Young Children's Conceptions of Learning

A conception of learning is a coherent system of knowledge and beliefs about learning and related phenomena (Vermunt & Vermetten, 2004). Säljö (1979), the pioneer of research regarding conceptions of learning, carried out an interview study

in which he asked 90 people aged between 15 and 73 at institutions to identify how they understood the term “learning.” From their responses, he deduced the following

categories: “an increase of knowledge,” “memorizing,” “the acquisition of facts, procedures that can be retained and/or utilized in practice,” “the abstraction of

meaning,” and “an interpretative process aimed at the understanding of reality” as five

major types of conceptions of learning. Moreover, he led flourishing research on conceptions of learning (Marton et al., 1993; Marshall et al., 1999; Tsai, 2004).

Van Rossum and Schenk (1984) carried out a study with 69 psychology students at a university in the Netherlands. They asked the students to read a short text and then interviewed them about how they had approached the task of reading the text and how they approached their studies in general. Van Rossum and Schenk were able to classify the students into Säljö’s five conceptions of learning. Most of the students

who showed Conceptions 1–3 had used a surface approach to read the text, while most who showed Conceptions 4 and 5 had used a deep approach. Thus, the approaches to studying that students adopt in particular learning tasks are linked to their conceptions of learning. This provides another reason why educational interventions may be of limited effectiveness: students who hold a reproductive conception of learning through exposure to a subject-based curriculum may simply find it hard to adapt to a more student-centered curriculum (e.g., Newman, 2005).

Van Rossum and Taylor (1987) interviewed 91 arts students at a university in the Netherlands. They confirmed the existence of Säljö’s five conceptions of learning, but they found a sixth conception that they characterized as “a conscious process, fuelled

by personal interests and directed at obtaining harmony and happiness or changing society.” Van Rossum and Taylor found that men and women were equally likely to

hold these various conceptions of learning, but that older students were more likely

than younger students to hold the more sophisticated conceptions (Conceptions 4–6).

Gibbs, Morgan, and Taylor (1982) also confirmed the existence of Säljö’s five

conceptions of learning in 29 students who were taking courses through the distance education with the Open University in the United Kingdom. Marton, et al. (1993) then followed 10 of these students through their studies with the Open University over a period of six years. In their later years of studying, some showed the sixth conception

of learning found by van Rossum and Taylor, which Marton et al. (1993) called

“Changing as a person.” Marton et al. (1993) argued that the six conceptions

constituted a hierarchy through which students proceed during the course of their studies in higher education.

In terms of subsequent research, Tsai (2004) specifically considered the instructional characteristics in Taiwan and the conceptions of learning particularly

directed to the domain of science. He defined seven conceptions of learning, namely

“memorizing,” “preparing for tests,” “calculating and practicing tutorial problems,”

“increase of knowledge,” “applying,” “understanding,” and “seeing in a new way.”

He also suggested that these conceptions could be viewed as a hierarchical structure, from lower to higher levels. That is, the first three conceptions can be treated as lower level conceptions, whereas the latter four can be regarded as higher level.

Table 2.1 Conceptions of learning proposed by educators

Understanding Making sense of physical concepts and procedures

Applying

Memorizing Applying Applying equations and

Memorizing Memorizing Calculating and practicing (Cited from Lee, Johanson, & Tsai, 2008, p. 193)

Moreover, Tsai (2004) conducted a phenomenographic analysis to explore Taiwanese high school students’ conceptions of learning science, and induced some

characteristics of conceptions of learning. First, conceptions of learning are associated

conceptions of learning are influenced by culture. Third, conceptions of learning are related to educational contexts. Fourth, conceptions of learning, to some extent, are domain dependent. Finally, many studies in the line of research have focused on college students, with only a few exceptions which have studied high school students.

While there is substantial literature related to conceptions of learning (Säljö,

1979; Marton et al.,1993), there has been very little research investigating young children’s learning. Conceptions of learning are important because there is a

substantial body of research which shows that the conceptions held by learners can influence their approaches to learning, which in turn, affect the quality of their learning outcomes (Lee et al., 2008). Therefore, exploring children’s conceptions of

learning has become a crucial issue for educational researchers.

A pioneer study of young children’s learning was carried out by Pramling. She

conducted two observational studies and a series of six interview studies, carried out in the form of individual interviews to investigate the ways in which 3- to 8-year-old Swedish preschool students perceived learning. She identified three main conceptions of learning: (a) Learning as doing: the lowest level conception of learning is described as the process whereby children believe they can learn by doing something; (b)

Learning as knowing: the second level conception of learning is described as the process whereby children believe they have learned when they have come to know

something (e.g., facts, rules); (c) Learning as understanding: the highest level

conception of learning is described as the process whereby children believe they have learned when they have come to understand the meaning inherent in an activity or piece of information (Pramling, 1988).

Pramling's latter two conceptions of learning as knowing and learning as understanding are essentially a basic variation of the lower level conceptions of learning previously discussed in the sections describing adults' and secondary school students' conceptions of learning. It is interesting to note, however, that the

conception of learning as doing is not evident in these studies with older students.

This may be a result of the different focus placed on learning in preschools, or it may be a result of developmental progression as students increase in age and learning experience.

Doverborg (1987) showed how preschool children perceived what mathematics was all about. They considered it either as an activity that prepared them for school or as a function of dealing with problems here and now. Some children regarded

counting as a school activity as, for them, such an activity existed only in the

preschool curriculum. On the other hand, one child expressed that “It is important to

be able to count so that my brother won’t cheat me on sweets.” That means he/she had a functional conception of counting and could talk about many situations in which it is

important to be able to count, situations which have meaning for the child (cited from Pramling, 1988).

Van Rossum et al. (1984) discovery of a relationship between individuals' conceptions of learning and how they approach learning tasks highlights the

importance of identifying conceptions of learning. Their findings have suggested that an individual's conception of learning will influence his or her approach to various learning tasks, which in turn will affect the quality of the learning outcome. For example, a low-level conception of learning will lead to a surface approach to

learning (e.g., rote rehearsal), whereas a higher level conception of learning will lead to a deep approach to learning (e.g., elaboration). To complete this relationship, they assert that surface approaches lead to less effective learning outcomes compared to

deep approaches which lead to high-level, quality learning outcomes.

In Taiwan, Wang and Tsai (2012) investigated elementary school students’

conceptions of learning in Taiwan by using the drawing technique. They concluded five categories: (1) learning location, (2) major learning activity, (3) symbols of knowledge, (4) symbols of study, and (5) people involved. More details of the checklist for interpreting students’ drawings are shown in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2 A checklist for interpreting student’s drawing

Categories Indicators and Descriptions

(1) Learning Location 1.1 Inside a classroom.

1.2 Outside a classroom: such as in the library, at a museum, outdoors or at a park.

(2) Major Learning Activity 2.1 Listening or Lecturing: students are listening to the teacher’s lectures.

2.2 Reading or writing: Students are reading a book or doing their

homework.

2.3 Talking or Discussing: The students are discussing or having conversations with others.

2.4 Others: Students are doing

something without a formal academic purpose, e.g., running on the track, camping, playing with their

classmates.

2.5 Can’t tell: there are no learning activities presented or students are doing some activities that cannot be defined.

(3) Symbols of Study 3.1 Stationery: pencils, erasers, or notebooks.

3.2 Desk and chair.

3.3 Chalkboard.

3.4 Bookshelves.

3.5 Technology tool: such as a TV, computers or projectors.

(4) Symbols of Knowledge 4.1 Books

4.2 Learning content: information about school subjects, such as Chinese characters or mathematical formulas on the chalkboard.

(5) People Involved 5.1 Teachers

5.2 Students (Cited from Wang & Tsai, 2012, p. 615)