How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (expanded edition)
Encyclopedia
How People Learn is the title of an Educational Psychology
book edited by John D. Bransford
, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking and published by the United States National Academy of Sciences
' National Academies Press
. The committee on How People Learn also wrote "How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom
" as a follow-up.
The book draws the following conclusions, among others:
Learners and Learning:
Thus, the debate within education between advocates of deep conceptual understanding and advocates of broad factual understanding misses the point. In-depth understanding is necessary to truly understand the content, but broad factual understanding is also necessary as it allows a person to remember and organize what they have learned.
Teachers and Teaching:
"Teachers need expertise in both subject matter content and in teaching," and "Teachers need to develop models of their own professional development that are based on lifelong learning, rather than on an 'updating' model of learning, in order to have frameworks to guide their career planning." These conclusions have implications for teacher hiring and professional development policies.
Learning Environments:
Educational psychology
Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations. Educational psychology is concerned with how students learn and develop, often focusing...
book edited by John D. Bransford
John D. Bransford
Dr. John D. Bransford holds the Shauna C. LarsonUniversity Professor of Education and Psychology at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. Bransford is also Co-Principal Investigator and Director of , an ....
, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking and published by the United States National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
' National Academies Press
National Academies Press
National Academies Press was created by the United States National Academies, to publish the reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council. It publishes nearly 200 books a year on a wide range...
. The committee on How People Learn also wrote "How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom
How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom
How People Learn is the title of an Educational Psychology book edited by M. Suzanne Donovan and John D. Bransford and published by the United States National Academy of Sciences's National Academies Press....
" as a follow-up.
The book draws the following conclusions, among others:
Learners and Learning:
- "Effective comprehension and thinking require a coherent understanding of the organizing principles in any subject matter," and
- "In-depth understanding requires detailed knowledge of the facts within a domain. The key attribute of expertise is a detailed and organized understanding of the important facts within a specific domain."
Thus, the debate within education between advocates of deep conceptual understanding and advocates of broad factual understanding misses the point. In-depth understanding is necessary to truly understand the content, but broad factual understanding is also necessary as it allows a person to remember and organize what they have learned.
Teachers and Teaching:
"Teachers need expertise in both subject matter content and in teaching," and "Teachers need to develop models of their own professional development that are based on lifelong learning, rather than on an 'updating' model of learning, in order to have frameworks to guide their career planning." These conclusions have implications for teacher hiring and professional development policies.
Learning Environments:
- "Assessment and feedback are crucial for helping people learn."
- "Classroom environments can be positively influenced by opportunities to interact with... families and community members around school-based learning goals."
- "New tools of technology have the potential of enhancing learning in many ways. The tools of technology are creating new learning environments, which need to be assessed carefully."
External links
- Free online versions: in HTML chapters, or in a quickly skimmable format
- The "sequel" is also available for free online: 'How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice' in HTML chapters, or in quickly skimmable format