The search for meaning is innate. All learners are trying to make sense out of what is happening at all times. According to Jensen (1996), three factors are critical to learner-created meaning:

1.	Relevance. On a cellular level, it's the activation of existing connections in neural networks. It relates to something the learner already knows some information about. The more relevance this has to the learner, the greater the meaning.
2.	Emotion. When the learner's emotions are engaged, the brain "codes" the content by triggering the release of chemicals that single out and "mark" the experience as important and meaningful. Emotions activate many areas in the body and the brain, including the prefrontal cortices, amygdala, hippocampus and often the stomach. This may give meaning to something without your having any understanding of it.
3.	Pattern. Isolated information has little meaning. The brain builds larger patterns to help form genuine structures of meaning. The context helps make it part of an overall pattern. Context can be social, intellectual, physical, economic, geographic, political, or any other pattern which makes meaning.

  Back to Brain-Based Dimensions of Learning Page

  Back to Learning Theory Page