"See, the mistake they made is assuming that I didn't need a fundamental understanding in order to simply regurgitate the subject material" Right. I don't cons

"See, the mistake they made is assuming that I didn't need a fundamental understanding in order to simply regurgitate the subject material" Right. I don't consider myself expert in how people learn stuff or acquire knowledge but speaking for myself I'll almost certainly remember it if I understand it. A slight qualification though, there are many 'minor' facts that I've understood at the time but have eventually forgotten or I've only partially remembered them. This is especially so if I hold little interest in the subject. (It's known the mind clears dross out if it isn't reinforced or used.) What I'm talking about are key concepts or processes in a subject that one is expected to know and retain. For me, I'll much better understand a topic if it's taught in context (why we should learn it) and or if it's of interest to me. Here's another example from math: at school I recall learning parametric equations and I quickly caught on and understood them because I'd come to the conclusion that they are a really neat and cleaver way of solving stuff that would otherwise be difficult. Here, the learning reinforcement was of my own doing—not because the teacher has stressed this part of the syllabus more than any other part. The info stuck immediately because I could visualize how useful they were.