Schema: 5 Questions

What is a schema?

• A mental representation of of a person's knowledge.

• Patterns of thought, mental mind maps of how we store and process information.

• A method for organising information.

• All definitions are correct.

How do schemas affect memory?

• They make it easier to remember new information.

• The makes it harder to remember new information.

• They have no effect on memory.

• They only effect short term memory.

When we learn any new information, it is easier to learn if it is built upon prior knowledge, which is why it is almost impossible to learn a nonsense word that means nothing to us.

• Always true

• Sometimes true

• Never true

• True, 50% of the time

Episodic memory is your recollection of personal events and experiences. One way teachers can support pupils to build schema is to connect episodic experiences to their semantic knowledge [concepts, rules and facts]. Which of the following statements are true?

• Pupils need a knowledge-rich, broad and balanced curriculum.

• Pupils need a rich diet of hands-on, real life experiential learning, including a range of cultural and subject specific trips.

• Some knowledge we acquire cannot be taught directly, it has to be developed through experience.

• All of the statements are true.

How do schemas [knowledge webs] affect problem solving?

• They make it easier to find a solution.

• They make it harder to find a solution.

• They have no effect on problem solving.

• They only effect certain types of problems.