Surface Learning In John Tagg's The Paradigm College

Deep Learning Many times, during a standardized education, we may find ourselves asking, “Why am I doing this?” This feeling of discouragement and despair is very common among students and can generally lead to student slacking off and taking easier routes in their classes. However, a change of attitude and mindset can provide the means necessary to facilitate an enjoyment of learning and a renewed appreciation for knowledge. When faced with a problem, we students will most always choose the path of the least resistance; and in the context of education, this path would be called “surface learning.” Surface learning consists of understanding only the surface of a text. In schools, surface learning most generally appears as memorizing facts

However, this extra effort is not in vain. When one engages in deep learning they begin to understand the text on a deeper level. This deeper understanding leads to the learner connecting information within their mind so that they have one large collection of “knowledges,” rather than many small and separate compartments of knowledge. This combination and reorganization of the mind is a crucial part of becoming a well-rounded individual, and here, at a Christian liberal arts university, is necessary for short and long term success (Tagg 72). As demonstrated by John Tagg in his work The Learning Paradigm College, “It should now be clear that the quality of learning an institution promotes is what gives that institution meaning and value. Underlying everything the institution does and overriding every other consideration, a college must promote a deep orientation to learning and discourage a surface one or it actively undermines its very rationale for being” (Tagg 86). I think this idea of the university promoting deep learning directly couples with idea of a liberal arts

As a student, I have realized that I do not have to exert much more work to achieve deep learning, all that is required is that I enter my study session with a sense of openness and readiness to learn well. Once this change happened, I realized that deep learning does not require hard work, but rather it requires intentional work. In middle school and high school I constantly found myself dreading my work and doing the bare minimum in my classes. For some reason, I couldn’t seem to find meaning or value in anything I was doing. What I didn’t realize, however, was that by slacking off, I was only hurting myself. As time passed, I began to realize that I could be getting so much more from my education than that which I had been taking. So, as I transitioned into college, I began to accept a better attitude and mindset to my studies. During my first semester, I began to apply myself more and, to no surprise, I have enjoyed studying exponentially more. This realization has helped me as a student to gain more from my study sessions than I had