Multidimensionality of Learning

The multidimensional nature of human learning can be interpreted differently. In the previous section, I reviewed the multidimensional nature of what humans know. Harris and Williams (2016) claim learning is “a multidimensional process [emphasis added] that causes a change of state in the brain (p. 8).” For those authors, multidimensionality refers to the types of experiences that can lead to the changes in brain structure and function that we recognize as learning. The National Academy of Science has commissioned two versions of comprehensive reports of the emerging discoveries of how people learn. One of the key findings detailed in the most recent report (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2018) is that “People learn many different kinds of things and use different learning strategies and brain processes in doing so” (p. 35). While this may be a statement with which few would disagree, many educators design their classrooms to focus on only one types of learning. Deeper learning requires educators diversify the learning process students experience as is appropriate for the content and for the students.  

References

Harris, P., & Walling, D. R. (2016). Redefining Learning: A Neurocognitive Approach. In M. J. Spector, B. B. Lockee, & M. D. Childress (Eds.), Learning, Design, and Technology (pp. 1–52).

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2018. How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.