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Ausubel Learning Theory

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1K views6 pages

Ausubel Learning Theory

psychology notes

Uploaded by

alexandernyamari012
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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AUSUBEL'S LEARNING THEORY

David Paul Ausubel was an American psychologist whose most


significant contribution to the fields of educational psychology,
cognitive science, and science education. Ausubel believed that
understanding concepts, principles, and ideas are achieved
through deductive reasoning. Similarly, he believed in the idea of
meaningful learning as opposed to rote memorization. The most
important single factor influencing learning is what the learner
already knows. This led Ausubel to develop an interesting theory
of meaningful learning and advance organizers.

Learning Theory
Ausubel's believes that learning of new knowledge relies on what
is already known. That is,construction of knowledge begins with
our observation and recognition of events and objects through
concepts we already have. We learn by constructing a network of
concepts and
adding to them. Ausubel also stresses the importance of reception
rather than discovery learning, and meaningful rather than rote
learning. He declares that his theory applies only to reception
learning in school settings. He didn’t say, however, that discovery
learning doesn’t work; but rather that it was not efficient. In other
words, Ausubel believed that understanding concepts, principles,
and ideas are achieved through deductive reasoning Ausubel was
influenced by the teachings of Jean Piaget. Similar to Piaget’s
ideas of
conceptual schemes, Ausubel related this to his explanation of
how people acquire knowledge.

Meaningful learning
Ausebel’s theory also focuses on meaningful learning. According
to his theory, to learn meaningfully, individuals must relate new
knowledge to relevant concepts they already know. New
knowledge must interact with the learner’s knowledge structure.

Meaningful learning can be contrasted with rote learning. he


believed in the idea of meaningful learning as opposed to rote
memorization. The latter can also incorporate new information into
the pre-existing knowledge structure but without interaction. Rote
memory is used to recall sequences of objects, such as phone
numbers. However, it is of no use to the learner in understanding
the relationships between the objects.
Because meaningful learning involves a recognition of the links
between concepts, it has the privilege of being transferred to long-
term memory. The most crucial element in meaningful
learning is how the new information is integrated into the old
knowledge structure. It is about subsuming new ideas into the pre-
existing ones. That is why this theor is also referred to as
SUBSUMPTION THEORY.

The 2 Types of Subsumption Theory

1. Correlative Subsumption
The new material is an extension of the already grasped
knowledge.
2. Derivative Subsumption
The new material derives from the existing structure, and can
be linked to other concepts or lead to new interpretations.

The 4 Key Principles of Subsumption Theory

The key principles of the Subsumption Learning Theory are the


following:

1. Learners should be presented with the most general


concepts first, and then their analysis.
2. The instructional materials should include new, as well as
previously acquired information. Comparisons between new
and old concepts are crucial.
3. Existing cognitive structures should not be developed, but
merely reorganized within the learners’ memory.
4. The role of the instructor is to bridge the gap between what’s
already known and what is about to be learned.

Accordingly, Ausubel believes that knowledge is hierarchically


organized; that new information is meaningful to the extent that it
can be related (attached, anchored) to what is already known.

Advance Organizers
Ausubel advocates the use of advance organizers as a
mechanism to help to link new learning material with existing
related ideas. Advance organizers are helpful in the way that they
help
the process of learning when difficult and complex material are
introduced. This is satisfied through two conditions:

1. The student must process and understand the information


presented in the organizer-- this increases the effectiveness of the
organizer itself.

2. The organizer must indicate the relations among the basic


concepts and terms that will be used.

Ausubel’s theory of advance organizers fall into categories:


Advanced Organizers –that should always be given prior
instruction- can be divided into the following 4 types:

1. Expository Organizers that provide a description of new


knowledge.
2. Narrative Organizers that present the new information in a
story format.
3. Skimming Organizers that flick through the information.
4. Graphic Organizers that include pictographs, descriptive or
conceptual patterns and concept maps.

But I would to reduce them to two categories: comparative and


expository

Comparative Organizers
The main goal of comparative organizers is to activate existing
schemas and is used as reminders to bring into the working
memory of what you may not realize is relevant. A comparative
Organizer is also used both to integrate as well as discriminate. It
“integrates
new ideas with basically similar concepts in cognitive structure, as
well as increase discriminability between new and existing ideas
which are essentially different but confusably similar”

Expository Organizers
“In contrast, expository organizers provide new knowledge that
students will need to understand the upcoming information”.
Expository organizers are often used when the new learning
material is unfamiliar to the learner. They often relate what the
learner already
knows with the new and unfamiliar material—this in turn is aimed
to make the unfamiliar material more plausible to the learner.

Ausubel Learning Model


Ausubel believed that learning proceeds in a top-down or
deductive manner. Ausubel's theory consists of of three phases.
The main elements of ausubel teaching method are shown below
in the table:
PHASE ONE PHASE TWO PHASE THREE
Advance Organizer Presentation of Strengthening
Learning task or Cognitive
Material Organization
Clarify aim of the Make the Relate new
lesson organization of the information
new to advance organize
material explicit
Present the lesson Make logical order of Promote active
learning material reception
explicit learning
Relate organizer to Present material in
students’ prior terms of basic
knowledge similarities and
differences by using
examples, and
engage students in
meaningful learning
activities

Educational Implications of Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning


Theory

Ausubel has contributed a lot with his theories in the educational


sector. He felt that for proper learning, students must connect their
new knowledge with the previous knowledge gained. The
educational implications of Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning Theory
are:

1. The teachers should take into account what was obtained by


students previously and try to relate it to the new knowledge.
2. Teachers should use phases, materials, contents, and ideas
that connect with prior knowledge while establishing new
knowledge.
3. Students should be able to relate what’s being taught with
their previous knowledge.
4. Teachers should use techniques and methods of teaching
that will gain the interest of the students in the learning
process.
5. The learning material presented to the learners should be
clear and organized for them to understand.
6. Teachers should use real-life examples to gather the
attention of the students and make the teaching interesting.
7. For meaningful learning, there should be motivation in the
students which the teachers should focus on developing in
the students.

Ausubel believed that learning of new knowledge depends on the


knowledge already known. He believed in the idea of meaningful
learning. This, according to his theory, for meaningful learning,
people should connect their new knowledge with the concepts they
are already aware of. The most important factor of this theory is to
relate the newly gained information with the old information.

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