Guided Cognition for Learning: Unsupervised Learning and the Design of Effective Homework

By William B. Whitten II, Mitchell Rabinowitz and Sandra E. Whitten

Guided Cognition for Learning: Unsupervised Learning and the Design of Effective Homework details a new instructional design approach called Guided Cognition where homework tasks are designed to guide learners to engage in specific, observable cognitive events that are hypothesized to elicit underlying theoretical cognitive processes that result in learning. Outlining the results of twenty-six experiments completed over the course of eight years, the book tells a significant story about the generality of Guided Cognition instructional design to improve comprehension and recall by students of varying ages and ability levels.

• Explains why unsupervised learning is a major part of education
• Reviews the history of homework in American education
• Shows that quality of homework is more important than quantity
• Illustrates how Guided Cognition-designed homework improves learning for literature and mathematics
• Compares Guided Cognition to other types of instructional design
• Analyzes how the surface structure of Guided Cognition tasks relate to underlying psychological processes
• Discusses the effects of the internet on learning
• Presents applications that facilitate lifelong learning
• Includes an appendix of frames and guidelines for authoring Guided Cognition questions and tasks

• Language: English
• Publisher: Academic Press
• Release date: May 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9780128175392

William B. Whitten II

William B. Whitten II earned his Ph.D. in experimental/cognitive psychology at the University of Michigan’s Human Performance Center. He has contributed broadly to human memory studies in cognitive psychology, to program management for basic psychology research in government, to human-machine interaction design in industry, and to the application of basic psychological science to the improvement of education. Dr. Whitten served on the faculties of the University of Michigan and the State University of New York at Albany, where he published basic research on human memory. He next served as the Assistant Director of Personnel and Training Research Programs at the Office of Naval Research, where he managed a nationwide, 30-location, basic research program on cognitive processes, human information processing, and computer-aided instruction. Following this, Dr. Whitten performed and managed research and development in the communications industry. During his career at Bell Laboratories and subsequently at AT&T Labs, Dr. Whitten led user-centered systems engineering and human factors design groups, including the User Experience Engineering Division and the Multimedia Applications and User Interfaces Division. At AT&T Labs, he was appointed as the first Technology Leader of User Experience Engineering. At Fordham University, Dr. Whitten was appointed as the first Distinguished Research Scholar in the Graduate School of Education, established the Center for Learning in Unsupervised Environments, and performed the research reported in this book. Dr. Whitten is a Fellow of the Psychonomic Society and of the Association for Psychological Science.

Book preview

Guided Cognition for Learning

Unsupervised Learning and the Design of Effective Homework

William B. Whitten, II, PhD

Graduate School of Education, Fordham University, New York, NY, USA

Mitchell Rabinowitz, PhD

Graduate School of Education, Fordham University, New York, NY, USA

Sandra E. Whitten, MA

Graduate School of Education, Fordham University, New York, NY, USA

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Copyright

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. The Importance of Unsupervised Individual Learning in Education

The Importance of Homework

A Brief History of Homework in American Education

The Relation of Unsupervised Individual Learning to Supervised Group Learning

The Relation of Unsupervised Individual Learning and Homework

Chapter 2. Guided Cognition: A New Approach to Designing Effective Homework

What Is Guided Cognition Design?

The Guided Cognition Experimental Paradigm

Chapter 3. Guided Cognition Effects in Learning Literature

Experiments 1 and 2: Can Guided Cognition-Designed Homework Facilitate Learning for Average- and Advanced-Ability Literature Students?

Experiments 3 and 4: Is Guided Cognition Effective When We Control Homework Study Time and When We Eliminate Teaching?

Experiment 5: Can Learning Be Predicted by Time Spent on Either Traditional or Guided Cognition Homework?

Experiments 6 and 7: Do the Benefits of Guided Cognition Persist, or Are They the Result of Novelty?

Experiments 8 and 9: Is Guided Cognition of Unsupervised Learning Effective for Younger Students?

Experiments 10 and 11: Do Process-Focused Metacognitive/Planning/Evaluative Cognitive Events Promote Learning as Do Content-Focused Cognitive Events? Which Individual Cognitive Events Are Effective for Learning During Homework? Does Immediate Experience with Guided Cognition Tasks Affect Subsequent Unguided Learning?

Conclusions of Guided Cognition Research for Literature Homework Design

Chapter 4. Guided Cognition Effects in Learning Mathematics

Experiment 12: Can Guided Cognition-Designed Homework Facilitate Learning of Basic Geometry Concepts by Middle School Mathematics Students?

Experiment 13: Can Guided Cognition-Designed Homework Facilitate Learning of Positive and Negative Integer Addition by Middle School Mathematics Students?

Experiment 14: What Specific Skills and Strategies in Mathematics Can Be Learned More Effectively as a Result of Guided Cognition Homework?

Experiment 15: How Does Guided Cognition Homework Promote Learning? Is the Gain Temporary or Is It Long Lasting?

Experiment 16: Is Guided Cognition Homework Efficient for Learning Mathematics?

Experiment 17: What Are the Long-Term Effects on Problem-Solving Ability of Trading Off Some Calculation Practice for Conceptual Thinking?

Experiment 18: Can Merely Reading Completed Examples of Cognitive Events Facilitate Learning Mathematics?

Experiment 19: Is There Very Long-Term Improvement in Problem-Solving Performance When Completed Guided Cognition Examples Were Merely Read?

Experiment 20: Is Guided Cognition Homework Beneficial for Mathematics Students of Various Ability Levels?

Experiment 21: Is the Guided Cognition Advantage Maintained Over a Very Long Time for Low- and Average-Ability Students?

Experiment 22: Is Guided Cognition More Effective as an Advance Organizer or as a Consolidator?

Conclusions of Guided Cognition Research for Mathematics Homework Design

Chapter 5. Students' Perceptions and Preferences

How to Think about Students

Dimensions of Design

The Value of Homework and Student Motivation

What Do Students Think of Guided Cognition Design?

Opinion Surveys 1 and 2: Students' Opinions of Guided Cognition Homework

Experiments 23 and 24: If Given a Choice, Will Students Choose Traditional or Guided Cognition Homework?

Experiments 25 and 26: Does Guided Cognition Homework Influence Subsequent Unguided Study of Advanced-Ability and Average-Ability Students?

Will students accept Guided Cognition homework?

Chapter 6. Theoretical Considerations

How Does Each Cognitive Event Facilitate Learning?

Frame for the Role Play Cognitive Event

The Role Play Cognitive Event Could Help With Subsequent:

Cognitive Processes Likely Elicited by the Role Play Cognitive Event

Frame for the Relate to Prior Experience Cognitive Event

The Relate to Prior Experience Cognitive Event Could Help With Subsequent:

Cognitive Processes Likely Elicited by the Relate to Prior Experience Cognitive Event

Frame for the Divergent Thinking Cognitive Event

The Divergent Thinking Cognitive Event Could Help With Subsequent:

Cognitive Processes Likely Elicited by the Divergent Thinking Cognitive Event

Frame for the Visualize and Illustrate Cognitive Event

The Visualize and Illustrate Cognitive Event Could Help With Subsequent:

Cognitive Processes Likely Elicited by the Visualize and Illustrate Cognitive Event

The Relation of Cognitive Events to Cognitive Processes

Surface Structure and Deep Structure of Cognitive Events

The Frame for the Role Play Cognitive Event as Used in Literature Homework

The Frame for the Role Play Cognitive Event as Used in Mathematics Homework

Chapter 7. Improving Unsupervised Individual Learning

Improving the Student

Improving the To-Be-Learned Content

Improving the Questions and Tasks

Chapter 8. Benefits and Applications of Guided Cognition Design

Guided Cognition Effects and Student Ability

Generality of Guided Cognition Design

Implications for Instructional Design

The Importance of Improving Unsupervised Individual Learning

Appendix I. Characteristics of the Participating Schools and Student Populations

Appendix II. Experiments 3 and 4 Guided Cognition and Traditional Homework Questions from Part II of The Secret Sharer

Appendix III. Experiments 10 and 11 Homework Materials for Conditions T, T + M, GC, and GC + M

Appendix IV. Guidelines for Authoring Guided Cognition Homework

References

Index

Copyright

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GUIDED COGNITION FOR LEARNING

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Preface

This book was written with two audiences in mind. First, we hope to inspire practitioners, including teachers, textbook authors, and technology-based content authors, to design more effective, efficient, and interesting unsupervised individual learning materials. Second, we hope to inspire a new generation of researchers to explore further the design of homework and other forms of unsupervised individual learning materials by performing additional empirical studies in authentic learning environments.

We believe that our research has answered a number of practical questions toward better homework design. Many experiments are reported, and most provide clear results and pedagogical guidance. We know, however, that knowledge is a continuing quest and that there is much more to learn. We invite you to join our quest by reading this book, incorporating what we have learned into your designs, and extending what we have learned with further research.

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge our funders and the participating schools, teachers, and graduate assistants who helped make this research possible.

Funding

The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, United States Department of Education, through Grants R305H050062 and R305A080134 to the authors at Fordham University. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the United States Department of Education.

Participating Schools

Holmdel High School, Holmdel, New Jersey

W.R. Satz Middle School, Holmdel, New Jersey

Port Chester Middle School, Port Chester, New York

Participating Teachers

High School Literature Experiments

Sandra E. Whitten

Thomas Herman

Middle School Literature Experiments

Sean Dowd

Barbara Williamson

Middle School Mathematics Experiments

Marian Amitrani

Sharon Weiss

Georgia Garay ¹

Graduate Research Assistants

Lindsay Blau Portnoy

Christine Hoskins

Presentations of Guided Cognition Design Research

The Guided Cognition Design research reported in this book is an extension of presentations at regional, national, and international professional conferences by:

Rabinowitz, M., Whitten, W. B., II, and Whitten, S. E. (2007).

Whitten, W. B., II. (2009a, 2009b, 2011b).

Whitten, W. B., II and Rabinowitz, M. (2006, 2007, 2010a, 2010b, 2010c, 2010d).

Whitten, W. B., II, Rabinowitz, M., and Whitten, S. E. (2006a, 2006b, 2007a, 2007b, 2009a, 2009b, 2009c, 2010, 2011a, 2011b, 2011c, 2011d, 2012, 2013a, 2013b, 2013c, 2014, 2016, 2017).

Whitten, W. B., II, Rabinowitz, M., Whitten, S. E., and Portnoy, L. B. (2008a, 2008b, 2008c, 2008d, 2009).

Whitten, W. B., II and Whitten, S. E. (2012).

Whitten, W. B., II, Whitten, S. E., and Rabinowitz, M. (2006, 2009).

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¹  Experiments 12 and 13 were completed by Georgia Garay in partial fulfillment of her doctoral research requirement.

Chapter 1

The Importance of Unsupervised Individual Learning in Education

Abstract

This chapter introduces the key concepts of the book and provides context for the experimental work to be reported in later chapters. First, we discuss the importance of unsupervised individual learning in education and the importance of homework. A brief history of homework in American education, from the early 19th century to the present, is presented. The development of homework as a standard part of formal education is reviewed, and the recurring issues in favor of and against homework are discussed. The relationship of unsupervised individual learning to supervised group learning and the relationship of unsupervised individual learning to homework are discussed.

Keywords

History of homework; Homework; Supervised group learning; Supervised learning; Unsupervised individual learning; Unsupervised learning

When you think of education, it is likely that you think about formal school situations that you have experienced. Perhaps you recall your teachers, your classmates, the subject-matter categories, or discussions and other interactions in classes with teachers and with other students. Maybe you remember a group project that was interesting or fun or challenging. You may recall the physical arrangement of the school buildings, the processes of starting and ending the school day, or special events such as sports or music performances. It is less likely that the first thing that comes to mind is the independent studying that most likely absorbed many hours, especially in the later years of your education. This study time and effort, however, is typically a vitally important part of your education. There are, of course, a variety of ways to study, including team projects, study groups, and so forth. The dominant study situation, however, is unsupervised individual learning, usually referred to as homework.

The Importance of Homework

Homework serves many important functions for learning. It allows students to review new concepts, ideas, and terminology. It prescribes specific practice. It may allow for thoughtful complex thinking that can only be accomplished over more time than is available in classes. It provides the time necessary for mastery learning. And it can even be thought of as a rudimentary form of individualized instruction where a student can approach a topic at his or her own pace and in a preferred fashion.

Homework becomes increasingly important as students progress from elementary school, to middle school, to high school, and finally, to college. Some high school students may spend about 5   hours in classroom instruction (e.g., six or seven 45-minute classes), followed by 2–3   hours of evening homework. Thus, about one-third of all learning time may be spent doing homework. By college, this ratio is typically reversed, with at least two-thirds of all learning time spent outside the classroom. Beyond college, this trend continues. Some forms of adult learning, such as Internet-based continuing education and lifelong learning, may be almost entirely unsupervised individual study with characteristics similar to school-assigned homework. For these reasons, knowledge of how to design effective, efficient, interesting, and cost-effective homework should be of primary importance to educators.

A Brief History of Homework in American Education

During the first half of the 19th century, elementary school students had little or no homework, in part because of their teachers' heavy workload. In the 1830s, Chicago city classrooms might include as many as 100 students, with older students assigned to direct the instruction for small groups (Herrick, 1971; Kaestle, 1973). In rural one-room schools, one teacher taught all subjects to students who might range in age from 6 to 14   years (Fuller, 1982). Most students left school after fourth grade, but those who moved on to grammar school (grades 5–8) received 2–3   hours of homework each night during the week. The even smaller number of students who earned a high school diploma completed homework on weekends as well (Reese, 1995).

After the Civil War, public funding for schools increased, and students completed more years of school. As homework was assigned more frequently, conflicts arose between parents and schools (Kaestle, 1978). In 1880, the president of the Boston school board complained that his children's arithmetic homework was not useful for learning and interfered with their physical, mental, and emotional health. The school board responded by limiting the amount of arithmetic homework that teachers could assign (Burnham, 1905).

In the 1890s, anti-homework sentiments grew more prevalent and more extreme. Doctors warned that homework was damaging to children's eyesight and interfered with healthy outdoor exercise. Magazines and newspapers criticized homework for robbing children of the time they needed for play, for sleep, for chores, for church attendance, and for the moral influence of their parents. School officials felt that distractions at home actually interfered with children's learning, and many schools replaced homework in grades 4–6 with 15–30   minute in-school study periods (Annual Report of the Board of Education of Los Angeles, 1902). By 1901, a Massachusetts investigator reported that assigning homework was restricted in two-thirds of the city school districts surveyed (Gill & Schlossman, 1996).

During World War I, conflicts over homework quieted, but as the war ended, parents again became concerned about homework's negative effects on their children. The popular press resumed its criticisms, describing homework as a threat to children's health and as an unfair labor practice (Bassett, 1934). In 1919, the Progressive Education Association was founded to change education by making it an individualized process of discovery. The teacher's role was to provide experiences that would guide each child toward positive growth. Progressives believed that homework could interfere with engaging in real-life tasks and community activities (Graham, 1967; Westbrook, 1991).

By the 1940s, a majority of schools in the United States had adopted the progressive approach and had eliminated or stringently limited homework. But during this time, members of a homework reform movement suggested that a different kind of homework could support the goals of progressive education. They recommended a new focus on hands-on activities, projects, and home and community experiences. Parents could help children participate in music, art, sports and physical endeavors, cooking, helping with the family budget, interior decorating, and other pursuits that children would value and enjoy (Andersen, 1940; Eginton, 1931).

These ideas were surprisingly well received by a majority of parents (Gill & Schlossman, 2003a), and schools made more effort to individualize homework assignments to match the abilities and interests of each student. Nevertheless, many school districts instituted homework policies to limit the amount of time spent on homework, in accordance with a student's age and grade level. Generally, no homework was assigned for early elementary students. Junior high students could be assigned up to an hour of homework four nights a week, and high school students were limited to an hour and a half four nights per week (Strang, 1955). A number of schools chose not to assign homework on the weekend so students would have this time for personal activities and relief from the school work week (Olson, 1962). By 1948, a Purdue Opinion Poll reported that most high school students were doing less than an hour of homework per day (Gill & Schlossman, 2004).

The Russians' launch of Sputnik in 1957, however, caused many parents and educators to question the quality of American education. Russia's apparent superiority in science and mathematics education was contrasted with an American curriculum that was criticized for having too many courses focused on life skills and for failing to challenge gifted students (Herold, 1974). To help the United States compete with Russia, courses of study became more rigorous, and the amount of homework was increased.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, homework was once again criticized as a danger to the health and wellbeing of young people, and some school districts responded accordingly (Vatterott, 2018). According to the Purdue Opinion Poll, the number of high school students doing more than 2   hours of daily homework fell from approximately 20% to 9% between 1967 and 1972 (Gill & Schlossman, 2003a). But with the publication of A Nation at Risk (United States National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983) and What Works (United States Department of Education, 1986), homework returned to favor (Gill & Schlossman, 2003b). These reports caused widespread concern that American schools were lax and ineffective in preparing students to compete with students in other countries (Cooper, 2001; Gill & Schlossman, 2003a, 2004).

More than 30   years later, homework remains an often discussed and frequently controversial aspect of school policy. As in the past, many school systems have developed homework policies that outline the amount of time students should spend on homework. Particularly in elementary school, some school districts have eliminated or imposed strict limits on homework and have tried to bring most learning into the