Building Expertise: Cognitive Methods for Training and Performance Improvement

Appendix A. Glossary

Absorption view of learning

A belief that learning occurs when students are exposed to content rather than actively processing it. A metaphor is student as a sponge and instruction as a pitcher of water. Related to a transmission view of teaching. Some receptive architectures reflect an absorption view of learning

Action learning

A form of project-based learning in which workplace teams take on real-world organizational problems or design challenges and use the process as a vehicle for learning.

Activation of prior knowledge

A learning process in which relevant schemas stored in long-term memory are brought into working memory prior to learning to facilitate integration of new content with existing knowledge.

Active processing