The goal of this course is to introduce students to important theories surrounding learning, memory, cognitive processing, and motivation, especially those that are relevant to understanding achievement in educational settings. Through course activities and group projects, students consider ways to use cognitive and motivational theories to improve classroom instruction and student learning.
Topics include historical foundations of cognitive psychology and cognitive development, self-regulated learning, the three-part model of memory, neural correlates of processing, mind-body associations, reasoning, individual differences in learning, and motivation.
I often mix class lectures with short demonstrations that help illustrate cognitive theory in action.
As part of their weekly actives, students create short video entries that connect their learning experiences with cognitive theories.
There is also a final project where students have to find and present a research article related to cognition and learning.