Digest #154: Memorizing vs Understanding

by Althea Need Kaminske

Is there a difference between memorizing material and understanding material? And if so, shouldn’t educators focus on the presumably better, more wholistic of the two, understanding rather than rote memorization? The answers to these, as always, is somewhat complicated. I sat down to write a blog post analyzing the differences between what people mean by memory vs understanding then realized that we have several posts that do just that! This week’s digest focuses on the discussion around rote memorization and understanding/experience.

(For those who want to cut to the chase, my answers to those questions would be summarized as: First, yes, there certainly are differences in how people learn, integrate, and use information and experiences. Second, no, it doesn’t make sense to focus solely on understanding rather than memory. Separating memory from understanding is something of a false dichotomy. Learning is better when both “rote” memory and understanding/experience are emphasized.)

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1. Memorizing versus Understanding

   In this post Yana reviews an article that advocates for a hybrid approach to memory and understanding - “development of understanding takes place alongside or in conjunction with intentional encoding and strengthening of information in memory.

2. Which Should Come First: Problem Solving or Instruction

   In this post Cindy discusses active learning (also called inquiry learning or discovery learning) and reviews an experiment that investigated whether the order of activities (instruction first or explore first) makes a difference. Many of the nuances that come up in the discussion of the difference between memory and understanding come up in discussion of active learning.

3. The Art and Science of Memory: Part 1

   Often when when people talk about the differences between the Arts and the Sciences they emphasize the role of rote memory in Science. In this first post in the series I explain the relationship between “rote” memory and “deep” learning.

4. The Art and Science of Memory: Part 2

   In the second post in this series I discuss the research on organization and memory and provide some examples of how even seemingly “rote” memory tasks rely on associations, context and relational processing. Hence my use of quotations around “rote” memory. It’s very difficult to purely memorize information without any sort of associations, context, or relational processing.

5. GUEST POST: From Knowledge To Skill: Do Learning Strategies Improve Critical Thinking

   In this guest post Dr. Lauren Bellaera reviews how spacing and retrieval practice - strategies noted for improving memory - can improve critical thinking.

Image from Pixabay