Ausubel: Meaningful Learning Theory, Subsumpsion Theory, & Motivational Theory

Rote = mechanical or habitual repetition of something to be learned.

Exposition = a comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory.

Ausubel

Who is the theorist?

Biographical information

What is the theory???

Key concepts of the theory?

What relationship do these theorists see between theory and instruction?

What are the practical applications (or are these even considered)?

What is the role of the learner?

What is the role of the instructor and others, if applicable?

How does learning take place?

Possible learning activities?

Title and year of pertinent publications.

David Ausubel – Meaningful Learning Theory Biographical information:

David Paul Ausubel is an American psychologist and educator. He was born in the United States, New York in October 25,
1918, grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and died July 9, 2008. Ausubel went to the University of Pennsylvania to get his
bachelor degree in Psychology and Pre-Med, and he graduated in 1939. Then he graduated from medical school in 1943
at Middlesex University. Then he earned his PhD in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University in 1950. He
served as a faculty in several university and retired from the academic work in 1973. Then he started to practice
psychiatry.

Ausubel was influenced by the teaching of Jean Piaget. His ideas are similar to Piaget's ideas of conceptual schemes;
Ausubel related this to his explanation of how people acquire the knowledge. David Ausubel theorized that "People
acquire[d] knowledge primarily by being exposed directly to it rather than through discover" (Flok, 2010, p.288).

Ausubel published a number of books in developmental and educational psychology, and he has more than 150 articles
that were published in good journals. In 1976, he was awarded the Thorndike award by the American Psychological
Association for “Distinguished Psychological Contributions to Education.”

Ausubel Theories:
1- Meaningful Verbal Learning:

According to Ausubel, meaning is created through some forms of representational equivalence between language and
mental context. There are two processes involved:

First: Reception, which is employed in meaningful verbal learning.

Second: Discovery, which is involved in concept formation and problem solving.

Ausubel’s work is usually compared to Bruner’s work because both of them held similar views about the hierarchical
nature of knowledge. However, Bruner gave more emphasis on discovery process. On the other hand, Ausubel was
strongly oriented toward the verbal learning methods of speaking, reading, and writing.

2- Subsumption Theory:

Ausubel subsumption theory is based on the idea that an individual's existing cognitive structure (organization, stability
and clarity of knowledge in a particular subject) is the principal and basic factor influencing the learning and retention of
meaningful new material. It describes the importance of relating new ideas to a student’s existing knowledge base
before the new material is presented. This theory is applied in the 'advance organizer' strategy developed by Ausubel.
From Ausubel’s perspective, this is the meaning of learning.

When information is subsumed into the learner's cognitive structure it is organized hierarchically. New material can be
subsumed in two different ways, and for both of these, no meaningful learning takes place unless a stable cognitive
structure exists. This existing structure provides a framework into which the new learning is related, hierarchically, to
the previous information or concepts in the individual's cognitive structure. Ausubel, whose theories are particularly
relevant for educators, considered neo-behaviorist views inadequate. Although he recognized other forms of learning,
his work focused on verbal learning. He dealt with the nature of meaning, and believes the external world acquires
meaning only as it is converted into the content of consciousness by the learner.

When one encounters completely new unfamiliar material, then rote learning, as opposed to meaningful learning, takes
place. This rote learning may eventually contribute to the construction of a new cognitive structure which can later be
used in meaningful learning. The two types of subsumption are: 1. Correlative subsumption - new material is an
extension or elaboration of what is already known. 2. Derivative subsumption - new material or relationships can be
derived from the existing structure. Information can be moved in the hierarchy, or linked to other concepts or
information to create new interpretations or meaning. From this type of subsumption, completely new concepts can
emerge, and previous concepts can be changed or expanded to include more of the previously existing information. This
is "figuring out."
There are three prerequisites in order to significant learning to occur:

1- The material itself must have a logical meaning,

2- Learner must be proactive in the new concept of knowledge and there is adequate contact between the
tendencies,

3- Learners’ existing cognitive structures must have the proper assimilation of new knowledge and ideas.

3- Motivation Theory:

Ausubel's learning theory also attaches great importance to student motivation. According to his view, by the cognitive
drive achievement motivation, self-improving internal driving force, and the subsidiary internal driving composition.
Cognitive drive is a student desire knowledge, understanding and mastery of knowledge and representations and the
need to solve the problem. This inner driving force began in the curious tendency of students, and to explore,
manipulate, understand and cope with the psychological environment, the tendency is one of the most important and
most stable motivations. Self-improvement is the internal driving force by virtue of their ability of students to win the
corresponding position or achievement needs. Subsidiary of individuals in order to maintain internal driving means or
the authority of their elders (parents or teachers praise or recognition, and performance out of a well to study or work
needs, is an external motivation, age has a more obvious characteristics. learning motivation will not have a direct
impact on learning, but through an indirect way of enhancing and promoting learning impact. Research indicates that:
motivation, moderate-intensity excitation, or to arouse, to learn with good results.

Application:

Ausubel indicates that his theory applies 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.

Principles for Application:

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.
Example of applying different kind of learning:

Rote and Meaningful Learning

In an attempt to acquire meaningful knowledge, the learner can approach the task in two different ways. If a person
attempts to memorize his/her driver’s license number without relating the numbers to anything more than a random
series, that is rote learning. On the other hand, if a person attempts to create some connection to something that they
already know, they experience meaningful learning. An example might be a man memorizing a long distance phone call
by recognizing that the ten digit number is actually three series of three, three, and four digits. Furthermore, the
numbers (to him) can be recalled because he is familiar with that state’s area code. The middle set of numbers is the
same as the aircraft he usually flies in (747 or 727 for example), and the last four digits are a familiar high school
basketball score (50-61, the home team lost). Materials learned that have relation to experiences or memories that are
firm in the person’s memory are more likely to be retained. Whereas, materials that are learned isolated as rote learning
may tend to be forgotten quickly (Thompson, 2004).

Is meaningful learning just what rote learning is not? This is true only if you keep in mind that meaningful learning is very
connected to the process of knowledge retention within cognitive structures. Rote memory works at times for short
term memory as we know from casual meetings with new people and exposure to a new joke. However, the knowledge
can only be effectively retained if it is meaningful, and therefore must be processed in a way that it can be subsumed
and anchored in the mind (Thompson, 2004).

Reception and Discovery Learning

Supporters of discovery learning declare that this type of learning is where real knowledge is obtained, where
conservation of memory is ensured, and where sub verbal awareness is first encountered. Bruner is a leading advocate
of discovery learning and has said that the most meaningful learning takes place when it is motivated by the students
own curiosity and uncovered by individual or group exploration. Ausubel contends that those who stand behind
discovery learning and criticize expository teaching are missing most important point. That is, whether the method of
learning is discovery or reception does not determine the meaningfulness of the material (Good & Brophy, 1990, p. 192).

Ausubel’s most common critique of discovery learning is that although it can be effective in certain situations, for the
most part it is unwieldy and overly time (Langford, 1989, p. 56). Additionally, unless the teacher provides a greater
context the learning is unorganized and will have no better chance of retention than rote memorization of a procedure.
Instead, expository teaching, the flip side of reception learning, can be made to be meaningful if the teacher is
conscientious about how the material is presented (Thompson, 2004).

If Ausubel is an advocate of expository teaching and reception learning, the question remains, "Does he have a method
to make lecture a meaningful learning experience?" It is in fact the case that Ausubel has described two very powerful
methods that educators can use to help prepare the students for meaningful learning.
Signaling is the first and most basic concept that Ausubel prescribes. It is a tool familiar to most of us and can be as
simple as numbering the main points of the presentation. This is known as specifying the structure of relations. Other
types of signaling include (1) premature presentations, (2) summary statements, and (3) point words that "indicate the
author’s perspective or emphasize important information (Good & Brophy, 1990, p. 200).

The most controversial and noteworthy method Ausubel has introduced is "advanced organizers." These are not merely
previews of the subject material that is to be presented. Advanced organizers are more general, abstract concepts that
will provide the great context to which the new information can be subsumed and anchored (Ausubel, 1963). For
example, before introducing a lesson on brown bears, a teacher might have his/her students read a history and
geography of Admiralty Island. By providing this advanced organizer, students may have a better chance of organizing
the information regarding the brown bear’s habitat, territorial patterns, and nutrition.

Advance organizers are believed to have different results for good versus slow learners. Because most good learners
already have the ability to organize new information, the organizers have little additional effect. However, for slow
learners, Ausubel and Fitzgerald believe that organizers are extremely helpful as this group of students needs additional
help structuring their thinking (Fitzgerald, 1962).

Role of the instructor and the learner

Ausubel’s theory does not address broad prescriptions for learning and therefore provides no specifications for the role
of the teacher. However, he outlines three variables that influence meaningful verbal learning: (1) the availability of
relevant and inclusive subsuming concepts, (2) the degree that subsumers can be discriminated, and (3) the stability and
clarity of subsuming concepts (Ausubel, 1962, pp. 219-220). One can assume that the role of the teacher and
instructional designer is to consider these variables by investigating and providing the appropriate subsumers to
facilitate meaningful verbal learning (Kumagai, 2013).

On the other hand, the role of the learner in this type of learning is not as significant as the teacher role. This is because
this theory is more concerned about how the student meaningfully learn through verbal learning other than
experimental learning. Therefore, the learning process depend on teachers significantly. Teachers have to enable
learners to instruct new knowledge based on their existing knowledge (Kumagai, 2013).

References

Ausubel, D. P. (1960). The use of advance organizers in the learning and retention of meaningful verbal material. Journal
of Educational Psychology, 51, 267 – 272.

Ausubel, D.P. (1962). A subsumption theory of meaningful verbal learning and retention. The Journal of General
Psychology, 66, 213-244.