1. “Opening the Black Box”
Marc Lewis

2. Menu
 Overview of Cognitivism
 Video Summary
 Notable Figures
 Benjamin Bloom
 Practical Use
 For Students
 Personal Application
 Additional Strategies

3. Overview
 Focus on thought processes
 Not focusing on overt behavior
 Prior knowledge is important
 Ability to process and utilize information
 Emphasize conscious thinking

4. Overview Continued

5. Notable Figures
 Kurt Lewin
 Robert Gagne
 R.C. Anderson
 Benjamin Bloom
 Jean Piaget

6. Benjamin Bloom
(February 21, 1913 – September 13, 1999)
 Received a Ph.D in Education from the University of
Chicago
 Developed Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning
 Developed the idea of Mastery Learning
 Cognitive approach. Required prior mastery

7. Practical Use for Teacher
 Set specific objectives to demonstrate mastery
 Review previous material
 Understand students are active participants in
learning
 Have students seek help when they fail an area
 Have lessons build upon each other
 Learning is helped by association

8. Practical Use for Students
 Make association when learning new material
 Learn basics, then move on to advanced material
 Seek help when the class has past a difficult area
 Take responsibility for their learning

9. Personal Application
 Things I Can Do
 Monitor each students mastery of a section
 Create lesson plans that build on previous knowledge
 Understand I can only help students who want to learn
 Advise students to revise work

10. Personal Application Continued
 How it can help my students
and I:
 Set realistic goals
 See the point at which a
student began to struggle
 Learn which transitions are
most difficult