The Visuospatial Sketch Pad is part of the brain which stores visual and spatial information including patterns, shapes, and so on.
• Episodic buffer is thought to enhance the ability of the brain to encode, store and retrieve information through the interconnection of different parts of the brain, which assist in processing information.

Now let's apply what we've learned regarding the processing of information to learn more about learning in online environments.

     Students must be aware of the instructor's online course content    

When you are designing or making modules, think of the process this way. If you fail to present your slides or video appealing enough, pupils will not be interested then move onto the next. Students take a glance at the slides or video (sensation happens) however they don't absorb the video long enough to keep it in short-term memories of their brains. You can leave them to practice it and be stored in long-term memory. It then disappears from memories of the sensory. Thus, keeping their focus is the most important thing.

You must consider possible scenarios where your student could be distracted, daydreaming or simply bored by the content you provide. All these factors interfere with the capacity of your students to pay focus on what must be learned and stored into long-term memory. So, being sure to create content that keeps the student's interest is critically important.

This is how you can accomplish:

• Make them stop between 10 and 15 minutes. Studies show that attention spans drop in the first 15 minutes.
• So, it is important to plan your classes to be split into smaller chunks, that are at least 15 minutes. It is not necessary to create videos or lessons that are only 10 minutes long. Instead, it is better to give your students little games, activities or even chillouts.
• Develop more engaging online learning environments to learn in. The reasons will be discussed in the future.

     Information processing basics that will help students to remember better.    

Once information is stored in short-term memory your brain but isn't accessible, it can transfer to the long-term memory. It could also be erased. Repetition and practice is crucial to be able to store data for longer periods of time in long-term memory. This is why it's crucial to create plan of instruction to ensure your students get plenty of time to practise and re-experience the information that is stored in their minds. It should happen within a few minutes. Thus, at the close of every lesson, which lasts a few minutes, encourage your pupils to take a break, and then take the lessons again in a rehearsal or practice. This helps to ensure that what they've learned is stored in their long-term memory.

When something is saved in your long-term memory of your brain it is able to be recovered later on, if you ask. The success of memory retrieval is dependent on the degree of excitement with which a pupil was able to absorb some information (were they observant enough, or did the subject the teacher taught engaging enough and so on. ).

The previous description of learning that it is dependent on how we perceive information as well as the way we connect it to the things we know already as well as the need to pay attention.

Is it actually that straightforward?

     Limits that are lower than average for Information Processing Theory in online learning    

Human beings aren't machines. Drawing parallels between the human brain and computers is appealing but they're not the same. Information Processing Theory doesn't discuss the role played by motivation and emotions in our ability to learn and recall information. Both are crucial in learning and retaining the knowledge we've acquired.

The idea is that the brain processes data in a linear way -- information is sensed and perceived, then processed (encoded) and then stored, and later retrieved. This is known as serial processing, which is exactly what computers can to accomplish.

However, the brain can perform parallel processing this means that it is able to simultaneously process different kinds of data. Multitasking capabilities of our brains do not correspond to what a computer can accomplish. Thus, although the theory of information processing is a precise description how we perceive, perceive, process, and save data, it doesn't take into account emotions and the method by which our brains work.

Students have emotions, desires, and motivations which may or might not realize when you design your curriculum. Therefore, it's important to recognize that you are providing instruction to human learners rather than computers. The most effective way to address this problem is by creating learning environments that are engaging.

We'll now examine ways to include motivation, emotion and social interactions in the mix. You can also leverage the theory of information processing to create the ideal online course.

     Strategies to make theoretical information processing better in online learning    

Instruct your students to be attentive

What's the benefit of learning something even if you don't like it? They must have an innate drive or motivation to register to take your class, and be motivated to finish.

Motivation drives students to concentrate on the course content which results in better information processing (encoding) as well as superior capabilities for retrieving information. If your student isn't motivated, the drive to study that course, it will not register in their brain.

Motivation plays a vital role in the processing of information. It is crucial to adapt to the external environment.

• The job of a teacher creator is to sustain your students' enthusiasm.
• It is important to realize that motivation does not exist in a vacuum. It's important that you feel respected in addition to receiving constructive feedback as well as feel accepted by others so that you feel encouraged to continue doing what you are doing. Did you recall your buddies who encouraged you to try something when you were feeling low or needed to improve at certain things? The same is true for the learning process too.

Interpersonal and motivational relationships are inextricably linked. We will examine how this is played out in the social information processing theory.

Encourage social interaction during learning

Despite the fact that one-to-one training can be effective, students are more successful learning in the context of a group. This is the reason why conventional education is typically conducted in classes or group settings since learning with others is more enjoyable (and efficient).

Social information processing theorem partially explains how people interact with one via computers as the online learning platform.

Humans learn through modeling or observation, which means being imitators of how other people behave. This is where you, the creator educator take on the position of a character model, and pupils mimic your behavior. Albert Bandura, a famous psychologist, noted that the majority of learning happens in social settings and we can't take away "social" elements of the process of learning.

With this thought in mind It is vital to

• Create online group activities
• Students should be encouraged to engage in websites, and also to impart their knowledge.
• Make collaboration and engagement with social media a key component of your curriculum.
• Make use of social networks to exchange ideas, that can be used as a type of practice
• Encourage positive feedback from peers (other students) which acts as a positive reinforcement. To do this, ask your students assess their performance in a positive way.

 Utilize specific strategies for cognitive development to reach goals

The cognitive strategies that are used in the classroom usually pertain to a particular task. So, it is important to ensure that your pupils are working in the area effectively. The cognitive strategies which you could employ in online learning include note-taking the repetition of concepts, understanding contextually, and Mnemonics. (A memory aid can be described as one which allows you to remember or access information stored in your brain)

Like: VIBGYOR is an acronym which refers to seven rainbow colors Indigo, violet, blue yellow, green and orange. Apart from acronyms, there are other sorts of mnemonics as well, such as flashcards, separating objects into categories, etc. They can help your students retain what they've learned in a short time.

Aid with high-level information processing through methods of metacognitive analysis

Research suggests the existence of something known as "metacognition," which means "thinking about thought processes." Rehearse in rehearsal, work to remember your mistakes, or employ techniques to assist others in learning or recall (such when you teach with a purpose) You are participating in a form of metacognition.

1987 was the year in which A.L. Brown started a discussion about metacognition techniques within the framework of learning. Through the years it has changed considerably.

within the context of on-line courses. Here are some of the top metacognitive strategies

• Advance organizers: Encourage your students to think about the lesson plans you have prepared by sharing the course calendars ahead of time. It helps them think about what is in store for them and also to relate this information to what they already have.
• Self-planning: Encourage your students to consider their assignments, and how they'll structure their assignments. It gives them more time to "think about what they're learning" - metacognition.
• Self-monitoring: Student self-rating scales are an excellent way to understand what areas the students need help in. Create online forms that help students monitor their progress at the end of every lesson or week according to the timetable you prefer.
• Self-evaluation is a process that can occur frequently or following the conclusion of the class. As online classes are generally attended by self-motivated people so it's important students see the results.

As well as self-evaluation and other methods, you may utilize associations to aid students understand and keep track of the lessons they've taken. In order to increase the efficiency of this process It is crucial to know what the students have acquired. So,

• Prior to registering someone for the program, it is important to assess the level of their knowledge in order to determine if they're a good candidate for the course.
• If they're not but you're launching your course for beginners, be sure to develop your content so that students can relate what you teach to something they are already acquainted with. This means that you must aid them through the process of decoding.

There could be a requirement to utilize methods like image, chunking, and elaborate.

• Separate your courses in smaller sections with interesting questions and discussions, online forums, and Q&As along with peer-support, to keep your students engaged.
• Instruct your students to make associations with their previous experiences by teaching material in a way that's simple to understand. This helps with using imagery for learning and retaining.
• In addition, the online courses is expected to require participants to be involved in the content active. This technique, sometimes referred to an elaboration, is essential for students to be engaged and form connections with their existing data to acquire new information.

Though they are all cognitive and metacognitive methods but it's impossible to avoid the significance of emotional, motivational and social theories.

Incorporate social interaction and emotion into the mix

Most students who sign up to your course because they are unable to physically attend classes because of various reasons. Learning platforms online offer alternatives to traditional learning and provide better involvement in a lot of cases. It is important to ensure that the learning engaging and fun. One of the most important factors is using socio-affective strategies, which involve the interpersonal interaction as well as emotional responses. It is important to note that "affect" refers to feelings.

Here's how you can do that:

• It is your job to inspire your students, and aid them in their learning through showing them. Create feelings of wonder, excitement, satisfaction, contentment, joy, delight, and so on. It's fairly easy to instill these types of emotions within your students.
• The game can help your students feel satisfied and happy when they achieve certain standards of satisfaction.
• The giving of certificates, badges and other types positive reinforcement could assist in bringing joy into your workplace.
• When you offer a surprise discount for students doing well, you can mix excitement with surprise. This makes learners more enthusiastic to keep learning.
• Utilize polls to design tests and games after every 15 minutes to keep the students entertained and encourage them to share the lessons they've learned through forums.
• As youngsters are more familiar to social media, it makes sense to incorporate social media in learning too.

     Humanize theory of data processing and create a resonable online courses    

The theory of information processing assists in understanding how we keep and process information that we learn by our sensory organs as well as our brain. While this theory holds regarding how perception & perception, and memory function, it is unable to describe social learning, as well as the role of emotion or motivation.

Furthermore, the human brain is very complex and cannot be reduced to how the computer operates. In your role as teachers of creators, it's important to pay attention to your students' innate needs and feelings at the forefront. Through creating a stimulating online learning experience and taking into consideration human limits, you are able to develop a successful online course which leaves an impression on students.

gives you various tools to assist you in creating courses that is social and engaging. You can create educational content that is based on data processing, while acknowledging the reality that students are thinking and expressionists that want to connect with each and learn. It has powerful social interaction instruments that make it easier for you to design classes that are grouped and facilitate lively discussions among your students.

By humanizing online education, allows you to connect to your students in the most enjoyable and interesting method. If you'd like to learn more about the ways it could aid you in developing courses that are based on psychological science, contact us today.

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