Understand & have the Upper-hand
Comparing learning and understanding has opened up my eyes to see how often we experience "learning" in our everyday lives but how little we truly "understand" what we learn. In my opinion, learning can be reached by memorization and recall. Understanding is only met when a conceptual change occurs. In my own words- a conceptual change can occur over a person's lifetime and is more dependent on the nature of the learning experience. For example, a person who simply is taking notes on a concept or idea may not absorb or completely understand said concept, opposed to a person who may have to conduct an experiment or connect the concept to something personally. The person who is exposing themselves to a richer and deeper experience such as the second example is more likely to have a transfer or a conceptual change. After reading Bransford, Brown & Cocking's (2000) How People Learn, I learned that the importance of this conceptual change is not simply storing the learning in student's short term memory/surface level learning, but taking that learning to a place that is personally engraved through experience and enlightenment.
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Tap the "essay" button above to read more about my experiences with "the big idea" of conceptual change through my eyes.
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References
Bransford, J., Brown, A.L. & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.), How people learn: brain, mind, experience and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309070368.
Pearson (2015)
Image retrieved from https://twitter.com/PearsonNorthAm/status/635115464193122304
Bransford, J., Brown, A.L. & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.), How people learn: brain, mind, experience and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309070368.
Pearson (2015)
Image retrieved from https://twitter.com/PearsonNorthAm/status/635115464193122304