Deep learning is difficult

As the capacity to learn is one of men's natural capacities, it is easily assumed that learning itself proceeds smoothly and causes no particular difficulties. When learning is confronting difficulties, often external factors are held responsible, not some inherent difficulty in the learning process itself. Explanations for poor learning results found in terms of external factors usually range from pointing out the inadequacy of the subject matter area, the inadequacy of the student sample, to the inadequacy of the didactic approach or means. In this article, we will argue that learning is difficult in itself, and that the three types of explanations are not necessarily sufficient to explain poor learning results. Our conclusion is that the information processing needed for deep learning itself may be hampered because the students do not spontaneously engage in cognitive activities that foster such learning. We will put forward our arguments through describing the various results obtained with experimenting in the tides domain. Three studies are described in which students learn about the tides with a computer tutor.