DEEP LEARNING
What is learning?
· Learning is a way of interacting with the world. As we learn, our conceptions
of phenomena change, and we see the world in a different way. The
acquisition of information in itself does not bring about such a change, but the
way we structure that information and think with it does. Thus, education is
about conceptual change, not just the acquisition of information.
What is deep learning?
· Deep learning is an approach and an attitude to learning, where the learner
uses higher-order cognitive skills such as the ability to analyse, synthesize,
solve problems, and thinks meta-cognitively in order to construct long-term
understanding. It involves the critical analysis of new ideas, linking them
to already known concepts, and principles so that this understanding can
be used for problem solving in new, unfamiliar contexts. Deep learning
entails a sustained, substantial, and positive influence on the way students
act, think, or feel.
· Deep learning promotes understanding and application for life. Deep
learners reflect on the personal significance of what they are learning. They
are autonomous –they virtually teach themselves. But they are also
collaborative learners, with high meta-cognitive and learning skills.
What is surface learning?
· In contrast, surface learning is the tacit acceptance of information and
memorization as isolated and unlinked facts. It leads to superficial retention
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of material for examinations and does not promote understanding or long-
term retention of knowledge and information.
DEEP LEARNING VS. SURFACE LEARNING
Deep learning Surface learning
The deeper the student’s approach to learning, the higher the quality of the learning outcome
· Knowledge is constructed. Knowledge is received.
o Learners learn by integrating new o Knowledge is transmitted from the teacher
knowledge with existing to the student. Thus, knowledge is
knowledge. received.
o Mental models of reality change o Paulo Freire’s bank model.
slowly.
o (i) learners must face a situation in
which their mental models of
reality will not work, i.e., it will
not help them explain or do
something (expectation failure).
o (ii) learners must care that it does
not work strongly enough to stop
and grapple with the issue at
hand.
o (iii) learners must be able to
handle the emotional trauma that
sometimes accompanies
challenges to longstanding
beliefs.
· Search for meanings. Search for facts.
o Meaning is not imposed or
transmitted by direct instruction.
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It is created by the student’s
learning activities.
o The student approaches learning
with the intention to understand
and seek meaning, and
consequently, searches for
relationships among materials and
interprets knowledge in light of
previous knowledge structures
and experiences.
· Student learning activities
o Deep learning and doing travel
together. Doing in itself is not
enough. Faculty must connect
activity to the abstract
conceptions that make sense of it,
but passive mental postures lead
to superficial learning.
· Higher-order cognitive skills. · Lower-order cognitive skills.
o Analyse, synthesize, judge, o Memorization and rote learning.
evaluate, generalize, hypothesize,
solve problems, relate, and apply.
· Intrinsic motivation. · Extrinsic motivation.
o We learn best what we feel we o Motivation is a product of good teaching,
need to know. not its prerequisite. Students are not
o Intrinsic motivation remains unmotivated. They are not responding to
the methods that work for other students.
inextricably bound to some level
o Students are prompted by the fear of
of choice and control.
o Motivation should be a product of failure and the need to satisfy assessment
requirements.
teaching. The art of good teaching
is to communicate the need to
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learn where it is initially lacking.
Approaches to learning arise from the students perceptions of the teachers’ requirements.
o Faculty are instrumental in forming those perceptions because research indicates that
different forms of teaching are perceived differently by students, and thus tend to elicit
different approaches.
o But teachers may not directly produce conceptual change (learning) in students’
understanding of the world. It is only what students do to achieve understanding that is
important, not what teachers do.
Constructive alignment · Unaligned courses
o An aligned system of instruction: o Constructive alignment is part of teachers’
the objectives define what rhetoric, but it remains aloof from
teachers should teach, how, and practice.
how to know how well students o Our universities are predominantly
have learned. unaligned.
o The curriculum is stated in the
form of clear objectives. The
assessment tasks address the
objectives. The teaching methods
must realize the objectives.
o There is a maximum consistency
throughout the system. All
components in the system address
the same agenda and support each
other.
o Students are heavily influenced by
the hidden curriculum. They look
for clues and use these to drive
their study effort.
o Very little of out-of-class student
learning is unrelated to
assessment.
o For many students, assessment
defines the actual curriculum.
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· Metacognition · Emphasis on summative evaluations: study
for exams.
o Metacognition means thinking
about thinking. It refers to o A threatening and anxiety provoking
thinking which involves active assessment system.
control over the cognitive
processes engaged in learning. o The pressure on teachers to evaluate –and
to give low grades- and the pressure on
o We need to help students to see the
students to earn high grades lead teachers
purposes of the work they have to to teach for evaluation and students to
do, to consider strategies, and to teach for grades.
monitor their success.
o The game becomes a matter of dealing
with the test, not with engaging the TLA
deeply.
· Discovery · Coverage
o It represents genuine learning by o It reflects knowledge and skills of the
the student. teacher.
o It entails the idea that knowledge o Knowledge is considered a thing -with no
acquisition is an ongoing process, loose ends, mistakes, or mysteries- that
with ever changing results, plenty can be deposited in the minds of students,
of uncertainties, and real staying generally via lectures.
power. o Learning is reduced to storing as much
o It happens in the brain of the information as possible, regurgitating it on
learner, which is stimulated to the exam, and then dumping it when no
search, store, and solve by longer needed.
challenging questions and o The need to cover is the most common
opportunities to explore them in excuse teachers give when they find
depth. themselves speeding up the pace of
o Making mistakes and correcting delivery beyond the capacity of students to
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them are integral parts of the keep up.
learning process. o An excessive amount of material in the
o Discovery is unique and curriculum. An excessive amount of
memorable. course material. A lack of opportunity to
pursue subjects in depth.
o Relatively high class contact hours.
· Focus on what the student does (John · Focus on what the teacher does.
Bigg’s level 3 of teaching competence. Bigg’s level 2 of teaching competence.
o The focus is on bringing about o The responsibility rests on what the teacher
conceptual change in students’ does.
understanding of the world. o It is a transmission process.
o It is what students do to achieve o Teachers try to get across complex
understanding that is important, understandings.
not what teachers do. o Teaching is seen as a bag of competencies.
o The teacher’s fundamental task is Teachers work on an armoury of teaching
to get students to engage in skills to be effective.
learning activities that are likely o The more competencies a teacher has, the
to result in their achieving high better a teacher he/she is.
quality learning outcomes.
Administrators usually hold this perspective, also
known, as blame the teacher, because it provides a
convenient rationale for making personnel decisions.
JOHN BIGG’s 3 P MODEL OF STUDENT LEARNING
Presage Process Product
(context) (learning outcomes)
Personal characteristics Perception of learning Objective (exams) and
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of students environment
subjective (satisfaction)
Learning environment Motives for studying a measures of performance
(course and particular course
institutional context
Strategies:
Learning approach:
deep or surface
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