Using Primary Knowledge: an Efficient Way To Motivate Students and Promote the Learning of Formal Reasoning

Abstract

According to Geary's evolutionary approach, humans are able to easily acquire primary knowledge and, with more efforts, secondary knowledge. The present study investigates how primary knowledge contents can facilitate the learning of formal logical rules i.e. secondary knowledge. Framing formal logical problems in evolutionary salient contexts should increase learners' efficiency, motivation and engagement in learning compared with framing logical problems in secondary knowledge. In two experiments, high school students (n=210) had to train with syllogisms of unknown content (to reduce the use of prior knowledge) and which could be related to primary knowledge (rules about invented food and animals) or secondary knowledge (fictitious mathematics and grammar rules) in order to best pass a final test. The training phase was compulsory or left to learners' choice. In a third experiment, participants (university students, n=227) were confronted with three phases: (i) a priming phase consisting of problems with primary or secondary knowledge contents, then (ii) a training phase consisting of secondary knowledge only and (iii) the final test. Results confirmed the positive influence of primary knowledge in a learning task: participants were more efficient, more motivated, more confident and experienced less cognitive load when confronted with primary knowledge compared to secondary knowledge. In particular, primary knowledge favored the involvement and persistence of learners in the training phase regardless of their personal characteristics unlike secondary knowledge. Finally, presenting primary knowledge first and then secondary knowledge was more efficient both in terms of performance and motivation. The evolutionary approach to knowledge would provide a framework for developing a way to present new content that is cost-efficient in keeping learners motivated, whatever their age or personal characteristics.

Students Self-Efficacy Profile in Online Learning

“…The impact is the growth of longterm self-motivation. Another way to increase student motivation in learning is to teach primary knowledge or basic concepts at the beginning of new learning followed by explanations related to the development of that knowledge [34]. By understanding basic knowledge, students will be curious and interested in learning more.…”

Gamification in nursing

“…Igrifikacija v andragoškem izobraževanju uporabnike popelje v otroško dobo, v kateri so skozi igro spoznavali in usvajali različne veščine. Nagnjenost k zanimanju za novosti ter dejavno prilagajanje in oblikovanje lastnih sposobnosti ter znanja niso omejeni le na otroštvo, temveč gre za pomembno značilnost človeške narave, ki vpliva na učinkovitost, vztrajnost in dobro počutje skozi vsa življenjska obdobja (Ryan & Deci, 2000;Lespiau & Tricot, 2019). Z igrifikacijo lahko preverjamo kognitivne (razumevanje, zaznavanje, spoznavanje), socialno-emocionalne (notranja in zunanja motivacija, samoučinkovitost, ambicioznost, socialno primerjanje) in psihomotorične veščine v različnih spektrih zdravstvene nege.…”

“…In adult education, gamification takes users back to their childhoods when they used games and play to learn and gain various skills. The tendency of being interested in innovation and actively adapting and building one's skills and knowledge is not limited only to childhood, but forms an important part of human nature itself, which, in turn, promotes efficiency, perseverance and wellbeing throughout one's lifetime (Ryan & Deci, 2000;Lespiau & Tricot, 2019). Gamification can therefore serve as a tool for assessing one's cognitive (understanding, perception, cognition), socio-emotional (internal and external motivation, self-efficacy, ambition, social comparison) and psychomotor skills within different areas of nursing.…”

Adaptive Education: Learning and Remembering with a Stone-Age Brain

“…As mentioned briefly earlier, there is evidence that a fitness-based framing can affect the learning of formal rules of logic. Lespiau and Tricot ( 2019 ) had high-school students practice solving logic problems (syllogisms) with content that was fitness-relevant (food, animal characteristics) or not (grammar rules, mathematics). In the test phase, the syllogisms used neutral terms (ABC).…”

“…It is possible, for example, that framing secondary knowledge in fitness-based terms or contexts may reduce the cognitive load needed for effective processing and retention (see Sweller, 2020 , for a discussion of cognitive load theory). Indeed, recent evidence suggests that the rules of formal logic may be easier to learn, or students might be more motivated to learn, if the example content is fitness-relevant (e.g., food, animal characteristics; see Lespiau & Tricot, 2019 ).…”