There are many theories of how people learn. Almost
everyone who has written or spoken of learning has a different opinion of how
it takes place, and how the brain processes information. From an experiential
point of view, learning that can be accurately retrieved is a direct result of
how, and under what circumstances specific information is encoded and stored in
long-term memory. One of the most effective ways this is done is through
learning material with a view to teaching that same material. In the academic,
as well as the personal realm, being able to teach someone else what is learned
serves as proof that someone has learned the specific information.
Clearer Knowledge
The foundation of learning is thinking about the facts,
and being able to restate those ideas in a truthful manner with objectivity.
From a teaching perspective, it is imperative that we understand that
fundamental to all teaching, “No progress can be made in teaching any subject until the facts,
the truth about it, are imparted. All systems of education begin here” (Marquis,
1917).
The use of questions through elaborative interrogation, whether internally or
externally initiated, forces one to combine the new information with existing
knowledge for, expectantly, a clearer and more enduring store of knowledge.
Donald K. Adams adds to this thought with a poignant phrase when he says, “Any
constructs that require us to close our eyes to any of the phenomena of
experience are bad constructs” (Adams, 1954). Along with clearer knowledge
about ideas, the information to be learned should be meaningful.
Better Remembered
Meaningfulness is probably the most important element in
the learning environment, and it is usually dependent on felt needs. This
thought can be closely tied to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs from his paper, A
Theory of Human Motivation, 1943, because instinctual needs are felt needs whether
they reside in consciousness or not. Meaningfulness is also an important
component of behavior and cognitive theories, in that people most often respond
to and process information in ways that meet their felt needs. Therefore, considering
the aspect of learning addressed in this paper, finding meaning is paramount to
better encoding through connecting new ideas to current thought structures. To
be useful learning itself must, “imply at least some permanence in connections”
(Thorndike, 1913). However, sometimes people do get in their own way on the
road to understanding.
Variables
Many things can derail the learning process. Within the
field of psychology many people often miss an important fact, “In order to
work, psychological laws have to use psychological variables: i.e. acts rather
than responses, organisms as personalities, rather than proton-electron
aggregates, pieces of protoplasm, or cell assemblies, and objects rather than stimuli” (Adams,
1954). First, does the individual have the intention to learn? Learning has
many facets or acts that can be visible, and they can be products of trial and
error based on stimulus-response conditioning often taught though the
implementation of punishments and rewards, or they can be self-directed efforts
to improve understanding of an idea or set of ideas.
Second, is the individual
interested in the topic, and if not can it be incentivized? Incentive is a
difficult target to hit, and remembering that people have personalities that
are as varied as the people themselves is keys to finding the bull’s-eye.
Positive reinforcement in an educational setting can be very effective. When
someone is able to use, the information learned in a positive way it elevates
their self-confidence, and enhances their self-image. Other learning environments
require other motivators. Some may require negative reinforcement to reinforce
the desired behavior. How do we know we have cleared the variable hurdles?
Proof
Why is teaching possibly the best way to
demonstrate what has been learned? The connection between learning and memory
is best exemplified by restating in a coherent way the knowledge acquired
through learning. A critical error is often perpetuated by instructors who
think testing is a good measure for what has been learned. It could be expressed
this way, “The average examination tests very little more than memory”
(Schaeffer, 1901). Testing, for the most part, is akin to teaching a parrot to
speak. We can teach the bird to repeat a word, but the bird cannot explain the
meaning of the word, therefore, the bird has not learned how to understand the
word, only how say the word.
Suffice it to say, “In studying his lessons the
average schoolboy’s sole aim is to be able to repeat once, and only once, the
knowledge before him” (Lyon, 1917). It is not problematical to memorize lists
of names, words, and numbers, but attributing meaning to each of these is proof
of learning. Regurgitation of facts is not necessarily indicative of true
knowledge of a subject. Adding meaning to what is regurgitated is evidence that
an idea is learned. What is gained by learning with a view to teaching?
Final Words
When we learn with a view to being able to teach the
material we become motivated during the encoding process. Our motivation can
produce openness to the ideas studied while our schemas keep our storage of the
information in perspective. This format retains much in common with narrative
theory involving sequential, action-oriented, and detailed thought. Truth and
reality must come first in the learning process. Based on the correspondence
view of the truth, ideas not based in reality should not be considered to have
been learned.
This does not include ideas presented as hypothesis or theory
because those must be understood in light of what they are and not presented as
facts. Teaching as a proof of learning is to exhibit comprehension of an idea,
although not always exhaustively, in a truthful manner with considerable depth
of understanding.
Conclusion
Docendo discimus, are not only words Seneca the Younger
wrote in his letters to Lucilius Junior in Epistulae Morales in 50 – 65
AD, they are the words that I believe best describe the learning process. There
are others in higher education that agree with this belief as they have taken
these words and employed them as mottos at their various institutions. If we
encode ideas, store them, and are able to retrieve them with an adequate depth
of true knowledge, we can be said to have learned the material. I believe in
this idea so deeply I have a blog with its namesake. Therefore, like Seneca, I
believe we learn by teaching or docendo discimus.
Works Cited
Adams,
D. K. (1954). Learning and Explanation. In Learning Theory, Personality
Theory, and Clinical Research: the Kentucky Symposium (pp. 69-77). New
York, NY, USA: Wiley.
Lyon, D.
O. (1917). The Educational Value of Psychological Research. In D. O. Lyon, Memory
and the Learning Process (p. 156). Baltimore, MD, USA: Warwick & York.
Marquis,
J. A. (1917). Learning to Teach from The Master Teacher. Philadelphia: Westminster
Press.
Schaeffer,
N. C. (1901). The Materials of Thought. In Thinking and Learning To Think
(p. 50). Philadelphia: Lippincott Company.
Thorndike,
E. L. (1913). The Original Nature of Man (Vol. I). New York, NY, USA:
Teachers College, Columbia University.
TJ
