Interaction between the learners' initial grasp of the object of learning and the learning resource afforded

Abstract

Two studies are reported in this paper. The object of learning in both is the economic principle of changes in price as a function of changes in the relative magnitude of changes in demand and supply. The patterns of variation and invariance, defining the conditions compared were built into pedagogical tools (text, graphs, and worksheets). The first study is the latest in a series of studies aiming to test the fundamental conjecture of the Variation Theory of Learning that new meanings are acquired from experiencing differences against a background of sameness, rather than experiencing sameness against a background of differences. The study compares the learning outcomes under conditions consistent with the basic conjecture with the learning outcomes under conditions not consistent with the theory. The results support the conjecture. The second study shows, however, that the conditions that are consistent with the theory cannot be decided unless the learners' pre-requisites for the task in question are taken into consideration. One set of the pedagogical tools was found to be highly effective for learners with a better initial grasp of the object of learning, while another set was found to be equally effective for learners with a weaker initial grasp of the object of learning. The two sets were equally ineffective when used for the "wrong" group of learners.

Keywords: Learning study; Phenomenography; Variation theory.