The conditions for fostering meaningful understanding of information in learning

Abstract

Introduction. The article focuses on developing meaningful understanding of information as an important generic learning skill. The purpose of the study is to identify the conditions for fostering meaningful understanding of information in the learning process. Materials and Methods. The study was conducted using the method of psychological and educational experiment, which allowed to validate theoretically designed models of teaching meaningful understanding. The methods of mathematical statistics were used to analyze the quantitative results of the experiment. In order to analyze the qualitative results of the experiment, which describe characteristics of teaching meaningful understanding of information, the method of observation was used. The authors were observing the process of reading comprehension. The method of comparative analysis of reading comprehension became the main one in assessing the effectiveness of teaching meaningful understanding. Results. The authors summarize the results of theoretical and experimental study of teaching students meaningful understanding. The criteria of meaningful understanding of information are clarified. The authors provide a qualitative description of operations in meaningful understanding of text information. The levels of meaningful understanding of information and specifics of its development within a higher educational institution are revealed. A range of psychological and educational interventions aimed at fostering meaningful understanding in teaching is identified. Principles and ideas developed as a result of the study can be employed in teaching meaningful understanding of various age-groups. Conclusions. The authors identify the conditions for the development of meaningful understanding of information in the learning process. The main condition is the purposeful and controlled formation of specific meaningful understanding skills in the process of mastering reading comprehension. The most important way to develop meaningful understanding of information is its extrapolation to new situations, based on personal attitude to the content.