The Theory of Meaningful Learning by David Ausubel

This psychologist and pedagogue developed an interesting theory on the assimilation of knowledge.

The educational system is often criticized for placing too much emphasis on subjects that are considered irrelevant and at the same time omitting essential content. For example, it may be thought that the novels that are compulsory 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..

Who was David Ausubel?

David Paul Ausubel was a psychologist and pedagogue born in 1918 who became one of the great referents of constructivist psychology. As such, placed great emphasis on elaborating teaching based on the student's knowledge..

That is, 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 or her way of thinking and act accordingly.

Thus, for Ausuel, teaching was a process by which helping the student to continue increasing and perfecting the knowledge he already has, rather than imposingrather than imposing a syllabus to be memorized. Education could not be a one-sided transmission of data.

Meaningful learning

The idea of meaningful learning with which Ausubel worked is the following: true knowledge can only be born when the new contents have a meaning in the light of the knowledge already possessed.

That is, learning means that new learning connects with previous learning; not because it is the same, but because it is related to it in a way that creates new meaning.

That is why new knowledge fits into old knowledge. the new knowledge fits into the 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 curricula, nor the old knowledge remains unaltered. In turn, the new assimilated information 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 a continuity between them and one serves as an expansion of the other.

For example, if you know Lamarck's Theory, so that you already understand a model of evolution, then it is easier to understand the Theory of Biological Evolution inherited from Darwinism.

The obliterating assimilation

But the process of meaningful learning does not end there. At first, every time one wants to recall new information, one can do so as if it were a separate entity from the more general cognitive framework in which it is embedded. However, over time, however, both contents merge into a single one, so that you can no longerso that it is no longer possible to recall only one of them as a separate entity from the other.

In a way, the new knowledge learned at the beginning is forgotten as such, and in its place appears a qualitatively different set of information. This process of forgetting is called by Ausubel "obliterating assimilation.".

What is not meaningful learning?

To better understand David Ausubel's concept of meaningful learning, it may help to know what the opposite version consists of: mechanical learning, also called rote learning by this same researcher.

It is a concept closely linked to passive learning. linked to passive learningIt is a concept closely linked to passive learning, which often occurs unintentionally through simple exposure to repeated concepts that leave their mark on our brains.

Memoristic learning

In rote learning, new contents are accumulated in the memory without being linked to the old knowledge by means of the to the old knowledge by means of meaning.

This kind of learning differs from meaningful learning not only because it does not help to expand real knowledge, but also because the new information is more volatile and easier 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 entirely uselessIt makes some sense at certain stages of development to learn certain data. However, it is insufficient to generate complex and elaborated 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 link between the contents we learn and those we have already learned. However, there is room for different nuances in this process. David Ausubel distinguishes between three kinds of meaningful learning:

Representational learning.

This is the most basic form of learning. In this form, the person gives meaning to symbols by associating them with that concrete and objective part of reality to which they refer. to which they refer, resorting to readily 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" each other. However, there is a difference between the two.

In concept learning instead of associating a symbol with a concrete, objective object, it is related to an abstract idea.In most cases, this has a very personal meaning, accessible only from our own personal experiences, something that we have lived ourselves and no one else.

For example, in order to internalize the idea of what a hyena is, it is necessary to develop an idea of "hyena-ness" that allows us to differentiate these animals from dogs, lions, etc. If we have previously seen a hyena in a documentary but could not differentiate it from a large dog, this concept will not exist, whereas a person familiar with dogs will probably become aware of these significant anatomical and behavioral differences and will be able to create this concept as a category separate from that of dogs.

Propositional learning

In this learning, knowledge arises from the logical combination of concepts. Therefore, it is the most elaborated form of meaningful learning, and from it one is able to make very complex scientific, mathematical and philosophical appreciations. As it is a type of learning that demands more effort, it is done voluntarily and consciously. Of course, it makes use of the two previous types of meaningful learning.