Integration of Peer Learning and Generative and Elaborative Learning

Integrative Review Paper

Peer learning and generative and elaborative learning

Introduction

As peer, elaborative and generative learning all stem from cognitive theory they are interrelated because they share certain theoretical premises. All three emphasise the importance of the learner, the learner's active involvement in learning and their cognitive state whilst also highlighting the importance of prior knowledge and constructing in learning. However elaborative, peer and generative learning are not as beneficial to learning on their own. As each theory focuses only on one aspect of cognitive theory eg to generate, elaborate or interact with peers it limits its ability to elicit high levels of cognitive functioning. Research has found that when peer, elaborative and generative learning are combined they improve learning significantly more as they prompt higher cognitive processing and functioning in students. Thus research has found that peer learning situations that use elaborative and generative activities elicit higher results in learning and in turn generations and elaborations produced by students are of much higher quality and elicit higher student learning when done during peer learning situations. The integration of these topics has revealed some implications for teaching and education.

Cognitive theory and its influence on peer, elaborative and generative learning.

Peer learning, elaborative and generative thinking came about as a result of a paradigm shift in the study of human learning towards cognitivist theory which restored the learner, their cognitive states and information-processing strategies as the principal aspect of learning (Wittock, 1974). Before this, educational psychologists viewed learning as a product of an appropriate environmental or experimental circumstance which conditions new or learned responses. However change came about as researchers began to see the benefits of introducing "the perception and interpretation of the learner processing the information and actively constructing meaning from it" Wittrock (1974, p.88) and theories began to point to the important role the students' thought processes play in learning. As peer, elaborative and generative learning evolved from cognitive theory they to view cognitive process and states along with information processing strategies as important.

A shift took place away from the passive model of learning, based on simple models of conditioning, towards a cognitive revolution (Weinstein, 1977). This cognitive revolution presented the learner as an active, self-determining individual who processes information in complex, idiosyncratic, unpredictable ways and who learns through the active employment of complex learning or cognitive strategies (Weinstein, 1977). Learners were seen as active interpreters, processors, and synthesisers of a never ending flow of information. It became recognised that students needed to be mentally active processors of information if learning was to occur. As a result of this, certain criteria had to be met during the learning experience for learning to occur. Students had to attend to the information to be learned by; creating or identifying relationships amongst the new material, creating their own understanding of the new material, relating new ideas to prior knowledge and understanding that learning requires mental effort and therefore recognising that strategy use is the means by which learning occurs (Seifort, 1993). Founded on these beliefs of cognitive theory peer, elaborative and generative learning theories also highlight the importance of the active learner.

Educational psychology's acknowledgement of the role the mind plays in creating meaning out of novel situations and stimuli meant that the learner, especially their prior knowledge, experiences, backgrounds, abilities and attitudes became a crucial element in predicting learning with understanding. Learning could now be predicted and understood in terms of what the learner brought to the learning situation, how they related the stimuli to their memories and what they generated from previous experiences (Wittrock, 1974). Having developed from such cognitive theories peer, elaborative and generative learning emphasis the important role prior knowledge plays in the construction of knowledge.

Prior knowledge is important for learning in peer, elaborative and generative learning.

Wittrock (1974) states that his generative model's fundamental premise is that people tend to generate perceptions and meanings that are consistent with their prior learning (Wittrock, 1974). From his research Wittrock (1974) found that in order for students to best comprehend and remember new material they need to use their own prior knowledge and experience to reconstruct presented material in novel, personally meaningful ways. Primarily the learner needs to build concrete associations among the new ideas and between the new stimuli and their own prior knowledge and experience base which is stored in the long term memory (Wittrock, 1990). For learning with understanding one must generate and transfer meaning for stimuli and events from one's background, attitudes, abilities, and experiences. "Learning with understanding, which is defined by long-term memory plus transfer to conceptually related problems, is a process of generating semantic and distinctive idiosyncratic associations between stimuli and stored information" (Wittrock, 2010, p.41).

Elaboration facilitates learning because it makes new material meaningful by forming a relationship between the new material and the old already learnt knowledge. Producing an elaboration activates prior knowledge that otherwise would not have been activated and the learning that arises from this is credited to the link created between new information and already present knowledge in the long-term memory (Hanson-Tafel & Dretzke, 1996). However is not clear what prior knowledge is needed as some researchers suggest that content specific knowledge is required whereas others suggest that abstract or general knowledge in the form of rules or principles is important (Hanson-Tafel & Dretzke, 1996).

Research has shown that the effectiveness of elaborative and generative learning heavily relies on connecting new material to prior knowledge structures and experiences, as this facilitates retention more than connecting concepts within new material. Research has shown that learners that underwent the experienced-based or prior knowledge based questioners retained more of the material over time than did those who