Survey of learners' knowledge structures: Rationales, methods and instruments (original) (raw)
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Knowledge Organization for Learning. Conjectures and Methods of Study
This paper discusses and illustrates through examples how meaningful or deep learning can be supported through well-structured presentation of material, through giving learners schemas they can use to organize knowledge in their minds, and through helping learners to understand knowledge organization principles they can use to construct their own schemas. It then addresses methodological issues in studying the effectiveness of these tools for learning and reviews illustrative empirical studies of such tools − from concept maps to well-structured text, which overall support the hypothesis that such tools support meaningful learning. The paper is a call to all authors, educators and information designers to pay attention to meaningful presentation that expresses the internal structure of the domain and facilitates the learner's assimilation of concepts and their relationships. " The organization of material is very important. In the presentation of ideas by the teacher or writer, organization is needed for clear understanding and mastery on the part of the hearer or reader. In almost all kinds of material there are intrinsic and logical connections which can be used for arranging the material. When the student makes any acquisition he will find it to his advantage to organize it, if it is not already organized; first, so that he can clearly understand it; second, so that he can recall it when he so desires. This logical organization is just the kind of thing that makes the results of learning superior to those of mnemonic systems. The intrinsic relationships among the facts are thus made clearer, which is precisely what it should be. Artificial systems fail to do this; indeed they may even lead one to neglect most significant relationships. The mastery of one who has command of a given field is largely due to the fact that he has organized his material; when he recalls, his facts are in groups, such as might appear in written form under paragraph, section, or chapter heads; when he learns new facts, they find their appropriate place immediately in his scheme of organization."
Knowledge Organization for Learning
This paper discusses and illustrates through examples how meaningful or deep learning can be supported through well-structured presentation of material, through giving learners schemas they can use to organize knowledge in their minds, and through helping learners to understand knowledge organization principles they can use to construct their own schemas. It is a call to all authors, educators and information designers to pay attention to meaningful presentation that expresses the internal structure of the domain and facilitates the learner's assimilation of concepts and their relationships.
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Developing meaningful learning is not only difficult to achieve but also time consuming, because it requires a large number of different skills to develop and master. Many studies have shown that organizing knowledge in concept maps helps teachers and students to develop such a meaningful learning (Nesbit, J.C., Adescope, O.O., 2006).Based on the work of Tyler (Tyler,R.W.,1950) and Anderson (Anderson, L.W., et al. ,2001), this study proposes to characterize and to organize precisely, rigorously, and operationally in a two-dimensional matrix, the skills exercised during the elaboration of concept maps, here referred to as context-dependent and hierarchically structured concept maps (sCM). These skills correspond to those actually needed in transfer of knowledge, and the matrix could be used as an instructional tool to assist learners and teachers in This transfer. In addition it allows them to pay attention to the cognitive processes and types of knowledge involved during sCM elaboration. Making explicit the taxonomic levels of cognitive efforts implemented while organizing knowledge in a concept map could constitute a useful metacognitive tool to focus the teachers and learners' attention and efforts towards achieving higher-order thinking skills and meaningful learning. @2014 The author Published by Elsevier GmbH. This is an open access article under the CCBY-NC-SA license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/).