Why do we learn?

We learn to shape our various intelligences. A general definition of intelligence is the ability to create useful products and solve daily problems.

In history the only necessary learning was done on the job to provide a living. Craftsmen passed their skills, knowledge and wisdom on to their offspring and pupils. Today we need to learn to function in a high complex post-industrial western society with the emphasis on information. Education is institutionalized and offered in schools.  Schools are generally differentiated between three phases (this might differ from country to country)

1. Primary school (basic language skills as reading and writing, mathematics and emotional intelligence),
2. Secondary school (advanced language and math-skills or algebra, second language, and sciences like chemistry, biology, history, geography, economics, some schools also include social science, sports or gymnastics, music, drama and skill-based classed like first aid, typing, and driving. These last are mostly facultative.
3. Trade-school or Higher education choosing a profession or a specific science.

We assume that between the second and third phase one makes a good choice and that there is a job or profession that fits the education at the end of these three phases. Nowadays we know we have to “update” our knowledge frequently throughout our lives because of changed technology. This continuous learning effort is called life-long-learning. In politics this needed learning might be reduced to an employability-policy which gives the concept a somewhat negative connotation.

Intelligence

We have several intelligences to learn and develop (according to Howard Gardner / Collin Rose); these intelligences are:

• Linguistic (reading / writing)
• Mathematical / Logical (numbers, charts, reasoning)
• Visual / Spatial (visualizing, direction / navigation)
• Musical (rhythm / melody)
• Bodily / Physical (arts / crafts / sports)
• Interpersonal / Social (read emotions / parenting / teaching)
• Intrapersonal / Quiet control (self-knowledge)

In 1996 Gardner added an eighth intelligence – Naturalistic – or nature smart. This intelligence deals with sensing patterns in and making connections to elements in nature – observing, collecting, categorizing and analyzing.
Charles Handy (1998) also identifies at least nine forms of intelligence which align with and enhance Gardner’s multiple intelligences (Factual, Analytical, Linguistic, Spatial, Musical, Practical, Physical, Intuitive, and Interpersonal)

When a range of intelligences are involved the learning ability is greatly enhanced. Each type of intelligence represents a different way to explore the subject and provides a different ability to call on when faced with a problem-solving task.

[Source: Brian Tracy Tapes & News article: The Future belongs to the competent]

Learning Systems

The learning-systems we use are based on old traditions and the way society of interaction. The conventional system could generally be described as supply-based linear learning with a clear beginning and end.

New systems should be more flexible and more modular demand-based because of the high differences in experience, backgrounds and different preparatory training which must fit in non-linear learning scenarios which is common today.

In my vision education on all levels should be available to everyone, everywhere, and at any time. My ideal would be a worldwide open-source e-educational system, instantly bilateral translation of all structured meta and content-information (including multimedia) needed for comprehension of a subject.

Open source-education as a concept has many similarities to open source-software. The development of Linux, the most known (and popular) open-source alternative operating system, is therefore interesting in more ways than the related software-products alone.
Open-source software is the process of systematically harnessing open development and decentralized peer review to lower costs and improve software quality. The idea is simple: When programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the source code for a piece of software, the software evolves. People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. And this can happen at a speed that, if one is used to the slow pace of conventional software development, seems astonishing.

[Open Source Initiative]

Because the source-codes or program-instructions are available with the distribution, everyone can change and add functionality to the distributed program, or write its own programs with parts of available distributed content. Because of our current use of information and communication technology this concept of sharing, adapting and improving content (and I also refer to education) may well be the constructive principle of our new information society.

The challenge is to create new ways of combining formal and informal learning processes and worldwide collective agreement on the funding and public use of educational information. Initiatives like open source for the ICT-infrastructure and Transcopyright for the information content could bring mondial educational information exchange within closer reach.

What is learning?

Learning as a psychological concept can be defined in more than one way. The most popular definitions are:

• Learning: To gain knowledge, comprehension, or mastery through experience or study.
• Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior or in behavioral potentiality that results from experience and cannot be attributed to temporary body states such as those induced by illness, fatigue or drugs. (Kimble)

A science requires an observable, measurable subject matter, and within the science of psychology, that subject matter is behavior. The qualification “relatively permanent” in the definition of learning means sensitization and habituation are examples of behavior modifications that results from experience in a relatively short period of time. Sensitization is the process whereby an organism is made more responsive to certain aspects of its environment. Habituation is the process whereby an organism becomes less responsive to its environment.

What is learned may not be utilized immediately. This is a very important distinction between learning and performance. Learning refers to a change in behavior potentiality; and performance refers to the translation of this potentiality into behavior. Not all behavior is learned. Much simple behavior is reflexive. A reflex can be defined as an unlearned response in reaction to a specific class of stimuli. Complex behavior can also be unlearned. When complex behavior patterns seem to be genetically determined, they are generally referred to as instinctive. Instinctive behavior includes such activities as nest building, migration, hibernation and mating behavior. This is also classified as species-specific-behavior. Research supports the contention that species-specific-behavior is both learned and unlearned. A newly hatched duckling would form an attachment to any kind of moving object and follow it as its mother, provided the object was presented at just the right moment in the duckling’s life. (Lorenz) The formation of an attachment between an organism and an environmental object is called imprinting. Imprinting was found to occur only during a critical period, after which it was difficult, if not impossible to imprint the duckling to anything. Imprinting is a combination of learned and instinctive behavior.

Learning is a general term used to describe changes in behavior potentiality resulting from experience. Conditioning (classical or instrumental) is more specifically used as a term to describe actual procedures that can modify behavior.

[Source: B.R. Hergenhahn, An introduction to theories of learning. ISBN 0-13-498874-4]

Intentional learning

While searching on the subject of Intentional learning I found some interesting links I would like to share:

• Intentional Learning Projects; Learning Orientations describe the primary sources for individual learning differences and the powerful, guiding effects of higher-order psychological factors on learning outcomes and performance… The construct presents a comprehensive, human view that examines the dynamic flow between (1) deep-seated psychological factors (conative, affective, social, and cognitive), (2) learning orientations, (3) subsequent choices for learning preferences, styles, strategies, and skills, and (4) learning treatments and outcomes.
• An example of Intentional Learning: A Process for Learning to Learn in the Accounting Curriculum (from the American Accounting Association) Our description of intentional learning is an attempt to simplify and operationalize what psychologists call “metacognition” and accounting educators seem to mean by “learning to learn.” We do not claim that intentional learning includes all that accounting professionals need to know or be able to do. We do maintain, however, that introducing the attributes of intentional learning can be an effective way to help accounting students learn to learn and begin to become independent learners.
• Computer Supported Intentional Learning Environment (CSILE); CSILE (Computer Supported Intentional Learning Environments) functions as a “collaborative learning environment” and a communal database, with both text and graphics capabilities. This networked multimedia environment lets students generate “nodes,” containing an idea or piece of information relevant to the topic under study.
  Nodes are available for other students to comment upon, leading to dialogues and an accumulation of knowledge. Students have to label their nodes in order to be able to store and retrieve them; over time, they come to appreciate the value of a precise, descriptive label. In addition to receiving writing practice as they create their own nodes, students get practice reading the nodes generated by others.
  CSILE was developed by Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. It has been used in a research program within Toronto schools for over five years.

All our human knowledge comes from experience perceived by our senses. Seeing with our eyes (visual), hearing with our ears (auditory), feeling with our hands, body and internally (kinesthetically), smell with our nose (olfactory) and taste with our mouth and tongue (gustatory). In the past this gathered data and information was classified and determined. Eventually this must have resulted into a language-system by which communication was possible. Preserved knowledge from ancient civilizations is mostly visual in the form of wall-paintings or carvings and later recorded as codified symbols now interpreted as written texts. Archeologists also expose the physical trails and objects of past civilizations and interpret these findings which gives us information about systems they have used.

Most of our currently used knowledge and culture was originated in the old Greek and Roman society. Philosophy is said to be the mother of all (liberal) arts or sciences. Artes liberales is the Latin for liberal arts. The canon of the seven liberal arts dates from the fifth century AD and has its roots in Roman times. The first three sciences, grammatica, rhetorica and dialectica or logics are called the trivium which is the path that leads to wisdom. The remaining four were arithmetica, geometria, astronomia and musica, usually referred to as the quadrivium, the fourfold way. Until around 1200 AD these sciences were the foundation of any study at a university.

The library classification systems (i.e. UDC) and educational systems today still have many similarities and comparisons to these ‘original’ arts. Although our educational focus has shifted to more pragmatic, and specialized forms related to service professions taught in classical form, there are still craftsmen who learn their trade by tradition from a master.

In general I distinguish three kinds of learning-contexts:

1. Collective, classical group-presentation, from within an educational system
2. Individual, (mostly one to one) adaptive learning of crafts or skills, from professional or educational background.
3. Individual, autodidact learning from personal reading, practice and/or experience, inspired by personal motives.

In the ideal form, al learning is initiated by individual demand and personal motives (in contrast to our conventional linear educational system). Maybe not everyone could handle the needed responsibility and self-activation in today’s high-tech information-society. We need to be tremendously curious, perceptive, and on top of that aware of manipulation-techniques of (mass-)media and be able to select and abstract from enormous amounts of (un)wanted audio-visual input. We can distinguish three kinds of literacy:

1. Language-literacy (spoken and written);
2. Media-literacy (what kinds of manipulation techniques are used)
3. Computer-literacy (the ability to work with and use computers)

The most basic didactic distinction in general learning is Benjamin Bloom’s three domains:

• Cognitive learning (thoughts), such as teaching someone to add fractions.
• Affective learning (feelings, values), such as teaching someone to not want to smoke.
• Physical or motor learning (actions), such as teaching someone to touch type.

As an underlying principle I would like to add Intentional Learning, or intrinsic manifested curiosity, the really wanting to know, and asking for more as a (auto)didactic principle. By dedicated use of this principle, we create a positive empowered knowledge system in the mind and body. Cognitive learning is the primary focus as everything has to start with a thought.

The major levels of cognitive learning can be classified as memorizing, understanding, and applying. Most content can be learned at any of these three levels of learning.
Memorization; This is rote learning. It entails learners encoding facts or information in the form of an association between a stimulus and a response, such as a name, date, event, place or symbol. The behavior that indicates that this kind of learning has occurred is stating (or “regurgitating”), usually verbatim.
Understanding; This is meaningful learning. It entails learners relating a new idea to relevant prior knowledge. The behaviors that indicate that this kind of learning has occurred include comparing and contrasting, making analogies, making inferences, elaborating, and analyzing (as to parts and/or kinds), among others.
Application; This is learning to generalize to new situations, or transfer learning. It entails learners identifying critical commonalities across situations, such as predicting the effects of price increases. The behavior that indicates that this kind of learning has occurred is successfully applying a generality (the critical commonalities) to a diversity of previously unencountered situations.

It is useful to identify three types of content that can be learned on the application level:

• Concepts
• Procedures
• Principles

A concept is a group or class of particulars which have something in common. A procedure is an ordered sequence of steps for accomplishing some goal.  A principle is a relationship between two or more changes. It can be a causal, correlational, or natural-order relationship. A good rule for identifying these kinds of content:

• Concepts are concerned with grouping things into categories. What?
• Procedures are concerned with how to do something. How?
• Principles are concerned with predictions and explanations. Why?

It is also helpful to keep in mind that these three types of content can be learned at any of the three levels of learning.

[Source: Methods of instruction by Charles M. Reigeluth]

Education and learning has been one of my primary themes in the past years. With the growing use of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) and new media in education numerous possibilities arise: once the learning-module is produced and digitalized the distribution-costs and multiplication-cost could be theoretically brought down to zero by the use of Internet. Although this is a slightly different subject, thinking about these place- and time-independent opportunities with Internet, and not only related to education!, might just be one of the things to clear away some of our past burdens of the industrial society.

Knowing how we can learn, and using a supportive system of thought strengthening in our environment will bring us closer to fulfilling our dreams. Aspects of manifesting your personal dream is cooping with obstacles and solving ‘problems’ between the current situation and the (visualized) wanted situation.
It is my intention to provide methods (including reflections and techniques) for these necessary steps to take. The first step of this ambitious plan is my personal research. By publishing and sharing this research and findings in raw form on the Internet I start the process of presenting these ideas in a more tangible form. I hope you (reader) enjoy this and I’m looking forward to see your feedback.

Some Quotes:

There do exist enquiring minds, which long for the truth of the heart, seek it, strive to solve the problems set by life, try to penetrate to the essence of things and phenomena and to penetrate into themselves. If a man reasons and thinks soundly, no matter which path he follows in solving these problems, he must inevitably arrive back at himself, and begin with the solution of the problem of what he is himself and what his place is in the world around him. For without this knowledge, he will have no focal point in his search. Socrates’ words, “Know thyself” remain for all those who seek true knowledge and being. [Gurdjieff]

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
- George Bernard Shaw

“The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has.”
- Michelangelo

“A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one.”
- Mary Kay Ash

“If you can dream it, you can do it.”
- Walt Disney

“The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands.”
- Robert M. Pirsig