What Is Learning Anyway? A Topographical Perspective Considered

Abstract

The overarching purpose of this treatise was to develop a means by which to describe and evaluate existing perspectives on learning and to guide future explorations in this domain. Specifically, using the metaphor of a river system, we advance a framework into which theoretical perspectives and empirical investigations of learning can be positioned. We began by articulating nine principles of learning shared by diverse theoretical orientations. The primary focus of our analysis was a framework with four dimensions of learning (i.e., the what, where, who, and when) in continual interaction constituting the products and processes of learning. Based on these common principles and the interactive dimensions, we offered a definition of learning. Finally, we used three cases drawn from real-life experiences, and representing different configurations of the what, where, who, and when dimensions, to illuminate the comprehensiveness and utility of the topographical perspective on learning forwarded.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We acknowledge the contributions of Paul E. Cobb and Richard C. Anderson for their comments on an earlier version of this article. We also thank Daniel Dinsmore, Emily Fox, Lily Fountain, Liliana Maggioni, and Fielding Winters at the University of Maryland, and Marilla Svinicki, Daniel Robinson, Michelle Jordan, An Chih (Janne) Chang, and Ayshegul Mussallam at the University of Texas at Austin for their thoughts and recommendations on this work.