Educational Implications Of Ausubel's Meaningful Learning Theory

Introduction

David Ausubel was an American psychologist, who came up with the Meaningful Learning Theory, in 1963. The main focus of Ausubel’s theory is on meaningful learning. According to Ausubel, the key factor in learning is the knowledge one has already acquired. Meaningful learning is when a person interprets, relates, and takes in new information with the knowledge gained before and uses the new information to solve problems.

Educational Implications of Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning Theory

Ausubel has contributed a lot with his theories in the educational sector. He felt that for proper learning, students must connect their new knowledge with the previous knowledge gained. The educational implications of Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning Theory are:

The teachers should take into account what was obtained by students previously and try to relate it to the new knowledge.
Teachers should use phases, materials, contents, and ideas that connect with prior knowledge while establishing new knowledge.
Students should be able to relate what’s being taught with their previous knowledge.
Teachers should use techniques and methods of teaching that will gain the interest of the students in the learning process.
The learning material presented to the learners should be clear and organized for them to understand.
Teachers should use real-life examples to gather the attention of the students and make the teaching interesting.
For meaningful learning, there should be motivation in the students which the teachers should focus on developing in the students.

Ausubel believed that learning of new knowledge depends on the knowledge already known. He believed in the idea of meaningful learning. This, according to his theory, for meaningful learning, people should connect their new knowledge with the concepts they are already aware of. The most important factor of this theory is to relate the newly gained information with the old information.