Principles of Learning

Geoff N Masters

Australian Council for Educational Research

Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., & Cocking, R.R. (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School: Expanded Edition. Washington: National Research Council..

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“Evidence from research indicates that when [the following] three principles are incorporated into teaching, student achievement improves…”

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Principle 1 Learning is enhanced when learning opportunities are tailored to individuals’ current levels of readiness.

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“The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly.”

Ausubel (1968)

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“Teachers need to be able to assess precisely the strengths and weaknesses of each individual student they teach, select the appropriate instructional methods to help them to learn, and deliver instruction in an effective and efficient manner .”

McKinsey (2007)

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“There is a good deal of evidence that learning is enhanced when teachers pay attention to the knowledge and beliefs that learners bring to the learning task, use this knowledge as a starting point for new instruction, and monitor students’ changing conceptions as instruction proceeds.”

Bransford, Brown and Cocking (2000)

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(Nussbaum, 1979)

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a traditional view of teaching and learning?

Curriculum Teach Learn Assess ReportCurriculum Teach Learn Assess Report modulemodule

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Darling-Hammond (2004) refers to this as the ‘factory assembly line model of schooling’ developed during the early years of the 20th century… “The assumption was that a sequenced set of procedures would be implemented as a child moved along the conveyor belt from 1st to 12th grade.”

a traditional view of teaching and learning?

“In elementary schools, children move from one teacher to the next every year. Every year we trash a year's worth of relationships built between children and their teacher, and we throw away all the knowledge the teacher has gained about what each child needs and can do. Each year, we tell every child and teacher to start over again.” (Marshak, 2003)

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a traditional view of teaching and learning?

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“The very best systems intervene at the levelof the individual student, developing processesand structures within schools that are able toidentify whenever a student is starting to fallbehind, and then intervening to improve thatchild’s performance.”

McKinsey (2007)

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“In Finland, special education teachers providesupport one-on-one or in small-group to students who are at risk of falling behind. Theyintervene to support 30 per cent of all studentsin a school in any given year.”

McKinsey (2007)

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In education, we often have assumed that appropriate interventions can be identified from a knowledge of group membership(age, grade, gender, Indigenous status, SES, etc)

Group-based educational solutions have, in general, failed to close gaps.

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Lesson 1: to improve student learning, teachersmust tailor their efforts (learning opportunities)to learners’ current levels of readiness

-- what students already know, believe and can do-- their interests and motivations-- their learning styles

involves finding outthese things for individual learners

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Principle 2 Learning is more effective when it leads to deep understandings of subject matter.

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“One of the hallmarks of the new science of learning is its emphasis on learning with understanding.” (Bransford, Brown and Cocking, 2000)

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The learning of facts and procedures is very important.

However, the teaching of disconnected knowledge undermines understanding and does not help students learn when and how to apply what they learn.

Underlying concepts and principles give meaning to knowledge and help learners to organise what they are learning and to understand the contexts to which their knowledge can be applied.

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Research shows that students who can recall factsand apply algorithms to solve standard ‘problems’sometimes have naïve and incorrect understandings of key principles.

These often are exposed only by asking questions in non-traditional ways.

A man holding a heavy ball runs at a constant velocity past a camera on a tripod fixed on the ground. Snapshot A shows the man releasing the ball.

ball was releasedfrom here

Snapshot B. Sketch as accurately as you can the path of the falling ball as seen by the photographer standing on the ground.

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Lesson 2: to improve student learning, teachersmust develop students’ understandings of key concepts and principles, providing multiple examples of how what they are learning can be applied

-- a deepening of the knowledge base and -- the development of a conceptual framework for subject matter

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Principle 3Learning is more effective when learners are supported to monitor and take responsibility for their own learning.

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Learning is facilitated when teachers encourage risk-taking, tolerate mistakes and provide feedback that allows learners to monitor progress.

(ie, ‘learning oriented’ rather than ‘performance oriented’ cultures) (Dweck, 1989)

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Learning is facilitated when learners are supportedto monitor their own progress over time (across the years of school)

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Lesson 3: to improve student learning, teachersmust create classroom learning cultures in which

-- there is a belief in every student’s ability to learn-- individuals feel supported to take risks-- teachers provide timely and useful feedback-- students monitor their own learning over time

In summary, highly effective teachers …

1. tailor learning opportunities to learners’ current levels of readiness (what they know and believe, their interests, motivations and learning styles)

2. develop students’ understandings of concepts and principles -- giving meaning to factual and procedural knowledge and helping students to apply what they are learning

3. create classroom learning cultures in which students feel supported, are given feedback and are encouraged to accept responsibility for and to monitor their own learning