Welcome back! Sorry for our long hiatus. In this episode, Clark and Matt explore GENERATIVE LEARNING.

Early on, Clark brings up Craik and Lockhart's research about how information is processed on different levels (Craik, F. I. M., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal behavior, 11, 671-684.) The paper can be found here.

Throughout the podcast we talk about our colleagues and friends, John Sweller and Paul Kirschner several times. Some of the references we allude to are:

LDA Podcast. (2024, January 25). The “What the Skills” Episode. Interview with Paul Kirschner by Matthew Richter. https://ldaccelerator.com/podcast.

Sweller, J. (2016). Cognitive Load Theory: What We Learn and How We Learn. In M. Spector, B. Lockee, & M. Childress (Eds.), Learning, design, and technology (pp. 1–28). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17727-4_50-1

Sweller, J., van Merrienboer, J.J.G., & Paas, F. (1998). Cognitive architecture and instructional design. Educational Psychology Review, 10(3), 251–296.

Another hero of ours is Richard Mayer. A favorite source from Rich, along with his long-time colleague and our LDA friend, Ruth Clark, is:

Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2024). E‑Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning (5th ed.). Wiley.

Clark relays a story of working with Kathy Fisher during his time as a graduate student, discussing her use of semantic networking with biology students to help them represent their understandings:

Fisher, K. (1992). Semantic networking: the new kid on the block. In P. A. M. Kommers, D. H. Jonassen, & J. T. Mayes (Eds.) Mindtools: Cognitive Technologies for Modelling Knowledge. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

At one point we discuss the human information processing loop. While Sweller (and Kirschner) are super explainers of the Loop– as John refers to it, a part of the cognitive architecture, others have come before...

Atkinson, R.C.; Shiffrin, R.M. (1968). Human Memory: A Proposed System and its Control Processes. Psychology of Learning and Motivation. Vol. 2. pp. 89–195. doi:10.1016/S0079-7421(08)60422-3

Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1974). Working Memory. In G. A. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. 8, pp. 47-89). New York: Academic Press.

Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63(2), 81–97. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0043158

Sweller and Kishner soon come up again, but this time with their co-author, Richard Clark, during a heated discussion of their groundbreaking (and Matt favorite) paper about the issues with constructivist learning called “Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching” which can be found here:

Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 75–86. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep4102_1

Next, we discuss how to confirm whether the learners are able to retrieve the information being conveyed to them. Clark shares the work of teacher and cognitive scientist, Pooja Aggerwal:

Agarwal, P.K. (2019). Retrieval Practice & Bloom’s Taxonomy: Do Students Need Fact Knowledge Before Higher Order Learning? Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 111 (2), 189–209.

We hope you enjoy!