A Human Science Study of Learning about "Learning"

Abstract

Fourteen students in a graduate course on learning theories described their ideas about learning before and during the course. They were asked to comment upon the existential relevance of natural science and human science approaches to learning with particular reference to their intellectual and emotional reactions. Written protocols were thematically analyzed. The data indicated that all students shifted toward a more human science outlook on learning. Most found a theoretical home for the reservations, long held, about natural science learning. Most expressed surprise or unfamiliarity with existential-phenomenological ideas. The concept of coconstitutionality was the focus of considerable reflection. Most students reported that they experienced the learning process of the course in ways similar to those described in references studied in the course.

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