Week 2: Belated

First and foremost, an apology is owed in regard to the lateness of this post. I recently have been fighting tooth-and-nail with the H1N1 virus (as is the duty of every American these days, it seems), and was bedridden until today. But, now that I’m functional again, I can contribute to my infant blog.


I was able to find several sources in my search of the web that deal directly with the brain and learning, information processing theory, and problem-solving methods in the learning process. I focused primarily on the study of the brain, and the subsequent impact on educational strategies, and information processing theory. I guess the reason for this comes down to personal preference (I am fascinated by the structure of the brain, and really how little is known about it), as well as a sense that this is the cutting-edge of instructional design. As more and more is discovered about how people learn, the biology of learning, and how instructional designers can tap into this science, learning environments and modules will be enhanced greatly, and be able to be customized to individual learning like never before.

One site I found particularly engaging was http://www.funderstanding.org/, a site devoted to the concept of “brain-based learning.” I found it particularly applicable to the readings and lessons learned last week, in that there are several suggested readings pertaining to Left Brain vs. Right Brain Learning. The text implies that there is no such thing as specifically right-brained or left-brained learners, and the article linked by the site basically agrees. Both sources encourage a “whole-brained” approach to learning, and that engaging as many areas of the brain as possible when learning increases the chances of moving this new information into Long-Term Memory.

Another site I found acts as an online research database, which can supplement the databases we have access to as students through the Walden Library site. The website is called Questia.com, and gives access to numerous books on various learning-theory subjects. I conducted a search on “cognitive information processing,” and was given a list of ten, full-length books, all on the subject of cognitive information processing. This site would be extremely valuable to an student conducting research for a thesis on information processing theory, as long as that student is willing to do a little reading (to say the least).