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Teaching philosophy in the US is deeply flawed. Memorization has been deemphasized and "understanding" is being promoted. Ask the proponents of "understanding"

Teaching philosophy in the US is deeply flawed. Memorization has been deemphasized and "understanding" is being promoted. Ask the proponents of "understanding" and "critical thinking" based education to explain what the terms actually mean. I have a simple definition of "understanding". Understanding is when you've developed an accurate, predictive, mental model for some topic. It's much easier to develop an accurate mental model when you memorize all the components of some topic. I think memorization is deemphasized because memorization is painful and benefits from having an invested family that will encourage and even force the student to practice.

alyandon 3y ago
As a parent with a child in public grade school, the whole rote memorization of facts vs trying to help him understand and think isn't the real problem. The thing that makes him an A/B student (and sometimes almost C) instead of a straight A student is that my ability to help him is virtually nil because all his tests, classwork and even homework are done electronically. I never get to see an actual graded copy of anything that would tell me exactly where he is struggling. Instead, I'm supposed to trust that he is getting adequate guidance from his teacher when they review classwork but given a classroom size of 20+ students I have serious doubts that that is actually happening. I hate to say it - but I really am coming around to the idea that having computers in classrooms and digitization of tests, classwork and homework is actually a hindrance to learning because of the missing feedback loop. :-/
- spywaregorilla 3y ago
  Why are you less able to ask to see the electronic version than the paper version? I don't think kids are eagerly sharing their graded papers with their parents otherwise.
  - alyandon 3y ago
    In most cases, it is a result of the teacher immediately "closing" the assignment/test after it has been submitted and you are only then able to see the final score. For the couple of teachers that actually use canvas properly, I am actually able to see his answers and see which ones he missed and work with him to help him better understand.
    - otoburb 3y ago
      In such a situation, a (possibly poor) mitigation would be to ask your child to go through practice standardized tests (e.g. 10th grade PSAT, SAT, ACT) earlier to see which areas they might need help with. At least you’d have a (little) bit more visibility into possible areas to work on with your child in the future instead of the black box that you are both currently facing.
spywaregorilla 3y ago
I have fond memories of my calculus teacher being confused when she realized everybody had been made to memorize basic trig identities in the previous grade but were never taught their very basic and intuitive relationship and derivation from the Pythagorean theorem. A great shocked pikachu moment for the class to realize, collectively, that they were all being dumbasses in their empty understanding of things.
- brigadier132 3y ago
  > but were never taught their very basic and intuitive relationship and derivation from the Pythagorean theorem And how is this not just another fact to be memorized?
  - kccqzy 3y ago
    When you memorize the right facts, you can derive the remaining facts using logical deduction. And that's basically introduction to proofs. Furthermore, your mental load will be lower. You don't remember as many things since you know you can derive them on the spot.
  - spywaregorilla 3y ago
    If you want to take that stance you'll need to provide an example of how one teaches an "understanding" of math without invoking memorization.
    - brigadier132 3y ago
      My stance is you can't teach an understanding without invoking memorization. That's my entire point.
      - spywaregorilla 3y ago
        Nobody is claiming otherwise. You're not understanding education about understanding.

alyandon 3y ago

As a parent with a child in public grade school, the whole rote memorization of facts vs trying to help him understand and think isn't the real problem. The thing that makes him an A/B student (and sometimes almost C) instead of a straight A student is that my ability to help him is virtually nil because all his tests, classwork and even homework are done electronically. I never get to see an actual graded copy of anything that would tell me exactly where he is struggling. Instead, I'm supposed to trust that he is getting adequate guidance from his teacher when they review classwork but given a classroom size of 20+ students I have serious doubts that that is actually happening. I hate to say it - but I really am coming around to the idea that having computers in classrooms and digitization of tests, classwork and homework is actually a hindrance to learning because of the missing feedback loop. :-/

spywaregorilla 3y ago
Why are you less able to ask to see the electronic version than the paper version? I don't think kids are eagerly sharing their graded papers with their parents otherwise.
- alyandon 3y ago
  In most cases, it is a result of the teacher immediately "closing" the assignment/test after it has been submitted and you are only then able to see the final score. For the couple of teachers that actually use canvas properly, I am actually able to see his answers and see which ones he missed and work with him to help him better understand.
  - otoburb 3y ago
    In such a situation, a (possibly poor) mitigation would be to ask your child to go through practice standardized tests (e.g. 10th grade PSAT, SAT, ACT) earlier to see which areas they might need help with. At least you’d have a (little) bit more visibility into possible areas to work on with your child in the future instead of the black box that you are both currently facing.

spywaregorilla 3y ago

I have fond memories of my calculus teacher being confused when she realized everybody had been made to memorize basic trig identities in the previous grade but were never taught their very basic and intuitive relationship and derivation from the Pythagorean theorem. A great shocked pikachu moment for the class to realize, collectively, that they were all being dumbasses in their empty understanding of things.

brigadier132 3y ago
> but were never taught their very basic and intuitive relationship and derivation from the Pythagorean theorem And how is this not just another fact to be memorized?
- kccqzy 3y ago
  When you memorize the right facts, you can derive the remaining facts using logical deduction. And that's basically introduction to proofs. Furthermore, your mental load will be lower. You don't remember as many things since you know you can derive them on the spot.
- spywaregorilla 3y ago
  If you want to take that stance you'll need to provide an example of how one teaches an "understanding" of math without invoking memorization.
  - brigadier132 3y ago
    My stance is you can't teach an understanding without invoking memorization. That's my entire point.
    - spywaregorilla 3y ago
      Nobody is claiming otherwise. You're not understanding education about understanding.