Schema theory

[geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA]

 Sella Rush defined "schema theory" as a way to <<give
 people a structure on which to hang new knowledge--that is,
 help people figure out how to relate new knowledge to what
 they already know.>>

 That's basically the way I understand it, with one
 exception: you can either relate new information to an
 existing schema, or teach your audience a new schema
 (particularly if they lack a pre-existing schema). My
 favorite example occurred in a Star Trek movie (number
 IV?): Scottie walks up to a Mac computer and tells it to
 display some information. Nothing happens, so after an
 awkward pause, a kindly engineer tells him that he has to
 use the mouse... so he picks up the mouse and speaks into
 the mouse. Scottie's schema is that computers are
 voice-activated, and that if the computer can't hear
 commands directly from the air, a natural engineering
 solution would be to use some kind of microphone. The
 average techwhirler has a very different schema (use a
 mouse to point and click), and if told to use the mouse,
 would happily point and click. Different schemata,
 different learning responses.

 --Geoff Hart     @8^{)}     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
 Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.

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