Learning is not just adding information

Be very, very careful what you put into that head,
because you will never, ever get it out.
Cardinal Wolsey

Every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain.

Remember when I took that home wine-making course and I forgot how to drive?

Homer Simpson

You must unlearn what you have learned

Yoda

Naive constructivism has a cheerfully incremental aspect. "Students come into the classroom with prerequisite knowledge (existing schemas) and as they progress through their education these schemas are progressively (or sequentially) built upon." (Thompson & Logue 2006).

Photo of Jelly by John Trainor
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trainor/402806181/

Learning is a bit like pouring hot water (the new information) on jelly (the stuff already in your brain). The water melts and shapes the jelly. But the shape of the jelly channels and directs the water. The history of what you have learned modifies new learning.

This is true on a historical level as well as for individuals. Thomas Kuhn's study of scientific revolutions (1996) shows the way that one understanding of the world (he calls it a paradigm) replaces another. "Assimilating a new sort of fact demands a more than additive adjustment of theory.” (p53)

The sinking of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor
could be due to an inability to unlearn.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USSArizona_PearlHarbor_2.jpg

This makes learning problematic. Old ideas can get in the way of new ideas. In the extreme, individuals ignore new information which runs contrary to deeply held beliefs. Sutherland (2007; pp95-97) describes how an experienced American Admiral persistently and stubbornly (and wrongly) refused to believe the evidence that Japanese forces were gathering to attack Pearl Harbour. The destruction of the American fleet could be ascribed to an inability to unlearn.



Newly presented knowledge is likely to be resisted by the prior knowledge. Even if it seems to be accepted, sometimes it is easily discarded. Lyndon (2003) calls this "accelerated forgetting". 


Multiple studies (for example Caramazza, et al 1981; Helm 1980; Osborne & Gilbert 1980; Shipstone 1988; Watts 1985; White 1983) especially in Science, have shown that most students come to class with mental models full of remarkably tenacious misconceptions. For example, Physics students maintain an erroneous belief in centrifugal force long after they are taught that it does not exist. If you whirl a ball on a string around your head and release it at the moment it is closest to the students in the audience, they will duck (Institute of Physics, 2009). 

Perhaps, the observation that little kids learn more easily than big kids is because big kids have more misconceptions to modify.


In my next post I shall explore the pros and cons of unlearning through cognitive dissonance.

References

Caramazza A, McCloskey M and Green B (1981) Naive beliefs in sophisticated subjects: Misconceptions about trajectories of objects Cognition 9: 117-123 Helm H (1980) Misconceptions in physics amongst South African students Physics Education 15(2): 92-97 Institue of Physics (2009) http://www.practicalphysics.org/go/Experiment_980.html?topic_id=3&collection_id=117 Accessed 23rd November 2009 Kolb A and Kolb D (2005) Learning Styles and Learning Spaces: Enhancing Experiential Learning in Higher Education  Academy of Management Learning & Education 2005, Vol. 4, No. 2, 193–212 Kuhn T, (1996) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions 3rd edn University of Chicago Press, London Lee, V.S. (2002). Unlearning: a critical element in the learning process. Essays on Teaching Excellence, 14(2). Fort Collins, CO: POD Network in Higher Education. avaliable at http://www.elearning.tcu.edu/onlineresources/docs/Newsletter1Unlearning.doc Accessed 5th December 2009 Lyndon (2003) The Conceptual mediation program workshop handbook available at http://www.education.unisa.edu.au/physics/specificsteps/Handbookplus2003_V2.doc Accessed 5th December 2009 Osborne RJ and Gilbert JK (1980) A technique for exploring students' views of the world Physics Education 15(6): 376-379 Shipstone D (1988) Pupils' understanding of simple electrical circuits: Some implications for instruction Physics Education 23(2): 92-96 Sutherland S, (2007) Irrationality Pinter & Martin, London 978-1-905177-07-3 Thompson F and Logue S (2006) An exploration of common student misconceptions in science International Education Journal 7(4) 553-559 ISSN 1443-1475 Watts D (1985) Student conceptions of light: A case study Physics Education 20(4): 183-187 White B (1983) Sources of difficulty in understanding Newtonian dynamics Cognitive Science 7: 41-65