Ausubel theory

1. AUSUBEL DEDUCTIVE
LEARNING THEORY
BY
MOHAMAD NASIR BIN OTHMAN

2. Introduction
• David P.Ausubel, an educational psychology,
supported the theory that pupils form and
organize knowledge by themselves. This
knowledge is structured as a framework which
associated specific structures.
• Ausubel emphasized the importance of verbal
learning or language related learning which he
considers to be very effective for pupils of the
age 11 or 12 and above.
• Ausubel agreed that before this age, direct
experience is beneficial to younger pupils, who
have more time to manipulate objects.

3. • However, pupils gradually learn to associate new
knowledge with existing concepts in their mental
structures.
• For Ausubel, the main factor that influences learning is
what is already known to the pupils. Thus, it is necessary
for the teacher to identify the exisiting knowledge of
pupils before teaching them based on whatever
knowledge they already have.
• To ensure meaningful teaching, it is necessary to avoid
rote memorizing of facts. Pupils need to manipulate
ideas actively: by comparing and contrasting,
associating, rearranging, questioning and accomodating
of contrast ideas. The teacher duty is to integrate
teaching material into a meaningful schema.

4. Expository Learning
• The teacher is responsible to expose
learning materials meaningfully so that
pupils may follow and understand the
concepts taught.
• To produce a meaningful expository lesson
for pupils, Ausubel proposed that the
teacher uses an advance organizer as the
first step.

5. Advance Organizer
• An advance organizer is the introductory
information relevant to the content that is
to be prensented to pupils.
• This organizer presents an overview of the
information to be covered in detail during
the exposition that follows.
• An advance organizer can be classified as
exposition or comparison type.

6. Exposition type
• While presenting new material to the
pupils, the teacher can use an advance
organizer of the exposition type at the
beginning of the lesson.
• Basically, the advance organizer presents
several encompassing generalization
where detailed contents will be added
later.

7. Example
• Science pupils of Year 5 begin with food relationship
between living things. The advance organizer can take
the following form:-
• Class, we shall conduct a field study in the school
compound. Before we start, it is necessary to be familiar
with two terms so as to make our activities meaningful.
• These two terms relate the relationship between plants,
animals and the environment from the angle of food. The
first term is ‘food chain’ and the second term is ‘food
web’.
• The pupils are told that the activities to be conducted will
involve the two terms. This organizer informs the pupils
as to what needs to be learned and why.

8. Comparison type
• Uses when the knowledge to be presented is
new to pupils.
• However in many cases, the pupils have
knowledge similar to this new information. In this
case, the teacher can use an advance organizer
of the comparison type.
• A comparative organizer compares new material
with knowledge already known by emphasising
the similarities between the two types of material
and showing the information that is to be learnt.

9. Example
• Science pupils of Year 4 have already learnt the
classification of animals according to their methods of
reproduction and habitats. In the following activity, pupils
will learn to classify plants.
• “ Last week, we classified animals into a few classes.
The animals were classified according to the ways they
reproduce, types of habitat, and physical characteristics.
Today, we shall classify plants according to their external
characteristics. As in animals, we can classify plants
according to other physical characteristics. Today, we will
begin with the classification of plants according to the
ways they reproduce and types of habitat”.

10. • In this organizer,the pupils are reminded of
something they are already familiar.
• This organizer can convince pupils that this
subject is not really new but rather, is similar to
something already learnt.
• Ausubel’s teaching approach is deductive in
nature. The advance organizer presents a wide
range of concepts, encompasses what is
intended to be learnt. Detailed ideas to be
presented will be linked to this advance
organiser.

11. Ausubel’s Deductive Teaching
Model
• Step 4: The pupils study specific examples
• Step 3: The teacher presents examples
• Step 2: The teacher explains important
terms
• Step 1: The teacher presents general
statement or abstraction of lesson.

12. Meaningful Reception Learning
• The above discussion shows Ausubel’s opinion that
much teaching can take place successfully through an
expository process that brings about reception learning
or meaningful reception.
• The learning of science should not only stress on the
contents. The development of problem-solving and
discovery would succeed better after children had learnt
and understanding basic concepts as well as concepts
that support science.
• However, for secondary school children, Ausubel
suggested increasing the use of explanation,
demonstration, diagram and illustration by the teacher.