The Theory of Meaningful Learning by David Ausubel

The education 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 required reading in high schools fail to connect well with young students, being old and not set in the present.

This type of criticism connects with one of the most important theories of constructivist psychology: the Theory of Meaningful Learning by David Ausubel.

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, put a lot of emphasis on developing the teaching from the knowledge that the student has.

In other words, the first step in the task of teaching should be to find out what the student knows in order to know the logic behind their 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 an agenda that must be memorized. Education could not be a one-way data transmission.

Meaningful learning

The idea of ​​meaningful learning that Ausubel worked with is the following: true knowledge can only be born when the new content has a meaning in light of the knowledge already have.

In other words, learning means that new learning connects with previous ones; not because they are the same, but because they have to do with them in a way that creates a new meaning.

So new knowledge fits into old knowledge, but the latter, at the same time, is reconfigured by the former. In other words, neither the new learning is assimilated in the literal way in which it appears in the study plans, nor is the old knowledge 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.

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 the Lamarck theory, so that a model of evolution is already understood, then it is easier to understand the Theory of Biological Evolution heir to Darwinism.

Obliterative assimilation

But the meaningful learning process doesn't end there. At first, each time you want to remember new information, you can act as if it were a separate entity from the more general cognitive framework in which it is embedded. However, with the passage of time both contents merge into one, so that it is no longer possible to evoke only one, 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 "obliterating assimilation".

What is not meaningful learning?

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

It is a very linked to passive learning, which many times 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 by means of signification.

This kind of learning differs from meaningful learning not only because it does not help expand the real knowledge, but also because the new information is more volatile and easier to 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, machine learning is not useless the wholeInstead, it makes sense at certain stages of development to learn certain facts. However, it is insufficient to generate complex and elaborate knowledge.

The types of meaningful learning

Meaningful learning is opposed to the previous type, fundamentally, because for it to occur it is necessary actively seek a personal link between the content we learn and those we already had learned. Now, in this process there is room to find different nuances. David Ausubel distinguishes between three kinds of meaningful learning:

Learning representations

It is the most basic form of learning. In her, the person gives meaning to symbols associating them to that specific and objective part of reality to which they refer, drawing on readily available concepts.

Learning concepts

This type of meaningful learning is similar to the previous one and relies on it to exist, so that both complement and "fit" with each other. 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 and no one else have experienced.

For example, to get 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 previously we have 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 the Dogs will probably be aware of these significant anatomical and behavioral differences and will be able to create that concept as a separate category from that of dogs. dogs.

Learning propositions

In this learning the knowledge arises from the logical combination of concepts. For this reason, it constitutes the most elaborate form of meaningful learning, and from it it is capable of making very complex scientific, mathematical and philosophical appraisals. As it is a type of learning that demands more effort, it is done voluntarily and consciously. Of course, it uses the two previous types of meaningful learning.