November 10 blog - Engaged vs. Meaningful Learning

During the presentation about engaged learning and meaningful learning, along with the discussion that followed, prompted me to explore the actual differences between these two terms. Often they are used together and/or interchangeably, and that is not the correct way to interpret these two terms.

As I said in class, I think engaged learning refers to the means by which knowledge is experienced by students who are actively participating in their learning. It is, in my opinion, strongly connected to student motivation. If a student is interested in the material presented to them, they will be more inclined to participate in the learning process itself.

Meaningful learning refers to the means by which knowledge is cognitively processed by students in way that the develop personal meaning. Students are able to connect new concepts to things that they already have knowledge of and how new concepts relate to previously acquired knowledge. The contrast to this type of learning is rote memorization where students retain information for a set purpose in a set amount of time, when connections are not necessarily established to prior knowledge.

It's important as educators to consider both of these terms when teaching. Students are much more likely to create a meaninful learning experience when they are engaged in the content. Basically, by getting students excited and motivated about learning, a teacher can much more easily create an environment by which the students will develop a deeper and more meaninful understanding of content and concepts presented.