I think we tend to muddy the water by talking about the intricacies of the function of the cardiovascular system, the connection of neurons, the firing of muscles, and the like, when we are trying to explain the working of the mind, brain, thinking/learning capacity, however you want to describe it – you know what I mean.

You’d be as well to lecture a learner driver about radical propagation in hydrocarbon combustion, or the fundamentals of levers, gears and other machines, when trying to teach the learner to drive a four wheel vehicle.

The fact is, we teachers and learners don’t really know how learning happens. But we do know the result of successful learning. This is recognised in assessments, by whatever means the design of those may be optimised.

So we are stuck with a metaphor. An intangible model for something we recognise exists, but cannot be easily quantified, measured, observed or simply explained through analysis.

To make sense of the metaphor, we have to define what we mean by ‘learning’. We have to define what we mean by ‘understanding’. We have to define what we mean by ‘knowledge’ and ‘concept’ and ‘skill’.

Frankly, I don’t think we can move from these difficult-to-define notions until these are made explicit. This makes me feel a little inadequate here, since the metaphor that we may create for learning (which is accepted as taking place in the mind) depends on all of these things being clearly defined. Otherwise, how can we explain how learning happens?

I am educated in Science. I have eaten, drank, breathed and slept Science. Consequently I believe in the so-called scientific approach to things. Science is built on models. When a model in Science is found wanting, it is modified or discarded and another model found. The whole of Science is built on this principle. If you don’t believe this, then you don’t believe in Science, and you are certainly not a scientist.

The scientific approach to learning is to find models which best fit what we observe with learning and how we assess it. Assessment is a subjective discipline – we call the shots. So we have to couch our description of learning in terms of how we assess it.

Is assessment something that is difficult to do? You betcha! Therefore, let’s start by defining assessment of learning, before we think of defining what learning is.

Ka kite
from Middle-earth