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Ausubel's Meaningful Reception Theory is concerned with how students learn large
amounts of meaningful material from verbal/textual presentations in a school setting.
Ausubel proposed that learning is based upon the kinds of superordinate,
representational, and combinatorial processes that occur during the reception of
information. A primary process in learning is subsumption in which new material is
related to relevant ideas in the existing cognitive structure on a non-verbatim basis.
Meaningful learning results when new information is acquired by linking the new
information in the learner's own cognitive structure.
Ausubel indicates that his theory applies only to reception (expository) learning in school
settings. He distinguishes reception learning from rote and discovery learning. Rote
learning does not involve subsumption and discovery learning requires the learner to
discover information through problem solving.
Ausubel believed that children have a natural tendency to organize information into a
meaningful whole. Children should first learn a general concept and then move toward
specifics.
1. The most general ideas of a subject should be presented first and then
progressively differentiated in terms of detail and specificity.
2. Instructional materials should attempt to integrate new material with previously
presented information through comparisons and cross-referencing of new and old
ideas.
3. Instructors should incorporate advance organizers when teaching a new concept.
4. Instructors should use a number of examples and focus on both similarities and
differences.
5. Classroom application of Ausubel's theory should discourage rote learning of
materials that can be learned more meaningfully.
6. The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already
knows.
Subsumption Theory (D. Ausubel)
Overview:
Ausubel's theory is concerned with how individuals learn large amounts of meaningful
material from verbal/textual presentations in a school setting (in contrast to theories
developed in the context of laboratory experiments). According to Ausubel, learning is
based upon the kinds of superordinate, representational, and combinatorial processes that
occur during the reception of information. A primary process in learning is subsumption
in which new material is related to relevant ideas in the existing cognitive structure on a
substantive, non-verbatim basis. Cognitive structures represent the residue of all learning
experiences; forgetting occurs because certain details get integrated and lose their
individual identity.
"These organizers are introduced in advance of learning itself, and are also presented at a
higher level of abstraction, generality, and inclusiveness; and since the substantive
content of a given organizer or series of organizers is selected on the basis of its
suitability for explaining, integrating, and interrelating the material they precede, this
strategy simultaneously satisfies the substantive as well as the programming criteria for
enhancing the organization strength of cognitive structure." (1963 , p. 81).
Ausubel emphasizes that advance organizers are different from overviews and summaries
which simply emphasize key ideas and are presented at the same level of abstraction and
generality as the rest of the material. Organizers act as a subsuming bridge between new
learning material and existing related ideas.
Ausubel's theory has commonalities with Gestalt theories and those that involve schema
(e.g., Bartlett) as a central principle. There are also similarities with Bruner's "spiral
learning" model , although Ausubel emphasizes that subsumption involves reorganization
of existing cognitive structures not the development of new structures as constructivist
theories suggest. Ausubel was apparently influenced by the work of Piaget on cognitive
development.
Scope/Application:
Ausubel clearly indicates that his theory applies only to reception (expository) learning in
school settings. He distinguishes reception learning from rote and discovery learning; the
former because it doesn't involve subsumption (i.e., meaningful materials) and the latter
because the learner must discover information through problem solving. A large number
of studies have been conducted on the effects of advance organizers in learning (see
Ausubel, 1968, 1978).
Example:
Ausubel (1963, p. 80) cites Boyd's textbook of pathology as an example of progressive
differentiation because the book presents information according to general processes
(e.g., inflammation, degeneration) rather than by describing organ systems in isolation.
He also cites the Physical Science Study Committee curriculum which organizes material
according to the major ideas of physics instead of piece-meal discussion of principle or
phenomenon (p. 78).
Principles:
1. The most general ideas of a subject should be presented first and then progressively
differentiated in terms of detail and specificity.
David Ausubel
Overview :
Ausubel's theory is concerned with how individuals learn large amounts of meaningful
material from verbal/textual presentations in a school setting (in contrast to theories
developed in the context of laboratory experiments). According to Ausubel , learning is
based upon the kinds of superordinate , representational, and combinatorial processes that
occur during the reception of information. A primary process in learning is subsumption
in which new material is related to relevant ideas in the existing cognitive structure on a
substantive, non-verbatim basis. Cognitive structures represent the residue of all learning
experiences; forgetting occurs because certain details get integrated and lose their
individual identity.
"These organizers are introduced in advance of learning itself, and are also presented at a
higher level of abstraction, generality, and inclusiveness; and since the substantive
content of a given organizer or series of organizers is selected on the basis of its
suitability for explaining, integrating, and interrelating the material they precede, this
strategy simultaneously satisfies the substantive as well as the programming criteria for
enhancing the organization strength of cognitive structure." ( 1963 , p. 81).
Ausubel emphasizes that advance organizers are different from overviews and summaries
which simply emphasize key ideas and are presented at the same level of abstraction and
generality as the rest of the material. Organizers act as a subsuming bridge between new
learning material and existing related ideas.
Ausubel's theory has commonalities with Gestalt theories and those that involve schema
(e.g., Bartlett ) as a central principle. There are also similarities with Bruner's "spiral
learning" model , although Ausubel emphasizes that subsumption involves reorganization
of existing cognitive structures not the development of new structures as constructivist
theories suggest. Ausubel was apparently influenced by the work of Piaget on cognitive
development.
Scope/Application:
Ausubel clearly indicates that his theory applies only to reception (expository) learning in
school settings. He distinguishes reception learning from rote and discovery learning; the
former because it doesn't involve subsumption (i.e., meaningful materials) and the latter
because the learner must discover information through problem solving. A large number
of studies have been conducted on the effects of advance organizers in learning (see
Ausubel , 1968, 1978).
Example :
Principles :
1. The most general ideas of a subject should be presented first and then progressively
differentiated in terms of detail and specificity.
References:
Ausubel , D. (1963). The Psychology of Meaningful Verbal Learning. New York : Grune
& Stratton.
Ausubel , D., Novak, J., & Hanesian , H. (1978). Educational Psychology: A Cognitive
View (2nd Ed.). New York : Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
David P. Ausubel was born in 1918 and grew up in Brooklyn, NY. He attended the
University of Pennsylvania, taking the pre-medical course and majoring in Psychology.
After graduating from the medical school at Middlesex University, he completed a
rotating internship at Gouveneur Hospital (NY City Department of Hospitals) located in
the lower east side of Manhattan, including the Little Italy and Chinatown of 1944.
His military service began then with the US Public Health Service. He was assigned to
UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration) in Stuttgart,
Germany working with displaced persons. Three psychiatric residences followed: with
the US Public Health Service in Kentucky, the Buffalo Psychiatric Center, and Bronx
Psychiatric Center. With assistance from the GI Bill, he earned a PH D in Developmental
Psychology from Columbia University. A series of psychological professorships ensued
at schools of education: the University of Illinois, University of Toronto, and in the
European universities at Berne, the Salesian University at Rome, and the Officer's
Training College at Munich. He received a Fulbright Research Grant in 1957-58 to do a
comparative study of the vocational motivation of Maoris and Europeans.
In 1973 he retired from academic life to devote full time to his psychiatric practice. His
principal interests in psychiatry have been general psychopathology, ego development,
drug addiction, and forensic psychiatry. Dr. Ausubel published extensively : t extbooks in
developmental and educational psychology and books on specialized topics such as drug
addiction, psychopathology, and ego development, and over 150 articles in psychological
and psychiatric journals. In 1976 he received the Thorndike Award from the American
Psychological Association for "Distinguished Psychological Contributions to Education".
He retired from professional life in 1994 to devote himself full time, at the age of 75, to
writing. Four books resulted.
EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
DAVID AUSUBEL
Ausubel was influenced by Piaget’s cognitive development theory. He was very active in
his field in the 1950’s to 1970’s. He developed his instructional models based on
cognitive structures.
His Theory
Ausubel’s theory is involved with how individuals learn large amounts of "meaningful"
material from verbal/textual lessons in school. This is in contrast to theories developed in
the laboratory.
In Ausubel’s subsumption theory, he contended that "the most important single factor
influencing learning is what the learner already knows." (Ausubel, 1968) A primary
process in learning is subsumption in which new material is related to relevant ideas in
the existing cognitive structures. A major instructional mode proposed by Ausubel is the
use of advance organizers. He emphasizes that advance organizers are different from
overviews and summaries which simply emphasize key ideas and details in an arbitrary
manner. Organizers act as a "subsuming bridge" (Ausubel, 1963) between new learning
material and existing related ideas.
Scope/Application
Ausubel specifies that his theory applies only to reception (expository) learning in school
settings. He states that there are differences between reception learning and rote and
discovery learning. Rote learning does not involve subsumption (i.e., meaningful
materials) and in discovery learning the learner must discover information through
problem solving.
Principles
• The most general ideas of a subject should be presented first and them
progressively differentiated in terms of detail and specifics.
• Instructional materials should attempt to integrate new material with previously
presented information through comparisons and cross-referencing of new and old
ideas.
Learning theory
David Ausubel and others (Ausubel 1963; 1968; Ausubel, Novak and Hanesian 1978)
formulated a learning theory that has shown great promise for practical use in the
educational forum. The primary idea of Ausubel's theory is that learning of new
knowledge is dependent on what is already known. In other words, construction of
knowledge begins with our observation and recognition of events and objects through
concepts we already possess. We learn by constructing a network of concepts and adding
to them. A concept map is a instructional device that uses this aspect of the theory to
allow instruction of material to learners of different prior knowledge.
Both rote and meaningful learning may be achieved no matter what instructional strategy
is used (Novak and Gowin 1984). Either reception learning (passive listener with teacher-
directed agenda) or discovery learning (active learning where the learner chooses
information to be learned) may result in meaningful learning. Therefore, its not
necessarily how information is presented but how the new information is integrated into
the old knowledge structure that is crucial in order for meaningful learning to occur.
A third key idea of Ausubel's theory is that concepts are of different depth. That is,
concepts can range from the very general to the very specific. Furthermore, general
concepts include (subsume) less general concepts which include most specific concepts.
As such, concepts can be progressively differentiated by their level of specificity. In
order to learn meaningfully, concludes Ausubel, the learner must discern the level of new
concepts and then place them within progressively inclusive levels of specificity in their
knowledge structure.
"Ausubel's "meaningful reception learning"
Ref: http://www.education.indiana.edu/~p540/webcourse/cip.html
You probably noticed that Ausubel's theory has at least one thing in common
with Gagne's: that it concerns itself primarily with intentional, or "school"
learning. In that way, both theories differ from behaviorism and cognitive
information processing, which attempt to explain aspects of all human learning or
memory. Thus, Ausubel's theory, like Gagne's, suggests how teachers or
instructional designers can best arrange the conditions that facilitate learning for
students.
Correlative subsumption. Now, let's suppose I encounter a new kind of tree that
has red leaves, rather than green. In order to accommodate this new information, I
have to alter or extend my concept of tree to include the possibility of red leaves.
I have learned
about this new kind of tree through the process of correlative subsumption. In a
sense, you might say that this is more "valuable" learning than that of derivative
subsumption, since it enriches the higher-level concept.
Superordinate learning. Imagine that I was well acquainted with maples, oaks,
apple trees, etc., but I did not know, until I was taught, that these were all
examples of deciduous trees. In this case, I already knew a lot of examples of the
concept, but I did not know the concept itself until it was taught to me. This is
superordinate learning.
Combinatorial learning. The first three learning processes all involve new
information that "attaches" to a hierarchy at a level that is either below or above
previously acquired knowledge. Combinatorial learning is different; it describes a
process by which the new idea is derived from another idea that is neither higher
nor lower in the hierarchy, but at the same level (in a different, but related,
"branch"). You could think of this as learning by analogy. For example, to teach
someone about pollination in plants, you might relate it to previously acquired
knowledge of how fish eggs are fertilized.
The advance organizer. This seems to be the most enduring Ausubelian idea,
even though it can be tricky to implement. There is a fair amount of intuitive
appeal to the idea of epitomizing an idea before trying to teach the details. We've
all had the experience of needing to understand the "big picture" before we can
make sense of the details. You could think of the advance organizer as Ausubel's
notion of how
to provide this.
cognitive structure
events or objects
Meaningful Learning
Non-arbitrary, non-verbatim, substantive incorporation of new knowledge
into cognitive structure.
Deliberate effort to link new knowledge with higher order concepts in
cognitive structure
Learning related to experiences with events or objects.
Affective commitment to relate new knowledge to prior learning.