Meaningful Learning in Teacher Education, Characteristics of

Abstract

From the cognitive perspective, meaningful learning is often understood in terms of the cognitive development and the changes in a learner’s cognitive structure that occurs when the knowledge being learned is relevant to the learner’s existing knowledge and shares significant concepts and aspects with that knowledge. The perspective of the interpreter thus affects the meaning-making process, and the construction of meaning involves the interpretation of new information and experiences by connecting them with prior knowledge. In addition, experiences that challenge former knowledge allow new questions to arise and are thereby potentially meaningful.