Comments on: Chunking Information http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/chunking-information/ Tips, advice and reviews for online learning. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:29:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: 3 Design Principles To Help Your Audience Remember You | Van SEO Design http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/chunking-information/comment-page-1/#comment-1371 3 Design Principles To Help Your Audience Remember You | Van SEO Design Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:44:22 +0000 http://theelearningcoach.com/?p=1576#comment-1371 [...] second group should help you remember the numbers better. It’s an example of chunking, a principle where many items are combined into limited groups or chunks of less items each in [...] [...] second group should help you remember the numbers better. It’s an example of chunking, a principle where many items are combined into limited groups or chunks of less items each in [...]

]]> By: Connie Malamed http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/chunking-information/comment-page-1/#comment-873 Connie Malamed Mon, 18 Jan 2010 06:20:19 +0000 http://theelearningcoach.com/?p=1576#comment-873 Great points, Sharon. It does make sense that how information is chunked would be affected by what is stored in long-term-memory (LTM). Experts in a subject should be able to handle larger chunks of information than novices. See this article on The Expert's Brain: http://theelearningcoach.com/learning/the-experts-brain/. Great points, Sharon. It does make sense that how information is chunked would be affected by what is stored in long-term-memory (LTM). Experts in a subject should be able to handle larger chunks of information than novices. See this article on The Expert’s Brain: http://theelearningcoach.com/learning/the-experts-brain/.

]]> By: Sharon Howard http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/chunking-information/comment-page-1/#comment-871 Sharon Howard Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:43:42 +0000 http://theelearningcoach.com/?p=1576#comment-871 I am a graduate student enrolled in Walden University in their online Instructional Design and Technology program. We were just discussing chunking information this week. I have always used this technique when I needed to learn a large a amount of complex information by breaking it down into smaller pieces to make it easier to understand and remember. I just never knew it was called "chunking". To me "chunking" always meant throwing objects such as rocks, gourds, sticks etc. Oh, and around Halloween they always have the pumpkin chunking competitions on TV. However, used in the context of instructional design, makes more sense. Your post was very helpful. The point you made about chunking the information into bite-size pieces so it doesn't compete for the learner's working memory was very valuable. Attention to the way the material is displayed can also improve comprehension and readability for students by limiting the number of cognitive distractions during instruction. Also, I think the amount of prior knowledge already in LTM is a determining factor in how many chunks of information can be placed in the working memory at one time without losing some of it. Therefore, this is just another reason that supports the premise that learning is an individualized process and instructional designers must take this into account when designing content to avoid overloading some students and boring others. I am a graduate student enrolled in Walden University in their online Instructional Design and Technology program. We were just discussing chunking information this week. I have always used this technique when I needed to learn a large a amount of complex information by breaking it down into smaller pieces to make it easier to understand and remember. I just never knew it was called “chunking”. To me “chunking” always meant throwing objects such as rocks, gourds, sticks etc. Oh, and around Halloween they always have the pumpkin chunking competitions on TV. However, used in the context of instructional design, makes more sense.

Your post was very helpful. The point you made about chunking the information into bite-size pieces so it doesn’t compete for the learner’s working memory was very valuable. Attention to the way the material is displayed can also improve comprehension and readability for students by limiting the number of cognitive distractions during instruction.

Also, I think the amount of prior knowledge already in LTM is a determining factor in how many chunks of information can be placed in the working memory at one time without losing some of it. Therefore, this is just another reason that supports the premise that learning is an individualized process and instructional designers must take this into account when designing content to avoid overloading some students and boring others.

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