Rote Learning

Throughout my academic career, I knew I could always achieve above average grades as I had a of traditional education “studying system” down to an art.  I found this was prevalent especially in high school math courses.  I always knew that every unit in high school always had a "unit test" that incorporated a few chapters of the textbook. Although most of the time I didn't participate much in terms of the daily lessons I always knew that if I just study those chapters the day before that I will be able to do well on the application and knowledge portions of the test.  This is because the questions on the test were essentially questions found in the textbook just with the numbers altered.  The only section of the test in which I would do poor on was the thinking and inquiry section.  These sections were designed for you to not just regurgitate formulas or theories but to apply your knowledge gained throughout the unit to real world situations.  I could never fully understand these questions and often would leave them blank.  Looking back, I see my troubles with this section is actually because I never applied my mathematics skills through different applications.  I would rarely practice or challenge myself using online resources, activities etc. to put my mathematical skills to the test.  In class, we did the leap frog game which used various elements of mathematics (spatial awareness, estimating moves, patterns etc.).  This was one of the first times where I felt challenged in mathematics as I had to look at the problem from multiple perspectives.  I had to try several different ways to actually get the result I wanted.

url:https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Rote+learning&view=detailv2&&id=9F4B7800CA4CC46B3F7652C846A229E34418B529&selectedIndex=12&ccid=%2b5zg%2bvwA&simid=608029299970869429&thid=OIP.Mfb9ce0fafc00eef5b2b4d83861ab8f3do0&ajaxhist=0

In looking at the picture above, you can see that memorization and regurgitation does not equate to true knowledge of the subject.  In the picture you can see a drawing of a person who states “memorizing is great! I don’t know why; I just memorized it”.  This is all related to the term “rote learning” which is greatly incorporated in traditional education settings.  Although “rote learning” is necessary in some cases when it comes to education I truly don’t believe it should be the foundation of which all learning is conducted.  Essentially, just like the leap frog game, there is other ways to apply and challenge somebody’s knowledge and produce a much more enriching learning experience.

           In closing, I know that we as future educators must keep mathematics fun, fresh and interesting to the students.  We should try to incorporate as many online resources, games and activities into our lessons so that it keeps math interesting and challenges students.  Lastly, we should be moving away from the “rote learning” and make math something that is not just memorized but is fluently learned in all aspects.