Expanding the Playground of Educational Psychology | W12 Q1 | Discussion

Mishra, Koehler, & Greenhow (2015) discuss the ways in which technology has reshaped the field of educational psychology by expanding the methodological toolkit and opening new contexts and phenomena for research. Additionally, the field of educational psychology has expanded due to an increasing convergence with fields such as information science and neuroscience. The technological developments in neuroscience (EEGs, fMRI, PET scans) may strengthen the linkages between cognitive theories and observable mental processes. The integration of media into informal and formal learning spurs the development of new theories that capture the novel processes that are revealed in informal learning settings, such as new forms of social collaboration (Gee, 2008). The integration of informal settings opens up new sites for educational research, such as virtual environments and social networks.

Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark’s (2006) study is limited by its narrow discussion of formal learning and the lack of consideration given to technology’s affordances in mediating some of the concerns associated with minimally guided instruction. For instance, the authors discuss the demands that inquiry-based instruction places on the learner’s working memory, citing that the increased cognitive load interferes with learner’s ability to process the information into long-term memory. However, the authors overlook technology’s role in reducing cognitive load (Salomon & Perkins, 2005). On the contrary, studies in neuroscience show that novel problem-solving tasks activate the memory-encoding processes by engaging the attentional and effortful control processes. Long-term memory is engaged alongside “workspace neurons” (working-memory) by activating prior knowledge in order to solve the present problem (Dehaene, Kerszberg, & Changeux, 1998).

Dehaene, S., Kerszberg, M., & Changeux, J. P. (1998). A neuronal model of a global workspace in effortful cognitive tasks. Proceedings of the national Academy of Sciences, 95(24), 14529-14534.