Blog: Evaluating and Identifying Online Resources

My daughter was studying for her AP Calculus final exams when she suddenly had a meltdown insisting that she does not remember anything and nothing new was going in!  Panic and stress had created a barrier, a roadblock against learning, and a type of academic amnesia.  What causes this to happen?   And how can it affect the learning process?  

Knowing how the brain processes information into new learning and the variety of conditions that can change that process can determine online and classroom instruction success. There is a plethora of resources available online. In today's article, I highlight two.

The Information Processing Theory

There is still some debate about the exact order the brain processes information.  Generally, psychologists recognize that our five senses, sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch, gather information from our environment (Lawless, 2019).   That information is processed in the brain through our working memory, where it is held for only a short time. From the working memory, only the information connected to something we had previously learned passes on to be stored in the long-term memory as new learning (Ormrod et al., 2009).   

Of course, this is a concise explanation to describe a complicated process.  Articles such as Caroline Lawless' What is Information Processing Theory?: Using it in Your Corporate Training (2019) explains in more detail the benefits of knowing this information as an Instructional Designer. Developing lessons that envelop the senses and encourage maximum memory development can increase the success of instructional programs.

Social-Emotional Learning

Knowing how the brain processes information is only one thing to consider when planning learning opportunities.  Instructional designers also must be aware of how learning can be affected by the environment and emotions.  In the Kappa Delta Pi Record journal, Judy Willis writes about how conditions such as the current pandemic can affect the learning process.  Willis (2021) states that stress, limited academic resources, and boredom can overwhelm the brain's emotional control center, the amygdala.  When this happens, the areas of the brain where "memory construction and storage" take place become inhibited, and emotional control, attention, and focus alter.

 Willis (2021) suggests that educators designed lessons to activate dopamine, a neurochemical found in the brain that affects retention, focus, and attention positively.  Strategies such as identifying objectives, providing meaningful training, and frequent feedback (Willis, 2021) can reduce the effects of stress and increase motivation.  

Conclusion

Many factors can hinder how training and lessons are received.  Instructional Designers and teachers incorporate how the brain processes information and the issues that can influence that process into their design planning in preparation for the environments and emotions of learners'.  Such planning can thwart boredom and frustration and increase motivation, focus, and retention. 

Resources:

Lawless, C. (August 6, 2019). What is information processing theory?: using it in your corporate training. LearnUpo. https://www.learnupon.com/blog/what-is-information-processing-theory/

Ormrod, J., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning theories and instruction (Laureate custom edition). New York, NY: Pearson.

Willis, J. (2021). Stepping up social–emotional learning to reignite all brains. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 57(1), 18–22. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1080/00228958.2021.1851582

Photos: https://openclipart.org/

Brain Exercising - by j4p4n - uploaded on April 6, 2021, 4:55 pm, based on a public domain image made by Tumisu

Mind Emotion Loop, by GDJ - uploaded on July 18, 2015, 2:58 am, Mind Emotion Loop from pixabay.