Successful Teaching Rote Teaching Based on memorization Emphasis

Successful Teaching

“Rote Teaching” � Based on memorization � Emphasis placed on ability to repeat information for given situations. � [Taiwanese] learners hold high the tradition of rote learning as being an integral part of their culture. ◦ Xiaping Li

“Critical Thinking” � Stimulates thinking � Emphasizes knowledge construction � Although faculty may aspire to develop students' thinking skills, in practice they have tended to aim at facts and concepts utilizing lowest levels of cognition, rather than developing intellect or values. ◦ Lion Gardiner

Working Memory (temporary memory) � Lasts a few seconds (3 -15 seconds) ◦ If you are really smart or the memory is valuable, it can last up to one minute. � Like the waiting room in a doctor’s office. � Everything we take in goes first to the working memory. � Can hold up to seven items. � This is where we think. ◦ i. e. if we are trying to process information, other things in the working memory will be pushed out.

Long-term Memory � Lasts from 1 second to a lifetime. � Only those things that know the secret password may enter the working memory. � The passwords are: ◦ Repetition �It takes three heartfelt tries to learn something, but without meaning, it will still be difficult to recall. ◦ Meaningful �The easiest to remember and recall. ◦ Association �patterns, music, rhymes, mnemonic devices

Rote Learning vs. Critical Thinking � Both are important. � Students still need to memorize vocabulary words before they can use them. � The trick is finding ways to unify them. ◦ We should remember that if we focus entirely on rote learning, the things we teach won’t last. ◦ And if we focus entirely on critical thinking, there will be gaps in their foundational learning.