Be a better learner: Lessons learned from Information Processing Theory

By Christopher Michael
College of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
November, 2010

Today was a fun class! We learned something that I never thought I would have the opportunity to do. We learned some Chinese! What we learned was very basic, and it was much easier than I thought it would be. We just learned basic greetings. It was fun learning them and I hope to retain them.

Today’s class was very interesting because we learned how the brain processes its information. We also learned that there are three stores of information. Those stores are sensory register, short-term, and long-term memory. Sensory register was something new to me. I had some knowledge of both short-term and long-term memory. I found sensory register very interesting. The information starts there but it does not do too much with it. It does not hold the information very long. The information is basically in one ear and out the other.

I had no idea that there is so much to attention. The different types of attention are very interesting. Those types of attention are purposeful, focused, selective, and partial. I found that very interesting because I never heard of them. I had an idea that that attention varied, however, not to this extent. I just believed that it varied by individual not by ability and interest. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense.

Today’s class was very valuable to me as a student. I learned how to study for exams better than I was already studying. My method of studying has been very unproductive. I should have been using elaborate rehearsal. This method is much better for retaining the information.