Constructive nature of human learning

From the 1970s on, research on human cognition as information-processing has revealed the 'constructive' nature of human learning. Learning consists of complex information processing, problem-solving, decision-making in uncertainty and the urge to transfer knowledge and skills into new, unknown settings.

Learning is, in this view, defined as

• an active,
• constructive,
• goal-oriented and
• situated process that requires intensive mental activity and construction of meaning on the part of the learner (Dillemans et al., 1999 as cited in Virkus 2003)).

Therefore, to learn constructively involves active seeking, processing and using of information, critical analysis and metacognition (Virkus, 2003).