Is Schema Theory Helpful in Teaching and Learning Based on Visualizing Research?

Introduction

With the development of technology, many online platforms and intelligent devices can help teachers and students in class. Especially during the period of dealing with Covid-19, many classes have transformed from traditional classes into online classes. Rapid advances in information technology, such as MOOC, Small Private Online Course (SPOC), Tencent class, and flipped classroom have also contributed to the shift (Qi et al., 2018). Furthermore, electronic products can also be used in learning, such as iPad, computers, and smartphones. Online classes have some advantages: they do not have space limitations, which mean people can have classes everywhere. However, disadvantages also existed in online classes. Lacking face-to-face supervision from teachers, the classroom participation and enthusiasm of students will not be high, and the knowledge students acquired from class is easy to forget. Therefore, certain methods need to be taken in teaching to improve the learning effect. From this visualizing research, it is found that some research has been done on schema theory used in teaching and learning. How does this theory benefit teaching and learning? This is the primary motivation of this study.

Schema theory is a fundamental theory in cognitive linguistics. It represents a dynamic construction in the brain that can connect new information with the old information. When people learn new knowledge, they link it with their old information because new knowledge can store in the brain with the interaction with previous knowledge. It is a set of logical and normal ideas which forms a network of relationships that constitute people’s knowledge and understanding structure (Ephraim & Theordore, 2017). If their previous knowledge is activated before classes, they will more easily gain new knowledge than people who do not have previous knowledge that is activated (Yu, 2019). In this way, teachers consider schema theory in their educational methods, then the input of new knowledge would become easy and cozy, and the consolidation of knowledge would improve.

Some researchers have proposed some ideas to consider schema theory in their courses in different fields of education. It is essential to recognize the significance of schema in education (Kluen et al., 2017). However, the existing areas in education about schema theory are so heterogeneous and scattered. Moreover, knowledge forgetting is also a difficult problem to be solved in current teaching. Although some researchers have studied knowledge forgetting (Zhao et al., 2019; Lv & Shen, 2021; Meng & Tang, 2021), few scholars associate the cognitive model of schema theory with knowledge forgetting to explore the effect of schema theory in avoiding knowledge forgetting. Therefore, this paper summarizes some feasible suggestions to reduce knowledge forgetting through schema theory, but first of all, this paper makes a visual analysis of the research theme of the application of schema theory in education, combs the research keywords, countries, leading authors, and organizations in this field, and then tries to explore the two problems of “how to use schema theory to improve teaching effects” and “how to utilize schema theory to reduce knowledge forgetting” through the analysis of key literature. Finally, ideas for follow-up research and suggestions for practical educational work are provided.