This study intends to re-conceptualize a pedagogical approach to respond to students that are cognitively inactive in the classroom of higher education. The background of the thesis is set up on the ground of academic professional culture of pedagogical practice in the higher education. It has analyzed the intersecting positions of cognition and pedagogy.
Following a multi-paradigmatic approach to the thesis process, multidisciplinary theoretical perspectives have been used to interpret the cognitions situated in the classroom students. These perspectives allow to hold up a compatible research design, qualitative sounding and quantitative silence design and a non-positional position role of researcher. Analytic auto-ethnography was employed as a major method followed by other methods and tools like participant observation, interviews and group discussions, open- ended questionnaires and unobtrusive measures. Activating the meta-cognition of the research participants, the reflective understandings have been drawn from their individually situated cognition. The vignettes, student-composed texts and student and teacher-expressed opinions are the evidences and the data collected from the field. Crystallization of them by interfacing the theories reveals cognitive multiplicities (cognitive process, cognitive style, content schemata and thought system) in the students of higher education.
This paper looks for answers to several research questions: Why are the cognitions of every student not activated in the classroom? Have the present pedagogical practices activated every student's cognition in the classroom? Are the students in the classroom of higher education individually different in terms of cognition? Are there specific cognitive diversities in the students of the classroom? What are the current pedagogical practices in classrooms of higher education? What cognitive styles do the students possess in a classroom of higher education? How do the pedagogical practices of teachers/instructors respond the cognitive processes of the students? What is the pedagogical design/model to address the cognitive complexity/diversity of a classroom of higher education/teacher education?
Table of Contents
CHAPTER I
Introduction
1.1 Context
1.2 Academic Acculturating Context: Mono-disciplinary to Trans-disciplinary
1.3 My Cultural Contexts: Ethnocentrism to Professionalism
1.4 My Unpacking Identities: Ethnic Identity to Academic Professional Identity
1.5 Rationale and Significance of the Study
1.6 Purpose of the Research
CHAPTER II
Philosophical Grounding
2.1 My Non-positional Position as Researcher
2.2 Multi Paradigmatic Position
2.3 Paradigmatic Integration
2.4 My Role Position as Researcher in the Field
CHAPTER III
Theoretical Considerations
3.1 Way of Literature Review
3.2 Cognition from Psychological Perspectives
3.2.1 Theories of Behavioral Psychology
3.2.2 Theories of Cognitive Psychology
3.3 Cognition from Social Psychological Theories
3.4 Integration of Psychological Theories around Cognition
3.5 Cognition from Epistemological Perspective
3.6 Cognition from Educational Perspective
3.7 Grounding of the Taxonomy of Cognitive Learning
3.8 Classroom Cognition from Multi-disciplinary Grounds
3.9 Individual Difference in Cognition as Theoretical Consensus
3.10 Cognitive Multiplicities Embedded in the Theories
3.11 Dimensions of Cognitive Multiplicity in Classroom
3.12 Understanding Pedagogy of Higher Education
3.13 Pedagogical Provision in Higher Education of Nepal
3.14 Research on Cognitive Multiplicities and Pedagogy
3.15 Post-review Refinement of Research Questions
3.16 Conceptual Framework
CHAPTER IV
Research Methodology
4.1 Research Design
4.2 Selection of Site and Research Participants
4.3 Research Methods
4.4 Quality Concerns
4.5 Information Analysis and Interpretation
4.6 Ethical Considerations
CHAPTER V
Understanding Classroom Situated Cognition
5.1 Entering Cognitive World through Meta-Cognitive Path
5.2 Cognitive Diversity Revealing Results
5.3 Academic Content-Shaped Schemata
5.4 Classroom Cognitive Multiplicity
CHAPTER VI
Understanding Practiced Pedagogy
6.1 Grand Narratives-Derived Contents
6.2 Content-driven Pedagogy
6.3 Cognition Stimulating Lecture
CHAPTER VII
Conceptualizing Pedagogical Transformation
7.1 Classroom Pedagogical Reflections
7.2 Transforming Pedagogical Praxis
7.3 Transformative Dispositions
7.4 Voices for Searching Authenticity
CHAPTER VIII
Findings and Discussion
8.1 Findings
8.1.1 Classroom Situated Cognition
8.1.2 Pedagogical Practices
8.1.3 Pedagogical Transformative Dispositions
8.2 Discussion
CHAPTER IX
Conclusion and Implications
9.1 Conclusion
9.1.1 Pedagogical Designing as my Critical Reflection
9.2 Implications
9.2.1 Implications for Pedagogical Theory
9.2.2 Implications for Pedagogical Policy
9.2.3 Implications for Pedagogical Practice
9.2.4 Implications for Pedagogical Research
Research Objectives and Themes
This study aims to re-conceptualize pedagogical approaches to address the needs of cognitively inactive students in higher education classrooms by analyzing the intersection of cognition and pedagogy. The research explores how individual cognitive differences and situated cognitive multiplicities impact instructional effectiveness and proposes a transformative pedagogical model.
- Analysis of cognitive multiplicities including cognitive processes, styles, content schemata, and thought systems.
- Investigation of current pedagogical practices and their limitations in responding to cognitive diversity.
- Exploration of pedagogical transformation through reflection, critical thinking, and the integration of diverse teaching approaches.
- Development of a critical integrated pedagogy model to enhance student engagement and cognitive activation.
Excerpt from the Book
Academic Acculturating Context: Mono-disciplinary to Trans-disciplinary
Like me, everyone encounters patience of cognitive practice of “s” (Ka) to “1”(Gya) or “afx|v/L” (Barhakhari) as check point to enter and set out the journey of modern education in Nepalese context. Systematic memorization of the meaningless symbols in itself is to purport to set up them into the long term memory of the students. I do not forget that moment at which teacher had held my hand to write the Nepali first alphabet “s” (Ka) and set up a new system or faculty in my mind. The “s”(Ka) and its “peers” were very strange for me because these were neither in our family, neighborhood and community, nor in our play mates, so that, it could be easily familiarized, retained and conceptualized. However, the meaningless symbols on dust-covered wooden board, written beautifully and pronounced rhythmically by shisu class teacher, the lady teacher called Guru Aama, a teacher of the context, created aesthetic value in the mind truly boosted up the pleasure mixed childish spirit, where for the almost shisu and primary school students’ dream on high school education and the higher education were too remote, gloomy, and merely vain due to the socio-cultural and geographical context where we were. Being a young learner, I used to copy and imitate the symbols written and pronounced by the teacher and remove the alphabets written by myself on dust covered-wooden board with my palms, not a single time, rather time and again, everyday during the year of shisu class.
Summary of Chapters
CHAPTER I: The introduction sets the context of the study by exploring the author's background and the need to transition from mono-disciplinary to trans-disciplinary pedagogical approaches.
CHAPTER II: This chapter establishes the philosophical foundation of the research, emphasizing a multi-paradigmatic approach and the role of the author as an insider researcher.
CHAPTER III: The theoretical considerations review cognitive and pedagogical literature, synthesizing theories into a framework of cognitive multiplicities to guide the study.
CHAPTER IV: This chapter details the research methodology, highlighting the use of analytic auto-ethnography and qualitative data collection tools.
CHAPTER V: This section presents the analysis of classroom situated cognition, focusing on the cognitive worlds of students and the barriers to content schemata formation.
CHAPTER VI: This chapter analyzes practiced pedagogy, discussing how grand narrative-driven contents and content-driven pedagogy dominate classroom instruction.
CHAPTER VII: The focus here is on conceptualizing pedagogical transformation, emphasizing the necessity of reflective practices and student-centered approaches.
CHAPTER VIII: Findings and Discussion present the empirical results and synthesized theoretical insights regarding cognitive diversity and its implications.
CHAPTER IX: The final chapter provides the study's conclusions and implications, proposing a critical integrated pedagogy to address cognitive complexities in higher education.
Keywords
Cognition, Pedagogy, Higher Education, Cognitive Multiplicity, Content Schemata, Meta-cognition, Cognitive Activation, Reflective Pedagogy, Auto-ethnography, Academic Professional Culture, Classroom Learning, Cognitive Diversity, Pedagogical Praxis, Trans-disciplinarity, Instructional Design.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research fundamentally focuses on addressing the phenomenon of cognitively inactive students in higher education classrooms by re-conceptualizing pedagogical approaches to better match their diverse cognitive processes and needs.
What are the central themes of the work?
The central themes include cognitive multiplicity (the diversity of thought systems, schemata, and styles), the limitations of traditional content-driven lecture methods, and the necessity of transitioning toward a more integrated, critically reflective pedagogical praxis.
What is the primary research question?
The primary research question asks why the cognitions of every student are not effectively activated in the classroom and what pedagogical designs or models can better address these cognitive complexities.
Which scientific method is employed?
The study employs a multi-paradigmatic, qualitative approach with a major emphasis on analytic auto-ethnography. It also incorporates participant observation, interviews, and content analysis of student work to gather authentic, contextual data.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body treats the philosophical grounding of the study, a comprehensive theoretical review of cognitive and pedagogical learning theories, the methodology, the analysis of classroom situated cognition, practiced pedagogy, and a roadmap for pedagogical transformation.
How is this research characterized?
The work is characterized by its auto-ethnographic nature, its focus on "research with" rather than "research on" students, and its proposal of a "critical integrated pedagogy" to improve instructional effectiveness.
How does the author define "cognitive multiplicity" within the classroom?
The author defines it as the natural state of student minds, consisting of varying schemata, cognitive styles, thought systems, and cognitive processes that current "one-size-fits-all" lecture approaches fail to accommodate.
What is the significance of the proposed "Critical Integrated Pedagogy"?
It is significant because it rejects the traditional content-driven model and instead proposes an instructional approach that actively intersects and integrates student-specific thought systems with course material, moving towards authentic, trans-disciplinary knowledge construction.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Karna Bahadur Chongbang (Autor:in), 2016, Instruction in Classroom-Situated Cognitive Multiplicity of Higher Education. An Understanding Pedagogy, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/376612
