Heather Morgan

EDUG 514
Module Assessment
Ausubel Rote vs Meaningful Learning
Ausubel (1968) describes two types of learning: reception and discovery (pp. 3-34).
Reception learning correlates to direct instruction, whereas discovery learning correlates to an
inductive instructional approach, such as the inquiry lesson model. Ausubel further describes
both types of learning as either rote or meaningful. For learning to be meaningful, The learner
must rearrange information, integrate it with existing cognitive structure, and reorganize or
transform the integrated combination in such a way as to generate a desired end-product or
discover a missing means-end relationship (Ausubel, 1968, p. 22). In other words, meaningful
learning builds on a students prior knowledge and past experiences. On the other hand, Rote
learningoccurs if the learning task consists of purely arbitrary associationsif the learner
lacks the relevant prior knowledge necessary for making the learning task potentially
meaningful; and also if the learner adopts a set merely to internalize it in an arbitrary, verbatim
fashion (Ausubel, 1968, p. 24). In short, rote learning is memorization with no connection to
prior knowledge.
As a teacher candidate, I can create a meaningful experience for the student by setting the
relevance and purpose and by connecting new information to students prior knowledge and past
experiences. For example, in a social studies lesson about Veterans Day, students may be
unfamiliar with key terms such as veteran. I would start the lesson by asking the students to
think about holidays that they know and celebrate. I would then compare Veterans Day to other
holidays. Whereas in Thanksgiving we celebrate peace, food, and friendship, on Veterans Day,

Americans celebrate veterans or men and women who have completed military service. I would
allow students to reflect on why this holiday is important. A counterexample of meaningful
learning would occur if students were jump into learning about the history of Veterans Day
without a relevance, without an opportunity to connect prior knowledge to new information, and
while memorizing key terms along the way.
The positive example above provides evidence of TPE 1.1: Apply knowledge of students,
including their prior experience, interests, and social-emotional learning needs, as well as their
funds of knowledge and cultural, language, and socioeconomic backgrounds, to engage them in
learning (California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, 2016, p. 11). Thus, it is important to
plan for meaningful learning experiences by making connections to and from lessons and
providing opportunities for students to reflect.

References
Ausubel, D. (1968). The role and scope of educational psychology. Educational Psychology: A
Cognitive View, 3-34.
California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. (2016). Teaching Performance Expectations.
Sacramento, CA: California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.