''How People Learn'' is the title of an
educational psychology book edited by
John D. Bransford
John D. Bransford (December 14, 1943 - April 11, 2022) was an emeritus professor of education at the University of Washington College of Education in Seattle, Washington. He was the Founding Director of The Learning in Informal and Formal Environm ...
, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking and published by the
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
'
National Academies Press
The US National Academies Press (NAP) was created to publish the reports issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Research C ...
. The committee on ''How People Learn'' also wrote ''
How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom'' as a follow-up. An updated edition ''How People Learn II'' was released in October 2018.
The book draws the following conclusions, among others:
Learners and Learning:
* "Effective comprehension and thinking require a coherent understanding of the organizing principles in any subject matter," and
* "In-depth understanding requires detailed knowledge of the facts within a domain. The key attribute of expertise is a detailed and organized understanding of the important facts within a specific domain."
Thus, the debate within education between advocates of deep conceptual understanding and advocates of broad factual understanding misses the point. In-depth understanding is necessary to truly understand the content, but broad factual understanding is also necessary as it allows a person to remember and organize what they have learned.
Teachers and Teaching:
"Teachers need expertise in both subject matter content and in teaching," and "Teachers need to develop models of their own professional development that are based on lifelong learning, rather than on an 'updating' model of learning, in order to have frameworks to guide their career planning." These conclusions have implications for teacher hiring and professional development policies.
Learning Environments:
* "Assessment and feedback are crucial for helping people learn."
* "Classroom environments can be positively influenced by opportunities to interact with... families and community members around school-based learning goals."
External links
*Free online versions
in HTML chapters or i
*The "sequel" is also available for free online
'How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice' in HTML chapters or i
*The updated edition ''How People Learn II'' is offered free: https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24783/how-people-learn-ii-learners-contexts-and-cultures.
Educational psychology books
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