Elaboration Theory

by Kevin Simmons, 2014

Family Tree

(Theoretical school and general characteristics)

Elaboration theory is within the school of cognitivism. Whereas behaviorism sees the human being more as a simple if-then statement, an input-output machine, cognitivism sees man more as a computer that organizes and processes inputs before giving an output. Nevertheless, congnitivists do not reject behaviorist theory (47*), but look at the complexity of the human mind and find a more effective route to communicating information in psychology than in chemistry, at least for the foreseeable future. Thus, teachers within this model are not as concerned with immediate, co-ordinate responses to particular stimuli, but rather seek to create mental connections that are not always apparent on the outside. The goal is to teach in ways that effectively respond to such mental processes and natural orientations of the brain in order thereby to further the progress of the student. This theory therefore recognizes the needs of students to have, among many other things, emotional investment in order to be motivated to learn.

Basic Principles

Elaboration theory itself was developed first by Reigeluth in the 1970s. The simplest articulation of the theory is that we learn best by grasping the overall structure of an area of study and, from that perspective, zoom into particular areas. Reigeluth describes a series of steps for an instructor to take in the formation of a lesson most consonant with this theory:

Organizing structure: the instructor identifies the process he wishes to teach in the course/lesson. "Is it a concept, a theory, or a procedure?" each of which has its own steps
Simple to complex: he should always begin with the most basic and foundational concepts
One then goes to review the material at each particular level, resulting in a kind of spiral: go around the broad base up to the deeper point, from the same and then every side, constantly progressing and reviewing

In addition there are a view other governing concepts and key words:

Synthesizers are diagrams and flowcharts that help a learner keep everything in context. The most clear example might be in history, where a timeline constantly keeps students aware of where they are in time relative to the other events they have already learned about.
Analogies extrapolate the principles a learner already knows to this new situation. Thus, the more and more direct analogies a teacher can provide, the more likely he will reach each of his students, who inevitably vary in prior knowledge.
Cognitive Strategy Activators are devices that teachers use to cue memory in what are often thought of as unusual ways. For example, for students of geography the mnemonic "Never Eat Sour Watermelon" is a way to remember the cardinal points on a map. Going clockwise from the top: North, East, South, West.
Finally, Reigeluth wishes to emphasize the importance of learner control. A student must be empowered to take charge of his own education. It remains the teacher's prerogative to direct the student, but the student himself must be inspired to be interested in the subject. Without that connection, he will flounder in disinterest and subsequent ignorance and final failure.

Practical Example

The example Reigeluth himself uses (1983) is in reference to economics. One begins with the concepts of supply and demand, with its accompanying, complementary and invertible premises that a fall in price leads to a rise in demand and and rise in price leads to a fall in demand. With this basic and overarching principle, the teacher then goes onto to explain all of the corollaries that follow from this broad view. Thus, as the video below relates, Elaboration Theory is like a camera's zoom–one starts big and goes from there to particular points with special detail.