Christian A. Johnson Institute for Effective Teaching

POTTER’S TEN PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING

THE PRINCIPLE OF CONNECTEDNESS: Learning is fundamentally about making and maintaining connections: biologically through neural networks; mentally among concepts, ideas and meanings; and experientially
through interaction between the mind and the environment, self and other, generality and context, deliberation and action.

THE PRINCIPLE OF A COMPELLING SITUATION: Learning is enhanced by taking place in the context of a compelling situation that balances challenge and opportunity, stimulating and utilizing the brain's ability to
conceptualize quickly and its capacity and need for contemplation and reflection upon experiences.

THE PRINCIPLE OF AN ACTIVE SEARCH FOR MEANING: Learning is an active search for meaning by the learner-- constructing knowledge rather than passively receiving it, shaping as well as being shaped by
experiences.

THE PRINCIPLE OF DEVELOPMENT AND HOLISM: Learning is developmental, a cumulative process involving the whole person, relating past and present, integrating the new with the old, starting from but
transcending personal concerns and interests.

THE PRINCIPLE OF SOCIAL INTERACTION: Learning is done by individuals who are intrinsically tied to others as social beings, interacting as competitors or collaborators, constraining or supporting the learning
process, and able to enhance learning through cooperation and sharing.

THE PRINCIPLE OF THE LEARNING CLIMATE: Learning is strongly affected by the educational climate in which it takes place: the settings and surroundings, the influences of others, and the values accorded to the
life of the mind and to learning achievements.

THE PRINCIPLE OF FEEDBACK AND USE: Learning requires frequent feedback if it is to be sustained, practice if it is to be nourished, and opportunities to use what has been learned.

THE PRINCIPLE OF INCIDENTAL LEARNING: Much learning takes place informally and incidentally, beyond explicit teaching or the classroom, in casual contacts with faculty and staff, peers, campus life, active
social and community involvements, and unplanned but fertile and complex situations.

THE PRINCIPLE OF GROUNDEDNESS: Learning is grounded in particular contexts and individual experiences, requiring effort to transfer specific knowledge and skills to other circumstances or to more general
understandings and to unlearn personal views and approaches when confronted by new information.

THE PRINCIPLE OF SELF-MONITORING: Learning involves the ability of individuals to monitor their own learning, to understand how knowledge is acquired, to develop strategies for learning based on discerning
their capacities and limitations, and to be aware of their own ways of knowing in approaching new bodies of knowledge and disciplinary frameworks.

Acknowledgment and References

This article is adapted from a presentation to the George Mason faculty, December 1998.

American Association for Higher Education, American College Personnel Association, and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. Powerful Partnerships: A Shared Responsibility for Learning.
June 1998.

Marchese, Theodore J. "The New Conversations about Learning. Insights from Neuroscience and Anthropology, Cognitive Science and Work-Place Studies." (Reviewed in manuscript.)

DAVID L. POTTER (dpotter@gmu.edu) is the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at George Mason University. Prior to coming to George Mason University, Dr. Potter served in several capacities with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) from 1981 to 1986. Dr. Potter earned his master's and doctoral degrees at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.