Okay, if I understand this correctly, this week's reading is all about making new knowledge connect with prior knowledge and memory. I think that every student realizes that attaching new learning to prior leaning makes everything easier. One of the great rewards of being a teacher is when we see "the light come on" in our student's faces. Often, that light comes on when the student makes the connection and integrates new information with old. "Oh, I get it," is what comes out of their mouths.
But I also think schema theory also goes further and deals with the framework people build in their minds to access, retrieve, and add to what they know. Indeed, knowledge should never be just a "basket of facts", as Anderson puts it, but an interconnected web where facts are all connected. I am convinced that the m0re connections that are there, the better access, the better retrieval happens. I will even go so far as to say that the better the connections, the more intelligent the person appears.
I also like Andersons ideas in strong schema theory and weak schema theory. I can't help but wonder if a strong schema theory that Anderson says is based on "principles extracted from experience" leads to black and white thinking with no allowances for all the shades of gray. He seems to prefer the weak schema (and so do I) that allows us to "...accomodate ...arbitrary realities..." that characterize real life. His examples of what utensil to use for what kind of food are almost humorous and point out that sometimes we have to adjust to the circumstance.
After reading Anderson, I am determined to do a better job of connecting new knowledge to prior learning and teaching my students not only what I want them to learn, but HOW to learn it and retain it better by making connections. Teaching students how to learn is another one of the great keys to unlock these kids' brains.
