What Learning Entails

Learning

Dr. Murtaza Hameer is a medical doctor turned teacher. He pursued his medical degree in India and did the United States medical licensing exams in the USA. He also has a postgraduate diploma in education from the University of Dar es Salaam. He is the author of the book, “Learning How To Learn: Doing well in school, college and beyond”. He is passionate about education and teaching with interests also in philosophy, science, theology and spirituality.

A

ll living organisms, in one way or another, learn. From the simplest microorganism that unconsciously learns to adapt to its environment to the conscious animal that learns which stimulus to encounter and which to avoid, learning is a trait of life. But in self aware organisms such as us, learning takes on a whole different dimension and meaning.

For us humans, learning broadly involves the acquisition of knowledge and the performance of skills. When it comes to cognitive learning of information, the American educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom defined learning holistically – what came to be known as Bloom’s taxonomy of learning. It is important for students, educators and indeed life long learners to appreciate this taxonomy so as to be efficient learners.

Bloom’s taxonomy basically says that there are six levels to learning any information. At its most fundamental level is remembering which involves recalling factual information. Without recalling, learning cannot take place consciously.

The second level of learning is understanding. To understand something is to be able to simplify it and explain it in your own words. The Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman formulated a method of learning that came to be known as the Feynman technique which revolves around the concept of being able to simplify things and explain complex ideas so that even an eight year old can understand.

Following understanding is the level of applying. This involves using the concept you have understood to solve or answer questions or problems in different scenarios and situations. It involves critical thinking and in the case of students learning in schools, that would involve answering questions that test their ability to apply what they know.

The fourth level is about analysing the information which would include understanding how different parts of a concept or concepts relate to one another; that is, how things fit together. An example of this from the field of human biology would be understanding how the anatomical structure of the heart relates to its physiological function of pumping blood throughout the human body.

Evaluating, the fifth level of Bloom’s taxonomy, is all about comparing and contrasting, making judgements and drawing inferences. A debate on a particular topic would require the debaters to be able to evaluate the motion of the debate and argue for or against it logically and coherently. Lastly, we have creating or synthesising which involves creating something new. Writing an original essay, penning a profound poem or programming a new software or app would be examples of this level of learning.

If students and learners in general understand and appreciate Bloom’s taxonomy, they will have
a mental reference to always guide them as they traverse their lifelong paths of learning; that
they may become whatever it is that they desire to become and thus fulfill their destinies.

 

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