Schema Theory

Schema theory emphasizes on the importance of generic knowledge that will help the formation of mental representations. In the educational process, the task of teachers would be to help students develop new schemata and establish connections between them –something that will eventually improve their memory. Of course, background information and prior knowledge are vitally important, as well. Schema theory can been applied in various areas, such as:

Mathematical problem solving A research showed that 3rd graders taught to use schemata to solve mathematical problems performed better than their peers who were taught to solve them in four steps (read – plan to solve – solve – check).