I enjoyed the overview/review Lindemann gives of various theories of cognition. I especially appreciated the section on Perry and Magolda, as it focuses more on the age range I am looking at teaching, namely college-age students. It is important to recognize that the students we teach likely do not approach material the same way we do. Particularly of note is the fact that most of the students I (we) will be teaching view knowledge as being more absolute and being relatively untrusting of peers as sources of knowledge. Ironically, one of the primary things we do is ask students to rely on peers as a means of input on their writing.
With that in mind, I find it interesting that Lindemann omits someone I feel to be extremely important in the realm of cognition--Lev Vygotsky. Particularly important with Vygotsky's theories is the idea of scaffolding. Much of the peer work we do is based at least partially on this theory. Mainly it stands that a person can only learn so much without help. As that person gets help from teachers, peers, parents, community, etc., they are able to develop faster than if they were on their own, moving beyond their zones of proximal development (drastic abbreviation of the ideas).
The main thing I agree with Lindemann on, despite her gross oversight, is that understanding how a person learns makes a great difference in how we approach teaching.
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