Ausubel's Theory

AUSUBEL’S MEANING LEARNING THEORY AND EXPOSITORY TEACHING

Ausubel’s Meaningful Reception Learning

Meaning

– not something that resides ‘in the text ’and outside the learner.– occurs when learners actively interpret their experiences using certain internal, cognitive operations.

Ausubel’s Meaningful Reception Learning

Two distinctions of learning in classrooms

1. Reception and Discovery Learning

2. Rote and Meaningful Learning.


1. Reception and Discovery Learning

a. Reception Learning – The entire content of what is to be learned is presented to the leaner in its final form.

b. Discovery Learning – Leaners are required to rearrange a given array of information, integrate it with existing cognitive structure and reorganize and transform the integrated combination in such a way as to create desired end product or discover a missing means-end relationship.



2. Rote and Meaningful Learninga. Rote Learning – the learner has made no real connection between what was already known and what was memorized.

b. Meaningful Learning – the process of relating potentially meaningful information to what the leaner already knows in a nonarbitrary and substance way.

Expository Teaching/ Reception Teaching

- People acquire knowledge through reception rather than discovery (Ausubel 1963, 1977)

- A model made to encourage meaningful rather than rote reception learning.

- Teachers present materials in a complete, organized form, moving from broadest to simplest concepts.


- People learn by organizing new information into hierarchies or coding systems, pariculary using deductive reasoning.

- Deductive Reasoning – logically moving from a general rule or principle to specific solution (sometimes called Rule-eg method).


Advanced Organizer- An introductory statement of a relationship or a high level concept broad enough to encompass all the information that will follow.

- Conceptual bridge between new material and student’s current knowledge.


3 Main Purposes of Advanced Organizer1. Directs attention to what is important in the coming material

2. Highlights relationship among ideas that will be presented.

3. Reminds the learners of the relevant inrmation they already know


Two Categories of Advanced Organizers

1. Comparative Organizers – activate already existing schema.

2. Expository Organizers - provide new knowledge needed to understand the upcoming lesson.


Effective Organizers

a. Must be processed and understood by the students.

b. Must indicate relations among basic concepts and terms that will be used.


Phases in Expository Teaching

Advance Organizer

Present contents in terms of similarities and differences using specific examples

Relate the content back to the organizer


Most effective when

a. Teaching about relationships

b. Teaching students at or above later elementay years.

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Ausubel's Theory