Eda Gürlen, “Meaningful Learning and Educational
Environment,” Journal of Education and
Future, 2012, 21–35
. Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning
Theory According to Ausubel, learning would be more permanent when an
individual
makes sense of new perceptions by
relating with the knowledge learned and accumulated in long term memory.
Meaning in a psychological manner is a product or a differentiating content
resulting from compounding potential meaningful material with cognitive structure
(Ausubel & Robinson, 1969). Meaning is a function of how an individual
experiences a composition of thinking, feeling and action in line with her/his
life experiences. Individuals acquire different life experiences in the
different environments. Individual differences and presents context cause to
making of different meanings to the same object or situation. Experience and
context have a crucial effect on the meaning (Novak, 1998). Learning by
discovery makes learning meaningful. Knowledge becomes a temporary knowledge
when a concept definition is learned by rote. Meaningful learning requires an
upper level of endeavour and provides a permanent knowledge. Ausubel (1968, p.
iv) stated the basis of the meaningful learning as mentioned
