Memorization Vs. Understanding
*Originally posted on April 25, 2015
Today, I was talking with someone about the upcoming History test. I made the comment that I had spent the last few hours trying to memorize the rest of the New Deal for the test. The person sitting beside me made the comment, “If you have to memorize it, you don’t understand it.”
To me, it wasn’t just memorizing the facts on the paper, but trying to make them progress in my head in a way that actually makes sense. I could tell you what the programs are in the New Deal, but I couldn’t explain exactly what every program meant to the people in the era. I knew the facts, not the opinions.
Understanding things does not have to just be in history. If you have to memorize formulas for a math test, you don’t understand the math well enough. Knowing the math means that you know why the formulas work they way they do. One of my friends told me today that she didn’t like Spanish because it’s hard or doesn’t make sense. This is because when being taught a new language in high school,, we have to memorize what words mean rather than being able to make sense of them on our own. Understanding of the words and why they mean what they mean is helpful when trying to learn a new language. However, when trying to explain preterite to someone, it’s never really easy. Sure, you could say that it’s just the past tense, but in order for someone to understand the idea, they need to understand why it works the way it does.
If understanding is better than memorization, why are we put into situations that force us to memorize things? Wouldn’t the best form of schooling be for someone to just go out and explore the world? Yes, we would know more that way; each individual would understand the things that every individual does, but where does that put society? It puts us in a position where we do not progress beyond what we already know at the rate we are now. We get put into situations that force us to memorize things because we, as a whole, want to expand what we already know, not just re-learning the same ideas that we have already found.
To me, it wasn’t just memorizing the facts on the paper, but trying to make them progress in my head in a way that actually makes sense. I could tell you what the programs are in the New Deal, but I couldn’t explain exactly what every program meant to the people in the era. I knew the facts, not the opinions.
I’ve always heard the quote that “those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” I’ve never really thought of that quote in the same way that I did today. I’ve always understood it to mean that KNOWING the history is the most important thing, but it can be argued that understanding it makes even more of a difference. Understanding why things happened they way they did is a big part of our lives, just as understanding why things work they way they do is important.
Understanding things does not have to just be in history. If you have to memorize formulas for a math test, you don’t understand the math well enough. Knowing the math means that you know why the formulas work they way they do. One of my friends told me today that she didn’t like Spanish because it’s hard or doesn’t make sense. This is because when being taught a new language in high school,, we have to memorize what words mean rather than being able to make sense of them on our own. Understanding of the words and why they mean what they mean is helpful when trying to learn a new language. However, when trying to explain preterite to someone, it’s never really easy. Sure, you could say that it’s just the past tense, but in order for someone to understand the idea, they need to understand why it works the way it does.
In a way, that’s how we understand technology and other things. We don’t just memorize that one certain button does something–well, some people do–we understand that when we hit a specific button, these specific actions will happen. For example, if I hit a specific button combination on my computer (CTRL+A), it will highlight all of the text that I’ve typed. I don’t have that memorized, but through learning about the computer on my own, I was able to understand that the specific combination does that. It’s the best way for me to learn. Another example is the passcode on my phone. If someone asks me what it is, I couldn’t tell you. I don’t have it memorized. I have the muscle memory, however, and my fingers just know where to go. Another example is when a child figures out that a square will not fit into a round hole. They don’t memorize that fact, they understand that the shape will not fit there correctly.
