1

Persuasive Essay: How Students Learn Best

Josh Bollinger

EDUC 200

Dr. Martin

10/15/15

Learning From What You Already Learned

When thinking about learning, and how students learn material best, I think of several

analogies. Firstly, I think of a block tower because in order to build a tall tower, the base must be

present and stable just like learners build up their knowledge. Secondly, I think of the old

Halloween game pin the tail on the donkey in regards to the fact that it is much easier to

accomplish a task when you can see your surroundings and where you are starting from. Both of

these concepts are part of my personal belief that students learn best when comparing to what

they already know, and whenever the teacher knows how much the students already have

learned. These ideas originate from my research into the educational theorist David Ausubel,

who himself was rooted in the concepts of schema from Jean Piaget. In addition to comparing to

previous knowledge, students learn best when they are driven to learn themselves, through

intrinsic motivation to learn information and skills.

The main goal of educating students is to help them not only learn information and skills,

but to retain that information and skill. This is where understanding how memory works

becomes integral to best explaining the information. According to Ormrods Essentials of

Educational Psychology, effective long-term memory requires elaboration and making

connections to other ideas and previous knowledge (Ormrod, 2015, p. 60). The concept of rote

memorization, where students simply memorize facts on their own, is one method that I would

argue is what causes problems later on in a students education. As Robert L. Fried explains in
 2
Persuasive Essay: How Students Learn Best

his book The Game of School, students often memorize material for the test, and then forget it

almost immediately afterwards. In this way, students have learned how to work the system by

cheating the assessments to portray that they understand the material when in fact they are

simply memorizing facts. So I would say that this rote memorization is not true learning, and

therefore would not be how students learn best.

When teachers understand the base knowledge of their students, they are much more able

to successfully teach their students. In regards to the student side of learning, the best way of

retaining the information is to relate all new information to previous knowledge and concepts.

This therefore expands the concepts themselves, strengthening the original concepts along with

expanding the overall knowledge. Using David Ausubels theory of subsumption, students

assume or absorb the information into the existing schema by correlating different concepts or

deriving concepts from previously understood concepts. This relation of concepts to previous

knowledge increases the recall and retrieval. Building upon the original knowledge also gives

the student a sense of accomplishment and understanding. If a student is able to say, oh, this

concept X is just like this other concept Y that I already know about then they are more likely to

be invested in their learning.

Getting students to invest themselves into their own learning is the final piece of the

learning puzzle. School can be a challenge for many students because there is so much

information that they are required to learn, and under a deadline. Another method that I believe

is how learn best is through their own motivation and excitement to learn. This intrinsic drive

for knowledge is how students really get into learning. This is the ultimate goal for teachers, to

promote intrinsic learning in their students so that students get excited and passionate about the

material. When a student enjoys something and is passionate about it, they naturally learn more
 3
Persuasive Essay: How Students Learn Best

about it, so wanting to learn is the best way a student can learn. The difficulty arises when

students are not intrinsically motivated, and in that situation, what does the teacher do to promote

intrinsic learning in their students. Therefore, the teacher helps students learn best by providing

a means to find intrinsic motivation, which can be achieved through the setting and

accomplishing of tasks and goals. When students feel accomplished after completing an

assignment, they are receiving an intrinsic motivation from themselves. It is up to the teacher to

provide the opportunity for students to have these intrinsic moments.

Students learn best through a combination of storing information to memory for better

recall and retrieval by relating it to personal experiences, by comparing new concepts to previous

knowledge of concepts or expanding on them, or through intrinsic motivation. These 3 methods

of learning are good goals to set as a teacher, so that students have an option for applying one of

the three options. It becomes the teachers responsibility to facilitate the learning of the students

by ensuring an environment where learning is relatable, memorable, and fun/accomplishing to be

intrinsically interesting. It takes a lot of work, but this is the goal of a teacher; to be as effective

as possible at helping students learn the best they can.

References:

Ormrod, J. E., & Jones, B. D. (2015). Learning in Context. In Essentials of

Educational Psychology: Big Ideas to Guide Effective Teaching (4th ed., p.

60). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.