The Emotional Learner

A particularly potent view within the learning sciences posits that learning in generative (see, for example, Fiorella, 2023; Enser & Enser, 2020). In this respect, learners are viewed as generating understanding by, amongst other means, connecting new information to what they already know. This notion is consistent with our instinctual views of learning and gels well with other theories. 

This includes the view set forth by Craik and Lockhart in the 1970s that learning involves depths, or stages, of processing. The deeper the processing, the more successful the learning. By integrating new information into prior learning, the new information becomes contextualised within broader knowledge repertoires. Consequently, it also becomes easier to recall when required. These packets of contextualised knowledge represent schemas – groupings of related information that intersect with other groupings.

Generative learning, therefore, focuses on meaning and context. By doing so, learning is more likely to take up relatively permanent residence in long-term memory (a key goal of learning). If information is inherently meaningless, new learning isn’t generated because the new information cannot be assimilated with prior knowledge (as with Ebbinghaus’s trigrams).

What might these connections look like?

Cognitive psychologist Walter Kintsch suggests that this knowledge is connected through a series of nodes and links. Nodes are concepts, or important units of knowledge connected by links, forming extensive networks of related information. Let’s take two concepts as an example; crime and animals. The links between different animals are stronger than those that link animals to crime. However, there is a link between cat and burglar. In this way, links spread out through the network, every concept connecting to another. The word heart will be connected to the concept of biology or blood flow, but also symbolically to love. 

We might even link heart to memory, as in learning something by heart (a leftover phrase from when people believed the seat of consciousness was the heart). The link between heart and love might be weaker than heart and blood flow, unless it’s approaching Valentine’s Day and we’re looking for a card for our nearest and dearest. The more frequently we use these links, the stronger the connection becomes. And these links become bridges between existing knowledge and new information.

Encouraging deeper processing via Elaborative Interrogation

When children reach a certain age, they discover a word that drives their curiosity and pushes their learning forward. The question is ‘why?’ As a parent or carer, this seemingly constant insistence for answers to everything can at times drive us to distraction, yet this behaviour is vital for healthy cognitive development. 

Elaborate interrogation is a technique utilising higher order questioning strategies that encourage learners to connect new information to existing knowledge. As we have seen, for learning to be successful, we must be able to integrate this new information into what we already know, stored as schemas. What we already know provides context to what we are learning now, but also makes this new information more readily available when we require it. 

In their 1994 study, Teena Willoughby and Eileen Wood also found that elaborative interrogation encourages students to organise material to a greater extent than those who used rote repetition. Mentally categorising information increases our ability to recall it (see, for example, Tulving and Pealstone, 1966).

While categorising information increases our ability to recall it later, it also appears that this organising and categorising increases our understanding of the material. Furthermore, it may well also increase the rate of transfer.

Take, for example, a lesson about the walrus. We could simply provide relevant information: the walrus has a thick layer of blubber. Students will then recall the statement, but in a shallow way. However, we could ask: Why does the walrus have a thick layer of blubber? The question requires more mental effort because learners are being asked to connect an implicit statement (that a walrus has a thick layer of blubber), with what they might already know. They may, for example, know that the walrus will have had to adapt to its cold environment. Furthermore, students might also be aware of the concept of insulation and how this will help the walrus retain body heat. Alternatively, we could present a set of facts and ask students how they relate to the walrus.

José Moreno suggests that embedding ‘why’ questions into texts leads to more strategic reading and, therefore, better comprehension (Moreno et al., 2021). This ultimately results in better recall of question-relevant information. For example, rather than a text just stating ‘chlorophyll absorbs sunlight’, we can include the question: ‘why is chlorophyll essential for photosynthesis?’ This then prompts deeper thinking. Moreno also suggests combining embedded questions with specific instructions to answer them. Rather than the instruction ‘Read the text carefully,’ we could write ‘Read the text carefully and focus on answering the why questions embedded in each paragraph.’ This creates a clear goal and encourages an active search for the information relevant to the question.

Elaborative interrogation has been shown to be more effective when learners have strong prior-knowledge, yet less effective when prior knowledge is poor. This seems obvious, after all, if I no little about a walrus’s habitat, how will I be able to answer questions on why it’s covered in thick layers of blubber? 

To answer the question, ‘why is chlorophyll essential for photosynthesis?’ I first need to know what chlorophyll is and what it does. The pre-teaching of key concepts in, therefore, essential. And for this, direct instruction is perhaps the most straightforward route. But we can also draw on learners’ prior knowledge of topics that might not be directly related by activated associated schemas. In our walrus example, we could use examples about insulation more generally, such as in our homes. Or we can draw attention to other arctic animals. 

Deeper processing, therefore, is possible via advanced forms of questioning. Learning is rarely isolated from other types of learning and drawing on what we already know can inform the questions we need to be asking of students to facilitate and self-generate this learning.