Meaningful learning

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Meaningful learning refers to the act of higher order thinking and development through intellectual engagement that uses pattern recognition and concept association. It can include—but is not limited to—critical and creative thinking, inquiry, problem solving, critical discourse, and metacognitive skills.^[1] The concept and theory of meaningful learning is that learned information is completely understood and can now be used to make connections with other previously known knowledge aiding in further understanding.^[2] Since information is stored in a network of connections, it can be accessed from multiple starting points depending on the context of recall.^[3] Meaningful learning is often contrasted with rote learning, a method in which information is memorized sometimes without elements of understanding or relation to other objects or situations.^[2] A real-world example of a concept the learner has learned is an instance of meaningful learning.