The educational system is often criticized for placing too much emphasis on subjects that are considered not very relevant and at the same time omitting essential content. For example, it may be thought that novels that are required reading in high schools fail to connect well with young students, as they are old and not set in the present.
This type of criticism connects with one of the most important theories of constructivist psychology: David Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning Theory
David Paul Ausubel was a psychologist and pedagogue born in 1918 who became one of the great leaders of constructivist psychology. As such, placed a lot of emphasis on developing teaching based on the knowledge that the student has
That is to say, the first step in the task of teaching should be to find out what the student knows in order to know the logic behind his way of thinking and act accordingly.
In this way, for Ausuel, teaching was a process by which the student is helped to continue increasing and perfecting the knowledge they already have, instead of imposing a syllabus that must be memorized. Education could not be a unilateral transmission of data.
Meaningful learning
The idea of meaningful learning with which Ausubel worked is the following: true knowledge can only be born when new content has meaning in light of the knowledge one already has.
That is, learning means that new learning connects with previous learning; not because they are the same, but because they have to do with them in a way that creates a new meaning.
That’s why new knowledge fits into old knowledge, but the latter, at the same time, is reconfigured by the former That is to say, neither the new learning is assimilated in the literal way in which it appears in the study plans, nor the old knowledge remains unaltered. In turn, the new information assimilated makes previous knowledge more stable and complete.
The Assimilation Theory
The Assimilation Theory allows us to understand the fundamental pillar of meaningful learning: How new knowledge is integrated into old knowledge
Assimilation occurs when new information is integrated into a more general cognitive structure, so that there is continuity between them and one serves as an expansion of the other.
For example, if Lamarck’s Theory is known, so that a model of evolution is already understood, then it is easier to understand the Theory of Biological Evolution inherited from Darwinism.
Obliterating assimilation
But the process of meaningful learning does not end there. At first, every time you want to remember new information, you can do so as if it were a separate entity from the more general cognitive framework in which it is integrated. However, Over time, both contents merge into one so that only one can no longer be evoked by understanding it as an entity separate from the other.
In a way, the new knowledge that was learned at the beginning is forgotten as such, and in its place appears a set of information that is qualitatively different. This process of forgetting is called by Ausubel “obliterative assimilation.”
What is not meaningful learning?
To better understand David Ausubel’s concept of meaningful learning, it may help to know what it consists of or the opposite version: mechanical learning, also called rote learning by this same researcher.
This is a very linked to passive learning which often occurs even unintentionally due to simple exposure to repeated concepts that leave their mark on our brain.
Rote learning
In rote learning, new content accumulates in memory without being linked to old knowledge through meaning.
This type of learning differs from meaningful learning not only because it does not help expand real knowledge, but also because new information is more volatile and easy to forget.
For example, learning the names of the Autonomous Communities of Spain by memorizing the words in a list is an example of rote learning.
However, mechanical learning is not useless at all, but it makes some sense at certain stages of development to learn certain facts. However, it is insufficient to generate complex and elaborate knowledge.
Types of meaningful learning
Meaningful learning is opposed to the previous type, fundamentally, because for it to occur it is necessary to actively seek a personal connection between the content we learn and those we had already learned. Now, in this process there is room to find different nuances. David Ausubel distinguishes between three kinds of meaningful learning:
Representation learning
This is the most basic form of learning. In her, The person gives meaning to symbols by associating them with that concrete and objective part of reality to which they refer, resorting to easily available concepts.
Concept learning
This type of meaningful learning is similar to the previous one and relies on it to exist, so that both complement and “fit” together. However, there is a difference between the two.
In learning concepts, Instead of associating a symbol with a concrete and objective object, it is related to an abstract idea something that in most cases has a very personal meaning, accessible only from our own personal experiences, something that we have experienced and no one else.
For example, to internalize the idea of what a hyena is, it is necessary to develop an idea of “hyena” that allows these animals to be differentiated from dogs, lions, etc. If we have previously seen a hyena in a documentary but could not differentiate it from a large dog, that concept will not exist, while a person familiar with dogs will probably realize those significant anatomical and behavioral differences and will be able to create that concept as a category separate from that of dogs.
Proposition learning
In this learning the knowledge arises from the logical combination of concepts Therefore, it constitutes the most elaborate form of meaningful learning, and from it one is able to make very complex scientific, mathematical and philosophical assessments. As it is a type of learning that requires more effort, it is done voluntarily and consciously. Of course, it uses the previous two types of meaningful learning.
