Cognitive and Metacognitive Processes
A main aim of our work is to identify the cognitive and metacognitive processes that facilitate the acquisition of abstract, conceptual knowledge that can be transferred to new problem solving tasks. Building on prior work in the cognitive sciences, we have tested whether analogical comparison and self-explanation processes can facilitate the acquisition of conceptual knowledge and transfer for science and mathematics content. Further, we strive to understand how these learning processes relate to one another and the conditions under which they are employed. See the next section for our effort to bring together these mechanisms in a general theoretical framework. Finally, our recent work asks about how these processes interact with human motivation as well as social and ecological processes.
Alfieri, L., Nokes-Malach, T. J., & Schunn, C. D. (2013). Learning through case comparisons: A meta-analytic review. Educational Psychologist, 48(2), 87-113. doi: 10.1080/00461520.2013.775712
Nokes-Malach, T. J., VanLehn, K., G Belenky, D., U Lichtenstein, M., & U Cox, G. (2013). Coordinating principles and examples through analogy and self-explanation. European Journal of Education of Psychology, 28(4), 1237-1263. doi: 10.1007/s10212-012-0164-z
A central aim of the cognitive and learning sciences is to develop a general theory of transfer to explain how people use and apply their prior knowledge to solve new problems. Previous work has identified multiple mechanisms of transfer including (but not limited to) analogy, knowledge compilation, and constraint violation. The central hypothesis investigated here is that the particular profile of transfer processes triggered for a given situation depends on both (a) the knowledge present and how it is represented, and (b) the processing demands of the transfer task. We hypothesize that there is a trade-off between the mechanisms in terms of their scope of application (i.e., near vs. far transfer) and the amount of cognitive processing required to transfer the knowledge. Current laboratory studies examine when these mechanisms are triggered and their interaction in complex learning environments. The goal of this work is to develop a general theory of transfer based on a multiple mechanisms approach.
Nokes-Malach, T. J., & Mestre, J. (2013). Toward a model of transfer as sense-making. Educational Psychologist, 48(3), 184-207. doi:10.1080/00461520.2013.807556
Nokes, T. J. (2009). Mechanisms of knowledge transfer. Thinking & Reasoning, 15(1), 1-36. doi: 10.1080/13546780802490186
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Interactions with Motivation | Social and Ecological | Mindfulness