When Rote Learning Makes Sense | Edutopia

The Cognitive 411. Students deserve to know how to learn and teachers do them a disservice when they do not teach them useful learning skills. Asayouth,IrememberfeelingcheatedoutofrichcontentinmyeducationwhenIlistenedtomymotherintimesofsorrowortenderness,lovinglyreciteentirepoemsandpassagesfrombooksshestudiedinhighschool.Weallknowthatpracticemakesperfect,butforsomereasonperfectionisnotoneofthegoalsoflearninginmostschools.Intoday'sclassrooms,studentspracticeplenty,butarenotrequiredtoretainknowledgeperfectly.TheMWordSomewherealongtheway,rotelearninggotabadrap.Memorization(there,IsaidtheMword)becameanathematolearning.Howthiscametobe,Iamuncertain,butwhatIamcertainisthatthisshiftawayfrommemorizationhasunderminedtheeffectivenessoftheteachingandlearningprocessalteringwholegenerations.Perhapsthemisplacedangstagainstmemorizationhascomefromthenotionthatmemorizationisreservedforteachersasateachingmethodology.Thetruenatureofmemorization,however,isnotfortheteachersatall,really.Itisforthestudents.Anditistheresponsibilityofteacherstoteachstudentshowtouseittohelpthemintheireducationalcareer.Thetotalemphasisoncriticalthinkinghasitallwrong:Beforestudentscanthinkcritically,theyneedtohavesomethingtothinkaboutintheirbrains.Itistruethatknowledgewithoutcomprehensionisoflittleuse,butcomprehensionrequiresknowledgeandittakestimeandefforttoacquire.Bloom'sTaxonomymaintainsthatthehighestorderofthinkingoccursattheevaluatingandcreatinglevelswhichinferthatthethinkersmusthaveknowledge,facts,data,orinformationintheirbrainstocombineintosomethingnew,orwithwhichtojudgerelativeimportanceorvalue.Therefore,effectiveknowledgeacquisitionhastocomefirst.TheCognitive411Studentsdeservetoknowhowtolearnandteachersdothemadisservicewhentheydonotteachthemusefullearningskills.Herearesomeunderlyingconceptsthatneedtobeacceptedbeforewecancontinue:Thebrainisalearningtool.Thismightseemobvious,butthebrainisnotapassivesponge.Itrequiresactiveefforttoretaininformationinshort-termmemoryandevenmoreefforttogetitintolong-termmemory.Learnersneedtoknowthatthelongeranideacanbekeptinshort-termmemory,themorechanceitcanbepushedintolong-termmemory.Thisiswherepracticemakesperfectmakessense.Thebodyisanotherlearningtool--anotheroften-ignoredconcept.Thebodyisconnectedtothebrainandifyouengagethebody,youareengagingthebraintoo.Learnersfeelanaddictivesenseofaccomplishmentwhensomethinghasbeenmemorizedcompletely.MemoryGamesWiththeseconceptsinmind,Iwouldliketodiscusssomeofthememorizationlearningmethodsthatmakeiteffectiveandenjoyable:LearningAloudJustasweuseourmouthstorepeataphonenumberoverandovertoretainitinshorttermmemory,otherthingscanbelearnedinthesameway.Onekeypointheretorememberisthatthecycleofrepetitionmustbeshortandquickandnolessthanthreetimes.Anotherpointisthatifstudentscannotpronounceaword,thereisnowaytheycanrememberit.Whenreviewingflashcardsorally,forexample,studentsneedtodoitquickly,pausingonlyasecondortwoforrecall.Ifitdoesn'tcome,thentheyneedtolookattheanswerandrepeatitaloud,thengoon.Ifdonequickly,bythethirdorfourthiteration,moststudentscanhave100percentaccuracy.Thedangeriswhenastudentgetsstuckononecardfortoolong,alloftheotherinformationinshorttermmemoryislost,makingthestudyineffective.Onewaytohelpstudentslearnhowtodothisistodotheflashcardswiththem,modelingthespeedandwhathappensifthestudentcan'tremember:letthemlookattheanswer,butmakingsurethatthatstudentgetsachancetorespondcorrectlyagain.Ifthestudentsareinaline(orevenbetter,severallines),thefirststudentanswersacard,andthengoesbacktotheendofthelinewhiletherestofthestudentsinthelinegivetheirresponsestothecardsonebyone.UsingRhythmandBreathLearningtextisdoneatsimilarspeeds,butsincetheorderoflearningthewordsisimportanttherearesomeeffectivewaystochainthemtogether.Learnthepassageinbreathgroups,orwhatcanbecomfortablystatedinonebreath.Studentsusingtheirmouths,becauseitispartofthebodyandalearningtool,repeatthebreathgroupuntilitisfirmlyinshort-termmemory,thengoontothenextbreathgroupanddothesame.Whenthatisdone,putbothgroupstogetherandrepeatthem.Thisisbesttaughttostudentsusingchoralrepetition.Thekeyhereistobeenthusiasticandenergetic,praisingthestudentsastheypractice.Printingthefirstletterofeachwordinthebreathgroupcanhelpstudentsrememberthewordsastheylearnthem.JigsawStrategiesAcreativeteachercanhavegroupsofstudentslearndifferentpartsofthepassageandthenswitchparts,orstandupastheysaytheirpassage,orevenmovetoadifferentpartoftheroomwitheachphrase.Sincethebodyisconnectedtothebrain,itiseffectivetohavestudentsdoahandsignalorbodymovementtosymbolizethecontentofthebreathgroupastheysayit.Sometimesitishelpfultostartattheendandaddphrasesinreverseorderknownasreversechaining.Ihaveseenseventhgradersusethismethodtolearnthecomplexlogicaloperationsandhighschoolstudentslearningchemistrythroughachemicalreactionsdance.AsaSpanishteacher,Ifounditeffectivetohavethestudentsperformtheactionofthewordstheyweretryingtolearnastheytoldastory,knowasTotalPhysicalResponseStorytelling(TPRS).ItwasexcitingtoseestudentsenjoyingthemselveswhileactingoutandstatingfrommemorythewordstoCaperucitaRoja("LittleRedRidingHood").Memorizationisnotabadthing.Studentshavetomemorizethealphabet,sightwords,vocabulary,timestables,andmanyotherthingsandhavefundoingit.There'scountlesswaystohelpstudentslearnhowtomemorizequickly,efficiently,andenjoyably.Youcanusemusic,song,dance,rhythms,patterns,competitions,andgames.Oncetheyknowhowtolearn,ormemorize,thenstudentscanacquireknowledgeaboutanythingtheywanttolearn,whichisindirectionoppositiontowhatcriticssayaboutrotememorization.Whatareyourthoughtsonthispost?Pleaseshareyourownstoriesaboutlearningthroughmemorization.Close