David Ausubel's Cognitive Learning Theory

Another type of learning is cognitive learning, which is learning through active and constructive thought process, such as practice using our memory. Cognitive learning theories are based on how people think. Cognitive theory defines learning as a “semi-permanent change in mental processes or associations”. Cognitive process to choose, focus, ignore, reflect and make decision on changes in environment. Cognitive psychology believe that learning is a targeted internal process and focus on thinking using brain with active mental process to receive, store, understanding, feeling, organizing and learning takes place when new knowledge is gained or modified through experience. In clinical practice, Cognitive learning theory provides an effective

David Ausubel was a cognitive learning theorist who focused on the learning of school subjects and who placed considerable interest on what the student already knows as being the primary determiner of whether and what they learns next. According to David P. Ausubel, goal of learning subject matter and improve of presentational methods of teaching is important. His theory of meaningful verbal learning deal with concerning how knowledge is organised, how mind work to process new information and how educators can apply these ideas about learning when they present new material to learner. This model helps educator to organise and convey information as meaningfully and effectively as possibly. Advance organisers provide concepts and principles to learner directly. Cognitive structure deals with any kind of knowledge of a field is in our mind, how much of it there is and how well it is organised. Before presenting new material, existing cognitive structure should be increased by presenting concepts. Ausubel discovered that any subject is a chain of concepts and in our mind also, when we accept this facts that is also settled as a chain

Teaching approach for learner should be encourage to discovered solution via approach task which require the application or relevant critical thinking (Smith, 2002). Bruner consider that teaching should be designed and implemented to be well-matched with learners’ thinking and has required them to think. Bruner’s identified three ways in which learners process information; enactive level, iconic level and symbolic level. Enactive level is learning takes place via direct manipulation of objects and material. Iconic level is an objects are represented by visual image and are recognized what they represent. Symbolic level is a learning can take place using symbols, objects and material images. Language are used to represent thoughts and experiences (McLeod, 2008). For instance, nurses are in inactive stage when the need to practice all patient with infectious Tuberculosis should be place in negative pressure room without knowing the important to keep in isolation room attached with High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filtration. As an ICN information should be given regarding the function of HEPA-filter. Then the nurse move to iconic stage, thinking how does the equipment able to remove infected particle in the room by thinking about the function of the HEPA-filter designed to target much smaller pollutants and