Module 12 - Ausubel’s Meaningful Verbal Learning/Subsumption Theory 137

Ausubel’s Meaningful Verbal Learning/

Subsumption Theory

In this Module, challenge yourself to attain the following learning

outcomes:
• explain Ausubel’s subsumption theory.
, · determine the uses of graphic organizers.
• use advance graphic organizers for a topic presentation.

Introduction

Many educational psychology theories often criticize the expository or

presentational manner o f teaching. They say that teachers assume such a
major role in learning as providers o f information, while students remain
as passive receivers of information. David Ausubel, instead of criticizing this
manner of teaching, proposed ways of improving it. He suggested the use
of advance organizers. His ideas are contained in his theory of Meaningful
Verbal Learning.

Advance Organizer
138 F a c il it a t in g L e a r n in g
*A
Also, retenl
l· concrete cor
1. The figure above is an advance organizer. Meanin
2. Study it. Read the words found in each box. Deriva
3. Examine how the lines connect the boxes. information
4. Describe the advance organizer, specifically on how the words are learned. Lei
related to each other. know that a
of bird that
to your pre\
attached to ;
1. Why was the advance organizer presented before the discussion of any way. So
the topic? the process
David P. Ausubel was
born in 1918 and Correl!
grew up in Brooklyn,
2. How can the advance organizer help the students? a new kind
NY. H e attended
the University of fly but it ca
Pennsylvania, have to chai
majoring in
Psychology for
being big ar
pre-med and to your pre
eventually becam e a 1 Abstraction/Generalization
psychiatrist.
new kind ol
He earned a Ph. D The main theme of Ausubel’s theory is that knowledge is hierarchically you might s
in Developmental
organized; that new information is meaningful to the extent that it can subsumptior
Psychology
from Columbia be related (attached, anchored) to what is already known. It is about
University. A series
Superc
how individuals learn large amounts of meaningful material from verbal/
o f psychological banana, me
professorships textual presentations in a school setting. He proposed the use of advance was taught,
ensued at schools organizers as a tool for learning.
of education: the already kne\
University of Illinois, itself until i
University of Toronto, Focus of Ausubel’s Theory
yrv
and in the European Combi
universities at 1 .' The most important factor influencing learning is the quantity,
Berne, the Salesian combines w
clarity and organization of the learner’s present knowledge.
University at Rom e, The first thi
and the Officer’s This present knowledge consists of facts, concepts, propositions,
Training College at to a hierarc
theories and raw perceptual data that the learner has available to
Munich. H e retired knowledge,
from professional life him/her at any point in time(-' ih is comprises his/her cognitive
in 1994 to devote
the new ide;
structure.
himself full time, at the hierarch
the age of 75, to 2. M eaningful learning takes place when an idea to be learned is
is a lot like
writing. Four books related in some sensible way to ideas that the learner already
resulted. how plants ‘
possesses. Ausubel believed thai5oefore new material can be
human respi
www.davidausubel.org presented effectively, the student’s cognitive structure should be
strengthened. When this is done, acquisition and retention of new
information is facilitatecrcsi’he way to strengthen the student’s
Advance G
cognitive structure is by using advance organizers that allow The ad
students to already have a bird’s eye view or to see the “big The advanc
picture” of the topic to be learned even before going to the to connect r
details. (2) you ca
Ausubel’s belief of the use of advance organizers is anchored on the each other, i
principle of subsumption. He thought that the primary way of learning learning prc
was%bsumption: a process by which new material is related to relevant—
to your exif
ideas in the existing cognitive structure. Likewise, Ausubel pointed out,
that what is learned is based on what is already known. This signifies helping you
that one’s own prior knowledge and biases limit and affect what is learned. Ausub
 Module 1 2 -A u s u b e l’s Meaningful Verbal Learning/Subsumption Theory 139
Also, retention o f new knowledge is greater because it is based on prior
concrete concepts.
Meaningful learning can take place through four processes:
Derivative subsumption. This describes the situation in which the new
information you learn is an example1o f a concept that you have already
the words are earned. Let’s say you have acquired a basic concept such as “bird”. You
know that a bird has feathers, a beak, lays egg. Now you learn about a kind
of bird that you have never seen before, let’s say a blue jay, that conforms
to your previous understanding of bird. Your new knowledge of blue jays is
attached to your concept of bird, without substantially altering that concept in
scussion of
any way. So, an in Ausubel’s theory, you had learned about blue jays through
die process of derivative subsumption.
Correlative subsumption. Examine this example. Now, let’s say you see
a new kind of bird that has a really big body and long strong legs. It doesn’t
fly but it can run fast. In order to accommodate this new information, you
have to change or expand your concept of bird to include the possibility of
being big and having long legs. You now include your concept of an ostrich t
to your previous concept o f what a bird is. You have learned about this
new kind of bird through the process of correlative subsumption. In a sense,
hierarchically you might say that this is more “valuable” learning than that of derivative
:t that it can subsumption, since it enriches the higher-level concept.
. It is about
Superordinate learning. Imagine that a child was well acquainted with
from verbal/
banana, mango, dalandan, guava etc., but the child did not know, until she
e of advance
was taught, that these were all examples of fruits. In this case, the child
already knew a lot of examples of the concept, but did not know the concept
itself until it was taught to her. This is superordinate learning.
Com binatorial learning. This is when newly acquired knowledge
le quantity,
combines with prior knowledge to enrich the understanding of both concepts.
knowledge.
The first three learning processes all included new information that relates
)repositions,
to a hierarchy at a level that is either below or above previously acquired
available to
knowledge. Combinatorial learning is different; it describes a process by which
;r cognitive
the new idea is derived from another idea th atjs neither higher nor lower in
the hierarchy, but at the same level (in a different, but related, “branch”). It
e learned is
is a lot like as learning by analogy. For example, to teach someone about
ner already
how plants “breathe” you might relate it to previously acquired knowledge of
:rial can be
human respiration where man inhales oxygen and exhales carbon dioxide.
e should be
ition o f new
e student’s Advance Organizers
that allow The advance organizer is a major instructional tool proposed by Ausubel.
ee the “big The advance organizer, gives you two benefits: (1) You will find it easier
oing to the to connect new information with what you already know about the topic, and
(2) you can readily see how the concepts in a certain topic are related to
lored on the each other. As you go about learning about the topic and go through the four
of learning
learning processes, the advance organizer helps you link the new learning
to relevant
pointed out, to your existing scheme. As‫ ־‬such, advance organizers facilitate learning by
lis signifies helping you organize and strengthen your cognitive structure.
t is learned. A usubel stressed that advance organizers are not the same w ith
140 F a c il it a t in g L e a r n in g

overviews and summaries which simply emphasize key ideas and are
presented at the same level of abstraction and generality as the rest of the
material. Organizers act as a subsuming bridge between new learning
material and existing related ideas.

Types of advance organizers

What is an
1. Expository - describes the new content.
Advance
Organizer? 2. Narrative - presents the new information in the form of a story to
. an instructional students.
unit that 3. Skimming - is done by looking over the new material to gain a
is used basic overview.
before direct 4. Graphic organizer - visuals to set up or outline the new information.
instruction, or
This may include pictographs, descriptive patterns, concept patterns,
before a new
topic; this is concept maps.
sometimes
called a hook, \P
set induction, Application of Principles q
or anticipatory
set
1. The most general ideas of a subject should be presented first and
• popularized by then progressively differentiated in terms of detail and specificity.
David Ausubel, He called this progressive differentiation. According to Ausubel,
first in 1968 the purpose of progressive differentiation is to increase the stability
. introduced
and clarity of anchoring ideas. The basic idea here is that, if you’re
in advance
of direct teaching three related topics A, B and C, rather than teaching all of
instruction topic A, then going on to B, etc., you would take a spiral approach.
. presented at That is, in your first pass through the material, you would teach the
a higher level “big” ideas (i.e., those highest in the hierarchy) in all three topics,
of abstraction
than the
then on successive passes you would begin to elaborate the details.
information Along the way you would point out principles that the three topics
presented later had in common, and things that differentiated them.”
. designed to
bridge the gap 2. Instructional materials should attempt to integrate new material
between what with previously presented information through comparisons and
the learner cross-referencing of new and old ideas.
already knows
and what she
needs to know
. use of advance Synapse Strengthened
organizers
has shown, 1. Read on the interrelatedness o f A usubel’s theory with Gestalt
through
Psychology and Bruner’s theory. Explain how their concepts and
several
research principles complement each other.
studies, to
improve
levels of
understanding
and recall