Stacie Ryan

Educational Psychology Section MNO

September 20, 2017

What is Learning?
The question "What is Learning?" seems like a simple enough question. My first
thought was that learning is when a person acquires knowledge. However, I thought this
might be too simple of an answer for something that is such a big part of my life. I
started to ask friends and family what their take on the question was and I noticed that it
had a varied meaning depending on the person's background and experiences. I
decided to present my answer to this question by first showing what their answers were,
and then providing my own take on what learning is. I have changed names so that my
interviewees remain confidential.

Dictionary definition:
"the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught."

William (Chef):
"It is an expansion of the mind"

Sullivan (Waiter):
" A process that results in a change in knowledge or behaviour due to experience"

Stephanie (Computational Mathematics graduate student):

Understanding the general concept and being able to apply it. So in math, you learn a
theorem, and if you can understand what it means you can use it to show more specific
concepts or use it to help prove other theorums.

Emma (Neurobiology student):

"Acquiring new knowledge"

Nicholas (Manager):
"When experience changes your behaviour"

Bailey (Addiction Counselling Major):

"Progression of knowledge in the conscious world"

Bill (Retired School Bus Driver):

" Learning, knowledge, and experience. They're all linked and you can't have one
without the other"

Roger (Mill Worker):

Perception which instigates new memories useful for coping and adapting to your
environment and yourself
Mary (Nurse):
I think there are different types of learning in nursing. The easy answer is how a nurse
learns to perform different tasks our functions. Our formal learning once we are in the
workplace is very minimal. Nurses generally learn tasks, computer skills, function and
department culture from each other. The mantra is... "See one, do one, teach one." That
is how most of the learning of skills and tasks takes place.
I also think there is an internal type of learning in nursing. It takes place at a slower
pace - over years. With this learning, a nurse is learning and internalizing the art of
nursing. We are taught in school the science. On the units we learn the skills. Once
those foundations are firm, nurses can learn the art of nursing. Some call it an intuition.
Watching and helping staff and clients/patients and families and other health
professionals over the years changes who is nurse is. We adapt to situations and
internally change who we are at work and as a person because of our work. When
information actually changes perception of the world and our reactions to it, I think that
is true learning. Nursing has given that to me and made me a better person.

Natasha (Business Owner):

The ability to listen and see when someone tells you or shows you something. If you
have difficulty grasping what is being said or done, it is being able to ask questions and
getting the correct answers to your questions until you fully understand the outcome and
why something is done or said in a certain way.
No only is a student understanding a lesson important, but the teacher is always
understanding and building a confidence in they way they teach to make it easier for
someone to grasp what they are saying or doing.
Whatever it is both teacher and student will learn or understand with each challenging
experience. Finally, it involves a lot of patience from both the teacher and the student

My answer:
Learning is gathering knowledge that will be useful to us. In order to gain this
knowledge, it should be of interest to us. If it is not of interest to us or we do not see the
information as being useful, then we are much less likely to actually absorb it. This can
be observe in many high school courses, such as history. If the student does not see
the point of learning about it, they likely will not pay attention in class or bother to learn
the historic facts. Learning is also based on progression; we take knowledge that we
already have and build on it. This aligns with Jean Piagets idea that learning is the
process of assimilating and accommodating new knowledge. As an example, in
language classes, they start by learning the basic words or sentences of the language,
then they progress to learning verb tenses, and finally they learn how to use this
knowledge to be able to express their ideas. With each new lesson, they add the new
knowledge to what they already know and apply it in their class.
In addition to this, learning happens by observing and engaging. It means that we
can learn by first watching others, and then trying to successfully complete the task on
our own. Alberta Bandura talks about this idea in his theory about learning. He says that
we learn from each other via observation, imitation, and modelling. Mary gave a good
example of this in her answer. She says that when nurses enter their career, they rely
heavily on one another to learn certain techniques in the workplace. She adds to this
thought by telling us nurses learn the science of their profession in school, but they
dont actually learn how to be a nurse until they are out on the floor performing the
tasks. Adding on to this thought, learning leads to a change in oneself. B.F. Skinner tells
us that we learn from our interactions with our surrounding environment, which will alter
our behaviour. One common theme amongst the answers collected was that learning
would alter how they viewed the world and how they acted. For example, if you are
baking and you put the temperature too high on the oven, this will result in your baked
goods getting burned. You will likely remember this next time you bake, so you turn the
oven down to a lower temperature or put the baked good in for less time. Here, youve
changed your habits because of something that you learned in the past.
Learning is an important part of our everyday lives. Its not something that only
takes part in the classroom, we are constantly taking in new information and building
our knowledge of the world around us. Whether it be at work, out socializing, or even
just at home watching television, learning is happening all the time.