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Information Processing Theory and Approach

Oct 29, 2023

Are you aware of the complex neural-psychological process that governs how your students (or almost anyone) develop new ideas as well as information? This is what the information processing theory tries to clarify. It examines the complicated procedure of recording, watching and analyzing information within our brains. Then, taking it back when needed.

Find out more about the idea and how you can utilize it in the creation of online courses that can help your students. Let's begin by giving a brief overview of how the whole thing began.

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     Brief history of Information Processing Theory    

In the 1950s, scientists recognized that computers might be the most important clue in understanding how our brains function. George Armitage Miller and Edward C. Tolman developed the fundamentals of the way we use short term memory and the capability to acquire knowledge. Based on this fundamental framework, two popular models of the theory of information processing came into existence The Atkinson and Shiffrin Model and the Baddeley and Hitch Model of Working Memory.

The Atkinson and Shiffrin Model discusses the different phases involved in processing information. These include sensorimotor memory and short-term memory (working memory) in addition to long-term memory. It stresses the importance of attention as well as complex rehearsal patterns that contribute towards the storage of data in long-term memory. The Baddeley and Hitch Model of Working Memory is a further expansion of these theories, and describes how language processing works along with spatial patterns.

Are you overwhelmed with the terminology of psychology? Don't worry! We've combined the top of these theories to provide you with the information needed to understand how we humans process information. Start by looking at how we manage information in daily situations, as well as examining these steps in greater detail.

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     The basic concepts of Information Processing Theory    

As a creator educator, it is extremely beneficial to understand the fundamentals of data processing.

Let's take an example:

If you're on a crowded street and you get exposed to a myriad of noises, sights and odors. People may rub you shoulders when you're not careful enough and find yourself in the middle of large crowds. To escape this chaos and noise, you decide to visit a location that where you can be peaceful and tranquil. It is also a good idea to remember that they offer the best coffee and croissants in the town.

This is information processing theory working actually in the real world. Let's see how:

  1. There are many sensations you feel (people moving about, someone rubbing your shoulder, or a vehicle moving at a high speed or the speed of a car or by, etc. - sensation. It could refer to an external input, or even information)
  2. It appears as being crowded (perception is how our perceptions are interpreted).
  3. Based on your previous experiences (long long term episodic memories) You associate the particular circumstance with feeling uneasy and unsafe (being to be pushed about by a past association)
  4. So, you remember an area that previously offered you the comfort you needed (another chain of connections results in retrieving details about the peaceful cafe along with its pastries and croissants - which is a semantic memory).
  5. It is your memory that you act upon then walk toward the café (judging/analyzing before taking the final decision. The walk to the cafe is a procedure memory).

First, you sense your environment

Humans are able to receive information commonly referred to as "stimulus" through the five senses: touch, smell, vision, auditory (hearing) and tasting. The sixth sense relates to the body's position along with movement. To balance the vestibular sense is there.

The sense organs, as well as their sense organs

  • Vision - Eyes
  • Audio - Ears
  • Touch skin
  • Taste - Tongue
  • The smell - nose
  • Vestibular sense. Ears and various parts of the nervous system.

If your sense organs transform the real world information into electrical signals and your brain process them and interprets them as data that you recognize on the conscious degree. The interpretation of what you see occurs due to previous associations (similar information that is stored inside your brain which are able to recall and make connections).

Note for creators If you do not incorporate the use of virtual or augmented reality in the content of your lessons You will mostly use inputs (stimuli) that relate to the visual (reading text or viewing video) as well as music (voice or background music).

     Perception is a result of sensing.

Every organ of sense reacts to different stimuli in the external environment and converts these signals into electrical signals, which are interpreted by different areas of the brain. The process of sensing takes place inside the organs responsible for sensing, while perception takes place within the brain. People with a variety of perceptual abilities or difficulty learning might be difficult to comprehend facts quickly.

For creators: If you plan to design your contents in a manner which is accessible for people with disabilities, it is advised to take into consideration accessibility principles in design. Some examples of accessible design are making sure that words are not placed in an uneven way or breaking long paragraphs down into shorter paragraphs and ensuring there's sufficient white space.

HTML0 If the information that is perceived has been processed (encoded) the information is transferred into memory.

Memory is a vast concept that encompasses a range of various cognitive aspects. The process begins by storing information for a specified period of duration (sensory or working memory) before it is transferred to long-term storage through consolidating (encoding).

Sensory memories last between half a second to three seconds. If you do not pay attention to the feeling and do not be aware of it, you'll never develop short-term memory. Scientists have discovered that short-term memory holds around seven items of information over a period of 15 to 30 minutes. When you practice it then your brain will be capable of storing this information until it is degraded or is lost.

When you practice, your brain executes a procedure known as Encoding. This causes the information to be transferred to long-term memory. Once it's stored in long-term memory, it's possible to access information at any time provided you don't let it fade or expose it to interference. Memory that is long-term may be a result of reminiscing about what you saw in the past couple of minutes, or even things that took place some time agofrom the days that you were a child.

Note to the designers of your work Rehearsal is typically used to facilitate rote learning in educational situations. But, we know that the majority of students are averse to rote learning to be a natural thing, and that's why it's not a good approach to learn complex ideas or complex information.

The various kinds of memory which are lasting are:

  1. The term "explicit memory" refers to the fact that it is accessible to you in conscious awareness. If you are being asked by someone to name the capital city of Great Britain is, you are able to declare it is London. So explicit memories may also be referred to as declarative memory. Declarative memory is further broken into
  • The memory of a single event recalls events or specific occasions that took place during your lifetime. As an example, a visit to the home of a family friend in your childhood
  • Memory that is semantic - the ability to remember things you've learned about the world, such as when declaration of World War 2 (September 1 1939).
  1. Implicit memory is stored in your mind for the long term However, it can also be related to your performance, movement. Examples include swimming ability and remembering to drive a vehicle after a long gap, as well as any of the other.

 Attention makes memory last for longer as well as helps you to learn more effectively.

Although our sense organs take in many kinds of information, they do not register in our minds unless you take note of these. They just get stored as "sensory memories," after a perception. They only last few seconds (between half a second to three seconds).

Focusing your attention on a specific stimulus when there are no other stimuli. For instance, you enter the cafe of your choice and select the croissant that you are looking for even though there are other things that are available.

Recalling the instance of the busy street your brain might have noticed the existence of a variety of people. But, it is possible that you have not paid attention enough to be able to recognize the faces of these people. The particulars of the faces of each individual has deteriorated until eventually it's gone for good.

     Where does it all take place inside the brain?    

As a creator educator, you could be wondering how all the data you give to your students will be processed in their brains. Baddeley as well as the Hitch Model of Working Memory provides a clear answer.

The frontal lobe (a area within the brain) is the brain's processor which encodes data and is later retrieved. The various kinds of memories are stored in different parts of the brain. According to Hitch and Baddeley:

  • Audio information (information which is presented in the form of sounds usually referred to as language, music, or other kinds of sound) can be recorded using the loop of phonological.
  • The Phonological Loop is comprised of phonological memory, in which data is kept for a short period of time, as well as the articulatory process in which the brain practice auditory data to store over a longer time.
  • Visuospatial sketchpad is the area of the brain that stores spatial and visual information, like shapes, patterns, photographs, and the like.
  • Episodic buffer is thought to improve the capability that the brain has to encode, store, and retrieve information through the connection of different brain regions, which aids in processing information.

Now let's take what we've learned in the field of information processing for online learning.

     Your students should focus on your course's online content    

If you're preparing or creating modules, think of your project in this way. If you do not create your slides or videos attractive enough, students are likely to ignore them and move onto the next. The students take a look at the slideshow (sensation takes place) however they do not take in it for the amount of time needed to retain it within their memory for short periods of time. They are left to work on until they are able to store it in long-term memory storage, then disappears from their sensorimotor memory. So, ensuring that they are attentive is most crucial.

Consider that your child might be distracted, daydreaming from your work. These factors can hinder the ability of students to concentrate on content that must be absorbed and stored in long-term memory. So, ensuring that you create material that holds your students' attention is vitally important.

What can you accomplish:

  • Urge them to have a break each 10 to 15 minutes. Research shows that attention spans decrease within 15 minutes.
  • Thus, you must design your lessons to be separated into parts with a duration of 15 minutes or shorter. It is not necessary to make videos or lessons that last just ten minutes. Instead, it is better to provide your students with small exercises, games or relaxing time.
  • Create more engaging online learning environments for learning. The reasons will be discussed in the future.

     Basic information processing strategies which can help students remember better.    

Once information is stored in your short-term memory area of the brain, and not accessed, it could be transferred to your long-term memory or deleted. Practice and repetition is the key to keeping the data for a long period of duration in the long-term memory. It is therefore essential to create plan of instruction so that the students get ample time to practice and revisit the information that is stored within their brains. It's crucial to complete this within thirty minutes. Also, after the completion of each lesson that takes only a brief period of time, you should ask your students to go back, practice and rehearse. This helps to ensure that what they've processed is retained for the long term in memory.

When something is saved in the long-term memory of your brain, it is able to be read when you are prompted. Retrieving memory is contingent on the amount of enthusiasm with which the student was taught something (were enough attentive, did they find the subject matter seem interesting and relevant, etc. ).

The earlier explanation of learning that it generally is a result of the way we view information and the way we connect it with what we already know and the necessity to keep an eye on the information.

It's not all that easy?

     Limitations of Information Processing Theory in online learning    

Human beings aren't computerized systems. Although drawing analogies between the brains of a person and computers may be appealing but they're quite different. Information Processing Theory doesn't discuss the significance of motivational emotions when it comes to how we process the world and recall information. Both are crucial in remembering and learning what's taught.

It is believed that the brain processes information in a linear fashion -- information is interpreted, sensed and then stored. It is processed (encoded) then stored and finally recovered. This is known as serial processing. It is the function computers do.

However, the brain may be able to process information simultaneously, which means that it is able to simultaneously process different types of data. Multitasking capabilities of the brain is do not correspond to the capabilities of computers. Thus, although the theory of information processing describes how we process and process and organize information, it doesn't take into account emotions and how our brain works.

Students have emotions, desires and desires that you may or might not have considered when creating your program. Therefore, it's important to realize that you are teaching human students and not computer-generated students. One of the most efficient ways to tackle this problem is to develop educational environments online that make learning fun.

This article will explore how to add motivation, emotion and social engagement to your course, making use of the theory of information processing in order to develop the best online class.

     Strategies to help information processing theory work better for online learning    

Encourage your students to be alert

What can one do to become a student even if they aren't interested in? It's crucial that they possess the motivation or desire to enroll in your program, and be motivated to complete.

Students' motivation drives them to be attentive to the material in your class, which results improved processing of information (encoding) as well as superior abilities to retrieve data. In other words, if your student doesn't have the motivation to study, the most effective course may not be registered to their brains.

The role of motivation is essential in processing information as well. The ability to process information is dependent on outside stimuli.

  • Your role as a Creator educator's job is to maintain the passion.
  • Always remember, motivation does not exist in the absence of. It is essential to feel valued as well as receive constructive feedback, and be socially accepted so that they feel inspired to continue doing what they are good at. Do you remember your buddies encouraging you when you were feeling down or wanted to become better at some thing? This applies to the process of learning too.

The motivational and interpersonal factors are interconnected. This is the next step in understanding how this can be portrayed within the theory of social information processing.

Encourage social interaction during learning

While individual training can be effective learning is more effective when working in groups. That's why traditional learning usually is conducted in classrooms or group settings because interaction with others is more entertaining (and productive).

Social Information Processing theory partly explains how humans interact with one via computers as part of an online learning platform.

Humans also learn by modeling and observation. That is mimicking the actions of others. This is where you, as the educator who created them, play the role of an actor and let the pupils mimic your behavior. Albert Bandura, a famous psychologist, discovered that the majority of learning occurs in social environments, and that it is impossible to take away "social" from our education.

This is why it is crucial to

  • Create online group activities
  • Engage students in discussions in forums and share their expertise.
  • Develop collaboration, and make social media engagement as essential elements of your course plan.
  • Utilize social media tools for sharing ideas. They are an exercise in rehearsal
  • Inspire positive feedback from their classmates (other students) to provide motivation. In order to do this, let your students assess the work of their classmates positively.

 Utilize specific cognitive techniques which are designed for achieving your objectives.

The cognitive strategies you employ generally are specifically designed for a specific task. It is important to assist your students learn about the topic in a clear manner. Some of the cognitive strategies which you could employ to online learning include note-taking, repetition, contextual understanding, as well as Mnemonics. (A Mnemonic is a method that helps you remember or retrieve information that is stored in your mind.)

For example: VIBGYOR can be an abbreviation used to describe seven different colors of the rainbow: violet blue, indigo yellow red, and orange. Apart from acronyms, other types of mnemonics can also be used like flashcards categorizing things into categories or groups, and so on. They can help your students remember what they've learned quickly.

HTML1 Facilitate high-level processing of information through strategies for metacognitive processing

Researchers have suggested the existence of something referred to as "metacognition," which means "thinking about the thought process." If you rehearse, try to recall your mistakes or use techniques that assist learners or help them recall information (such such as teaching for the intention of teaching) you are engaging in the metacognitive aspect of.

The year 1987 was the year when A.L. Brown initiated a discussion on metacognition and its role in learning. Through time, it has developed somewhat.

In the context of online courses, here are few of the most effective cognitive strategies.

  • Advanced organizers: Ask your students to look over the lesson plans you've created by sharing the calendars of class ahead of the scheduled time. It helps them foresee what to expect and to integrate the lesson plans with the resources they already know.
  • Self-planning: Help your students to organize their projects, as well as the way they'll organize their work. It gives them more time to "think about the work they're doing" Metacognition.
  • Students can self-monitoring themselves: Scales to self-rate are a great way to determine which areas that your students might need help in. Make online forms that allow students to track their progress each week towards the end of every week or lesson, according to your preferences.
  • Evaluation of self can be performed at regular intervals or even after the completion of the class. Because online classes are mainly used by individuals who are motivated to learn, it is vital that they have results.

In addition to self-evaluation, associations are also a good option for students to aid them in their learning and keep track of their progress. In order to make this process more effective, it is essential to know what your students already know about. So,

  • Before you enroll someone in an educational program, evaluate the current understanding level before deciding whether they're an appropriate match.
  • If not, when you're launching the course to help novices, be sure to design the material so where students can link the course with things they're already familiar with. That means that you need to aid them through the process of learning to encode.

There may be a need to implement methods such as image, chunking and elaborate.

  • Divide your lessons into manageable pieces. Make use of engaging polls and online debates, Q&As and help for students for your students to stay engaged.
  • Instruct your students to establish relationships with their prior information by providing it in a the way that's simple to comprehend. It will allow students to use pictures to help them learn and remember.
  • Additionally, your online class should encourage students to be active in the class. This approach, also referred to as elaborate, is vital for keeping students engaged. It also helps them form associations with existing skills in order to gain new information.

Even though they all refer to cognition or metacognitive techniques but they are not a substitute for the significance of motivational, psychological, as well as theory of learning socially.

 Add social interaction and emotional reactions to add to

The majority of students enroll for the class because of being unable to take part in class for various factors. Learning online can provide a viable alternative to face-to-face learning and an increased level of participation in many cases. But, it's crucial to ensure that you keep your educational experience online vibrant and enjoyable. It is crucial to use techniques that requires interaction with others as well as emotional responses. Please note "affect" is a term used to describe the feeling.

Here's how to do it:

  • You must be able to inspire your students to gain knowledge through modelling. Inspire feelings of curiosity as well as excitement, joy, and happiness. excitement, surprise, etc. It's pretty simple to generate these feelings in the students of your class.
  • Gamification can help your students feel content and satisfied when they achieve specific levels of satisfaction.
  • Giving them badges, certificates, or other forms of positive reinforcement can help you install joy.
  • If you provide the chance to devalue the academically proficient student, it allows you to mix happiness with surprise, which makes learners more enthusiastic to continue learning.
  • Polling is a great way to create tests and games every 15 minutes to keep your students entertained and motivate them to contribute their knowledge on forums.
  • Since children are becoming more comfortable using social media sites, it makes sense to include educational activities that incorporate social media also.

     Humanize the concept of information processing, to create accessible online courses    

The concept of information processing could help in understanding how we keep and learn new information in our minds through our sense organs and our brain. Although this theory holds regarding how perception, perceptual and sensory memory work, it's not able to provide a complete explanation of social learning or the roles of motivation and emotions.

The human brain is incredibly complex and can't be reduced to how the computers work. Being teachers of creators and creators, it is crucial to preserve the students' own ideas and needs in their minds. By creating an engaging online learning area and acknowledging the limitations of human beings, you're capable of creating a program online that's successful and creates a positive impression for the students.

It provides you with a range of tools for creating educational content that is both stimulating and engaging. It allows you to create courses that are based on information processing models, yet recognizes that your students are thinking, expressing and human beings that want to interact with others while studying. It has powerful social interaction features which allow students to design group-learning courses and foster active discussion with your students.

By humanizing online learning, allows you to connect with your students through a fun and engaging way. If you'd like to learn more about the ways we can help create courses inspired by psychology, get in touch to us now.

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