What is Rote Learning? Effectiveness of ... - Resilient Educator

Rote learning is defined as the memorization of information based on repetition. The two best examples of rote learning are the alphabet and ... TipsforTeachersandClassroomResourcesUpdatedDecember9,2020 WhatisRoteLearning—andisitEffective?ABattleBetweenMemoryandIntelligence By TheEditorialTeam Facebook Twitter Pinterest Linkedin Email Rotelearningisdefinedasthememorizationofinformationbasedonrepetition.Thetwobestexamplesofrotelearningarethealphabetandnumbers.Slightlymorecomplicatedexamplesincludemultiplicationtablesandspellingwords.Atthehigh-schoollevel,scientificelementsandtheirchemicalnumbersmustbememorizedbyrote.And,manytimes,teachersuserotelearningwithoutevenrealizingtheydoso. Doesrotelearninghaveaplacein21st-centuryeducation? Isrotelearninganoutdatedtechniqueoristhereavalidplaceforitsuseintheclassroomtoday?Increasingly,rotelearningisbeingabandonedfornewertechniquessuchasassociativelearning,metacognition,andcriticalthinkinginsteadofbeingusedasafunctionalfoundationtohigherlevelsoflearning. It’salwaysusefultoapplymeaningfulrelationshipstobasicskills.Attheendoftheday,however,rotelearningplaysabiggerrolethanmostteacherswouldliketorecognizeintoday’slearningclimate.It’suptoustoleverageourownuniqueteachingmethodstoproducethemosteffectivelearningenvironmentforourstudents,andit’simportanttokeepanopenmindaround“theright”approach. Thedifferencebetweenmemoryandintelligence Thementalabilitytomemorizeisoftenusedasanindicatorofintelligence.Nodoubt,thetwoarestronglylinked,butmemoryisnotalwaysareliableindicatorofintelligence.Workingmemorydoesnotdirectlyaffectthelevelofintelligenceofastudent. Mostofthetime,adeficitinworkingmemoryisduetothestructureoflearning.Thinkofworkingmemoryasafilingcabinet.Ifeachpieceofinformationhasaseparatefile,findingtheinformationbecomesdifficult.Iffactorssuchasstress,lackofsleep,anddistractionsareinvolved,findingtheinformationisevenharder.Instead,effectivememorizationinvolvescategorizationoftheinformationandsectionswithinsectionsofthefilingcabinet. Memoryisnotastrongindicatorofintelligence.Instead,itislinkedtointeractionofenvironmentalfactorsandtraining. Whenisthereaproblemwithrotelearning? Whenrotememorizationisappliedasthemainfocusoflearning,itisnotconsideredhigher-levelthoughtorcriticalthinking.Opponentstorotememorizationarguethatcreativityinstudentsisstuntedandsuppressed,andstudentsdonotlearnhowtothink,analyzeorsolveproblems.Theseeducatorsbelieve,instead,thatamoreassociativeorconstructivelearningshouldbeappliedintheclassroom.Ifthemajorityofthestudent’sdayisspentonrepetition,thefoundationforlearningbecomesshaky. Oftentimes,teachersarescornedfor“teachingtothetest,”referringtostandardizedtesting,andarecriticizedforapplyingrotememorizationasafoundationalskill.Whentheroleofrotememorizationisanendinitself,insteadofameanstoanend,rotememorizationfailsasabuildingblocktocriticalthinking. Whentheargumentfocusesonrotelearningasaneither/orsituation,rotelearningisstigmatizedasatechniquethat“lazy”or“uninformed”teachersuse.But,inreality,rotelearningandhigher-levelthinkingareactuallyintimatelyintertwined. When—andwhy—isrotelearningisuseful? Asanalternativeapproachtosubjectareasthatrequirememorizationwithdisdainandconflict,teacherscanbuildhigher-levelcriticalthinkingskillswithrotelearningasthefoundation. Rotelearningasabuildingblock Considerthis:Howdostudentslearnthealphabetormultiplicationtablesifnotthroughrotememorization?Forthatmatter,canahighschoolchemistrystudentprogresswithouthavingtheTableofElementsmemorized? Whileit’snotameanstoanend,rotelearningisnecessaryifyouwanttoengageinhigher-levelthinking.Afterall,canyoudocalculusorengineering-math,orevenbasicalgebra,ifyouconstantlyhavetorememberhowtomultiplyorlookupfunctionsandoperations?Thatmethodwouldtakeforever.Andyouwon’tlikelyhave“ah-ha”momentsorbreakthroughs. Asanotherexample,thesesameprinciplesalsoappliestospelling.Althougheveryonetodayuseswordprocessorswithspellcheck,spellingisstillimportantwhenfillingoutformsandwritingletters.Knowinghowtospellmakeswritingeasierandfaster. Totrulyengageinhigherlevelthinking,studentsmustfirstlearnbasicmaterialandmemorizethismaterialsotheycanrefertoitlaterdowntheroadwhendealingwithmoreadvancedlessonsandlearning. Rotelearningisnotaneither/ormatter Rotelearningandmemorizationdonotequalhigher-levelthinking,andshouldnotreplaceonefortheother.Rotelearning,however,isthecornerstoneofhigher-levelthinkingandshouldnotbeignored.Especiallyintoday’sadvancedtechnologicalworld,rotememorizationmightbeevenmoreimportantthanever!Thinkofrotelearningasthethefilingsystemforyourbrain.Ifyoucaneasilyaccesstheinformationwhenperformingacertaintask,thebrainisfreetomakemajorleapsinlearning. Youmayalsoliketoread EffectiveTeachingStrategiesforSpecialEducation 5EffectiveStrategiesforEnglishTeachers 3ExamplesofEffectiveClassroomManagement EffectiveTeachingStrategiesforAdolescentLiteracyTeachers BuildingEffectiveStudent-TeacherRelationships DanielGoleman'sEmotionalIntelligenceTheoryExplained Tags:AssessmentTools,ProsandCons AlsoofInterest:ESL,ESOL,TESOL,TFL:WhatArethe...WhatIsanAssociate’sDegreeinEducation?WhatAreProfessionalandTerminalDegreesin... be_ixf;ym_202206d_15;ct_50 be_ixf;php_sdk;php_sdk_1.4.26 https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/what-is-rote-learning/ https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/what-is-rote-learning/