I think understanding the concept of the lower level stuff without having to have rote memorization is important. As an example, high school kids learn calculu

I think understanding the concept of the lower level stuff without having to have rote memorization is important. As an example, high school kids learn calculus via rote memorization (at least this is how we learned it). We learned what the derivative of x^2 was, etc. but not necessarily what the derivative is. The majority of testing doesn't really focus on the concept, and it should. As I got into college I understood the concepts behind mathematical thought and everything started making sense. So I guess I'm in the "less rote memorization" camp.