Abstract
This paper discusses the idea of cognitive tools for learning. These are essentially comprehension tasks which require a learner to analyse material at a deeper conceptual level than would normally follow from a simple instruction “to learn”. Deep learning results as a kind of byproduct of using a cognitive tools task, as indeed it does from any such analytical search for meaning. An empirical and theoretical underpinning for this approach is provided in the cognitive psychology literature by the levels of processing approach and by the enactment effect. An attempt is also made to position cognitive tools in the context of instructional theory, and an example is given of a cognitive tools approach to learning from hypermedia.
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Mayes, J.T. (1992). Cognitive Tools: A Suitable Case for Learning. In: Kommers, P.A.M., Jonassen, D.H., Mayes, J.T., Ferreira, A. (eds) Cognitive Tools for Learning. NATO ASI Series, vol 81. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77222-1_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77222-1_2
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