| Chapter 1: | Study One: Introduction / Overview of Study Goals |
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Learning is the process by which we structure and restructure these connections (Jonassen, 1988, 1993; Jonassen, et al., 1993). Learning is viewed as a process because it is continuous meaning making through restructuring of information nodes. Knowledge is also constructed and not transmitted; therefore, meanings are used to construct appropriate links between concepts (Jonassen, et al., 2000). Furthermore, knowledge is the foundation for learning; it is the goal of the process.
There are three basic types of knowledge: declarative, procedural, and structural (Jonassen, et al., 1993). Structural knowledge is associated with long-term memory in that both focus on the storage of information. Structural knowledge mediates between declarative and procedural knowledge by providing organization and meaning to acquired knowledge. The process can be viewed as such: Declarative knowledge is awareness of an object, idea or concept, whereas procedural knowledge is the application of declarative knowledge into guidelines for performance. Structural knowledge is the organization of related nodes of information; it is how concepts are interrelated. It is through this organization and concept interrelatedness that action can be taken (procedural knowledge) based on awareness of a concept (declarative knowledge). Structural knowledge, more specifically than overall knowledge, is the actual basis for learning. Learning is defined as the building of new knowledge structures or the reorganization of existing knowledge structures (Jonassen, 1988, 1993; Jonassen, et al., 1993). Knowledge structure may also be referred to as cognitive structure or conceptual knowledge, but these appear to be terminology issues, as the basic concept remains the same (Jonassen, et al., 1993).
The final subprocess is retrieval and it entails searching through the associative links for specific information, which is activated once it is found (Lang, 2000). Pieces of information that have been more completely stored by connections through multiple links are more easily retrieved.