Advance Organizers and Schema Organized Memory

Ausubel Assimilation Theory

Ausubel’s assimilation theory (1960, 1961, 1968) states that new information is linked to relevant, pre-existing aspects of cognitive structure and both the newly acquired information and the pre-existing structure are modified in the process to form a more highly differentiated cognitive structure.  Ausubel promotes the idea that the most important issue influencing learning is what the learner already knows and how prior knowledge can be associated with new learning.

The last point of Ausubel’s assimilation theory promots the use of advance organizers to bridge the gap between prior knowledge and new knowledge.  Using an advanced organizer helps learners organize upcoming learning topics; this, in turn, gives the learner some meaning and the beginnings of a knowledge schema about the new concepts.  Advance organizers introduce subsuming concepts that scaffold and enhance integration of new concepts (Ausubel, 1961).

Advance organizers are a brilliant way of reminding our students of their prior knowledge; they are also quite handy at organizing information so your learners can easily find learning topics and resources.

Moodle organizes information for my students in such a way as to create an advance organizer.  I much prefer this format over WebCT.  It makes much more sense to students upon first glance.

Moodle Advance Organizer Layout

Schema Memory Organization

Schema theory proposes that knowledge is stored in long-term memory as knowledge webs, called schemas, so that knowledge is organized and retrievable when needed.   Schemas also link related concepts together for later retrieval during relevant learning tasks. A schema can hold large amounts of information, and schemas are retrieved as a single unit in working memory thereby decreasing the burden on working memory when learning new concepts (Kalyuga et al., 1998; Kirschner, 2002).

Driscoll (2005) argues that students using prior knowledge are accessing relevant schema associated with their learning task.  Having more available schemas reduces the load on working memory; however, if fewer schemas are unavailable, as with novices, working memory can be easily overloaded because novices must hold in mind all elements of the task individually and simultaneously.   Novice students must then struggle to remember each sentence or each component of a problem.

How can we leverage this knowledge of schema organization of long-term memory?  Use advance organizers to help remind learners what they already know.  Then you take that useful recalled memories and knowledge to then add on to your learners’ knowledge.  This is the secret to learning and growing:  remember what you already know and then add on more knowledge and wisdom.

References

Ausubel, D. P. (1960). The use of advance organizers in the learning and retention of meaningful verbal material. Journal of Educational Psychology, 51(5), 267-272.

Ausubel, D. P. (1961). The role of discriminability in meaningful verbal learning and retention. Journal of Educational Psychology, 52(5), 266-274.

Ausubel, D. P. (1968). Educational psychology: A cognitive view. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (Third ed.). New York: Pearson.

Kalyuga, S., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1998). Levels of expertise and instructional design. Human Factors, 40(1), 1-17.

Kirschner, P. A. (2002). Cognitive load theory:  Implications of cognitive load theory on the design of learning. Learning and Instruction, 12(1), 1-10.