Learning How to Learn [Paperback]

Joseph D. Novak (Author), D. Bob Gowin (Author), Jane Butler Kahle (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521319269 | ISBN-13: 978-0521319263 | Publication Date: September 28, 1984 | Edition: 1

For almost a century, educational theory and practice have been influenced by the view of behavioural psychologists that learning is synonymous with behaviour change. In this book, the authors argue for the practical importance of an alternate view, that learning is synonymous with a change in the meaning of experience. They develop their theory of the conceptual nature of knowledge and describe classroom-tested strategies for helping students to construct new and more powerful meanings and to integrate thinking, feeling, and acting. In their research, they have found consistently that standard educational practices that do not lead learners to grasp the meaning of tasks usually fail to give them confidence in their abilities. It is necessary to understand why and how new information is related to what one already knows. All those concerned with the improvement of education will find something of interest in Learning How to Learn.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a valuable resource for educators and researchers who wish to make learning more meaningful and research more productive." The Science Teacher

"The authors discuss the need to integrate feeling with knowing and acting if experience is to have meaning, and how their views require changes in teachers, curriculum, and school governance." The Education Digest

Book Description

This text proposes an alternate view of learning, as synonymous with a change in the meaning of experience, as opposed to the traditional view of learning, as synonymous with behavior change. It includes classroom-tested strategies designed to help students integrate thinking, feeling and acting.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (September 28, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521319269
• ISBN-13: 978-0521319263
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #280,628 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 *'s for researchers, 4 *'s for everyone else, February 25, 2003

By 

John C. Dunbar (Sugar Land, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Learning How to Learn (Paperback)

This is an excellent book for researchers, or anyone in the sciences. But for most people this book will be too difficult. If you would file a book titled "Theory Construction" under Architecture, you would have difficulty with this book.

The author discusses Concept Mapping (Entity Relationship diagrams for computer people) and Vee Diagrams, a template for structuring knowledge on specific concepts.

He shows how these two tools can improve learning in students. His examples start with a science class that uses a laboratory to teach practical skills and scientific method learning to students. For these students, the two tools become important for structuring knowledge and directing future research.

His results show that students need to make learning relevant to their existing knowledge and these tools will help do that. His results show an initial drop off in standardized testing after applying these tools, but then the scores pick back up and exceed standard rote-learning. I would agree with this -- if you're talking about the upper 20 % of the students. But I can't see the class laggards buying into these tools, as they require the student to be in love with their subject. These tools show you how to go deeper and how to find new knowledge.

I would recommend these tools for advanced classes and motivated students. I agree with the author that they will help researchers push back the envelopes of knowledge on their fields of specialization.

The Vee tool forces a template of things to "Think" and "Do" when you are formulating questions on a topic. Although perhaps tedious for some, it appears to work very well. I liked it very much. Students in a science lab can use these templates to decide what questions to research, what tests need to be run, how to know if they are successful, etc.

It is in this scientific area where the big payoff for these Vee charts are. I doubt that John Q. Public is going to find them as a useful tool on everyday learning decisions. For this reason I recommend this book for any type of researcher. The author describes how these Vee Charts have been used successfully by graduate students on their theses.

But John Q. Public can easily apply the Concept Maps. And, the author uses these maps as a tool to interview and assess students. The author also uses them to help develop books, articles and learning materials.

This book would be excellent for someone who has read Kuhn (scientfic revolutions) and wants to find some tools and methodologies for extending knowledge in his field.

I think the author is correct in most of his work. This book is particularly recommended for graduate students doing any kind of research papers.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Model for Learning, February 7, 2005

By 

VictoriaW - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning How to Learn (Paperback)

This author deserves great credit. He developed the concept mapping concept during the 60s and has been researching it ever since.

The book itself is very clear. The most important aspect is the theory that supports the practice. However, for the average reader, the book will add a great deal of knowledge for helping to apply this technique and set of principles.

There are a wide veriety of styles and examples throughout. Unlike the ridiculous new age hype supporting mind mapping, Novak
gives a refreshingly accurate picture of what you can expect from using the techniques, thus, allowing the reader to apply concept mapping appropriately.

This book is useful for all wishing to improve their ability to learn.
Regards
Victoria

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two powerful tools that aid learning!, April 9, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Learning How to Learn (Paperback)

This book teaches two tools. One is the V-diagram which involves a sceintific discovery approach of looking at an event which you ask a quetion about and that can be approached using reasong using concepts in terms of principles in the context of a theory or doing observations, recording transformations and forming conclusions. This is something you can use in everyday life. The second tool of "concept mapping" is like similiar mindmapping ibut is also different in it's structure. I found its method much better in terms of forcing me to organize concepts into principles into a whole of a theory. Its numerous examples of both tools from elementary and high school didn't dumb down the text but instead game me many insights because it explored common errors in reasoning and how a teacher can use these tools to diagnose what are the mistaken assumpitons in the student's mental model.. GREAT BOOK! Not a book of slick techniques. But two powerful tools once mastered that help you be lifelong learner on the job and in life.