Maybe, maybe not; I'm not sure. But I am sure that a student who understands and can apply a specific process when required as well as produce a correct result

Maybe, maybe not; I'm not sure. But I am sure that a student who understands and can apply a specific process when required as well as produce a correct result is better off than one who can only produce a correct result. Obviously I don't think that all of school should be rote application of techniques. But I've found that when you want to make sure your students have learned a specific technique, you sometimes have to create a somewhat artificial request. Have you taught enough to have found otherwise?