Schema Activation

Theory

Schema activation refers to the process of activation of prior knowledge stored in schematic form. This knowledge forms a context in which new information is integrated and can therefore have very strong facilitative effects on learning.1) Wetzels, Sandra A.J., Liesbeth Kester, and Jeroen J.G. van Merrienboer. Adapting prior knowledge activation: Mobilisation, perspective taking, and learners' prior knowledge. Computers in Human Behavior 27, no. 1: 16-21, January 2011

Practice

Currently proposed prior knowledge activation techniques are1):

Mobilization - learners are asked to bring to mind or recall all they know about a certain domain,

Perspective taking - learners are asked to approach a text from a certain perspective (so they can pay attention to certain information).

Research results