Running head: EFFECTS OF DISTINCT GROUPS IN COMPUTER USE.
The Effects of Distinct Groups in Computer Use.
When we are younger, many of us just go to school because we are told. Some appear to luxuriate in school and some chose to abandon schools the first chance they get. As we grow older, different individuals begin to flourish in different aspects of school that others do not. Do you ever wonder why? Many individuals have distinct ways in which they process information in the brain, also known as cognitive style. .
Field dependence/independence refer to the degree to which an individual's processing of the information is effected by the environment around them (Summerville, 1999). Field dependence/independence affect cognitive style within everyone. "Field dependence/independence appears to affect many aspects of daily life including the ability to learn from social environments, types of educational reinforcement needed to enhance learning, amount of structure preferred in an educational environment, cue salience, interactions between teachers and students, and career choices."" (Summerville, 1999). Relevancy of this appears to stem from the individual's ability to gain or retain information in the learning environment. .
Awareness of ones own cognitive style may increase the individuals ability to learn in a particular environment. Certain individuals may retrieve more information from group learning while others may learn increased knowledge from individual learning experiences. From research, we know that individuals embrace deep or surface learning strategies. Surface learning is memorization and "regurgitation- for tests, while deep learning is a critical understanding of the material. (Newman D. R., Johnson C., Webb B. & Cochrane C., 1997). Deep learning appears to be associated from active interaction in a social setting such as the classroom. Although some individuals can get the equivalent or even improved amount of information from computer based systems in an individualistic style "this is not available to everyone who needs this interaction.
