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Memorizing/Understanding
In their paper on building understanding of mathematics
in children, Carpenter and Lehrer (1999) suggest that
for students to build understandings of what they are
learning, they should:
- build connections between what
they learn and know
- extend and apply their knowledge
- be reflective about what they are making
- articulate it to others
- make their knowledge their own
Design tasks in themselves are great assessment tools for checking
students' understanding. One study [How People Learn (p.
44)] by Bransford and Stern (193) showed how students
who memorized facts about veins and arteries were less
able to make informed decisions when designing an artificial
circulatory system compared to students who were taught
about the structure and function of these elements with
the goal of understanding the circulatory system.
In MOVIE 1, Vanderbilt's Richard Lehrer MOVIE 2 describes
ways to build in students identities that allows them
to create understandings that go beyond what is initially
studied. Rich site one student as saying, "I good
question is one where you can 'piggyback' on it. "In
MOVIE 2, Farmington HS teacher Earl Carlyon tells his
"pig-clicking" story, to which he refers throughout
the year, which stressed the difference between learning-as-memorizing
facts versus learning-as-understanding concepts.
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