R10

Quote:

“When people do their work only in the “interstices of their mind-wandering,” with crumbs of attention rationed out among many competing tasks, their culture may gain in information, but it will surely weaken in wisdom” (Rosen, 2008, p. 110).

The two articles assigned this week were so interesting and full of useful information I found it difficult to choose one quote to post. The last quote of the Rosen article spoke to me because I wonder if we focus on knowledge so much so that we forget the idea of wisdom. Although knowledge may be important and easier to measure, I wonder if wisdom, in terms cognitive structures and processing, would be a valuable focus of study.

Question:

“When we talk about multitasking, we are really talking about attention: the art of paying attention, the ability to shift our attention, and, more broadly, to exercise judgment about what objects are worthy of our attention” (Rosen, 2008, p. 109). This particular quote leads me again to the idea of wisdom, due to its inclusion of judgment. I wonder, “How does one really learn judgment? Can increased time and exposure lead to better judgment? If so, how could multitasking actually improve, instead of hinder its growth?”

Connections:

One specific connection I would like to make to the Kirschner, Sweller and Clark (2006) article relates to my six-year-old niece. When helping her with homework sometimes I (along with my sister) have noticed that when she does not know the answer to a problem, she attempts to guess the answer. Although it is great to see her take initiative, it is problematic because she sometimes learns the wrong way to solve a problem in the process. In these types of situations, guidance is essential. It does not seem to be beneficial for her to figure things out on her own, putting a high demand on her working memory, and leading to negative results.

This idea makes me think of an outside connection as well. This involves, errorless learning, a method introduced by Herbert Terrace which provides so much guidance to the student that errors are minimized and the likelihood of future errors is also minimized. In the Kirschner, Sweller and Clark (2006) article, they mention worked examples and process worksheets, which can be related to errorless learning. The idea here is that so many prompts are available the student has less chance to practice errors. This type of learning could be effective for novices, as the article outlines, but also for students with certain disabilities including an autism spectrum disorder.