Preschoolers' Understanding of Learning Based on Knowledge State

• In Event: Preschoolers’ Memory for and Understanding of Learning

Abstract

The judgment of whether we already know something or are ignorant about it has a fundamental effect on our motivation for learning and our actions in learning situations. If we already have a piece of knowledge, we do not need to learn it again, but if we do not our awareness of ignorance may prompt us to learn. When do young children have the same understanding? Can they judge when they already know something, and is that understanding related to their actual learning? This study investigated how young children’s understanding of learning based on their own knowledge states develops, and what implication this understanding has for their learning and education from theory of mind perspective.
Eighty-five preschoolers (3 to 6 years) from a city in the Eastern United States participated. They were asked whether story characters in vignettes will try to learn a piece of knowledge and whether learning really occurred when the characters were either already knowledgeable or ignorant at the beginning. In separate sessions, we presented children familiar knowledge (e.g., how to clap) that they should already know as well as novel knowledge (e.g., how to ‘juna’), and asked them whether they knew the knowledge, need or want to learn it, and whether they actually learned it from the researcher. We measured how much novel knowledge children acquired from the situation as well. In addition, in order to obtain information about children’s typical behaviors in learning situations, we asked their teachers to rate children’s learning-related behaviors (PLBS, McDermott, Green, Francis, & Stott, 1996). We also assessed children’s language ability (DAS, Elliott, 1990) as another possible contributing factor to children’s learning.
A clear age change was shown in children’s understanding of both other’s and their own learning. With age, children came to understand if already knowledgeable, a person will not try to learn, but if ignorant, the person will try to learn the knowledge. A similar pattern was found for their own learning. Older children, but not younger ones, were more likely to answer they need or want to learn novel knowledge, but they do not need to learn familiar knowledge. In addition, only older preschoolers judged that learning occurred for others and themselves based on a change in knowledge. Moreover, children with a better understanding of learning itself actually acquired more novel information in the experimental learning situation, even after age and basic language ability were controlled. Teachers’ reports of children’s learning behaviors were also positively related to children’s understanding of other’s and their own learning with age and language ability controlled.
The overall findings show a developmental change in preschoolers’ understanding of learning and in their judgment of when learning is needed based on the learner’s knowledge state. This understanding was found to be related to their own learning and behaviors in learning situations. As a first step in examining this relation, the paper also suggests new directions for future research and implications for classroom teaching and teachers.

Authors

• Jeein Jeong, University of Pennsylvania

• Douglas Frye, University of Pennsylvania