Interesting. We had very little multiple choice tests at school (Germany) and did not consider learning for it "memorization". Memorization was trained for on p

Interesting. We had very little multiple choice tests at school (Germany) and did not consider learning for it "memorization". Memorization was trained for on purpose by memorizing passages of text, famous/important works of literature/poetry. The idea was the the skill of memorization would be helpful generally speaking. Most tests where free form - i.e. you had to be sufficiently capable of spelling/writing/explaining yourself on top of answering the question at hand. In math/physics this included, obviously, knowing equations and formulas by heart as they were not given. Several such hour long written exams had a huge impact on your term grade. The other emphasis was on oral exams (in front of the entire class), which were also quite frequent and typically involved being able to express in your own words questions related to topics covered over several months.