In Order to Learn

The order that material, for both facts and skills, is presented or explored by a learner can strongly influence what is learned, how fast performance increases, and sometimes, even that the material is learned at all. In this volume, the contributors argue that these effects are more pervasive and important than they have been treated. They explore some of the foundational topics in this area of intersection between psychology, machine learning, AI, cognitive modeling, education, and instructional design. They include case studies and present numerous questions that will lead to further research projects and provide food for thought for professionals working in these disciplines.

Frank Ritter helped start the College of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State, and is affiliated with the psychology, computer science and engineering departments. He also helped start the International Conference on Cognitive Modeling and the tutorial series at the Cognitive Science Conference. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the Technische Universität Chemnitz in 2005.

Josef Nerb is Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Education in Freiburg, Germany, where he also serves as a Vice Dean for teaching and learning. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Freiburg and did a post-doc at the University of Waterloo, Canada, supported by an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation fellowship.

Erno Lehtinen is Vice rector and former Dean of the School of Education at Turku University, where he is a professor of education. He is a past president of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI).

Tim O'Shea is the Principal (President) of the University of Edinburgh. Previously he was Master of Birkbeck College, and professor of information technology and education at the Open University.

- Section 1. Introductory Chapters
- 1: Frank E. Ritter and Josef Nerb: Call to Order: How and Why Sequences Influence Learning
- 2: Charles M. Reigeluth: Order is the First Step to Mastery
- 3: A. Cornuéjois: Machine Learning: The Necessity of Order (Is Order In Order?)
- 4: Josef Nerb, Frank E. Ritter, and Pat Langley: Rules of Order: Process Models of Human Learning
- 5: Peter C.R. Lane: Order Out of Chaos: Order in Connectionist Models
- 6: Frank E. Ritter, Josef Nerb, Emo Lehtinen: Putting Things in Order: Collecting and Analyzing Data on Learning
- Section 2. Fundamental Explanations of Order: Example Models
- 7: Alexander Renkl and Robert K. Atkinson: An Example Order for Cognitive Skill Acquisition
- 8: Fernand Gobet and Peter C.R. Lane: An Ordered Chaos: Sequences and Mental Structures
- 9: Katharina Morik and Martin Mühlenbrock: Learning in Order: Steps of Acquiring the Concept of the Day/Night Cycle
- 10: Philip I. Pavlik Jr.: Timing is in Order: Modeling Order Effects in the Learning of Information
- 11: Stellan Ohlsson: The Effects of Order: A Model of Transfer and Critiquing
- Section 3. Getting in and Out of Order: Techniques and Examples from Education and Instructional Design
- 12: Kurt VanLehn: Getting Out of Order: Avoiding Order Effects Through Instruction
- 13: Janine Swaak and Ton De Jong: Order or No Order: System vs. Learner Control in Sequencing Simulation-Based Discovery Learning
- 14: Katharina Scheiter and Peter Gerjets: Making Your Own Order: Order Effects in System- and User-Controlled Settings for Learning and Problem Solving
- Section 4. Conclusions
- 15: John Sweller: All is in Order