subject: Learning By Rote Versus Understanding Of The Material. [print this page] Learning skills Learning skills
Every student has certain learning habits and views on the preparation for the exams. Some of them prefer to cram the material, repeating it word after word like a spell. Others are assured that knowledge in the related science will help to pass the exam and learning of the material is not necessary. But still the human memory has got certain general rules which are applicable for everyone.
It is not the issue of awareness in the questions of a certain subject. It is the question of general study competence. The following skills are receive in the primary school:
planning ones time;
systematizing the material;
establishing of the cause-and-effect relations.
The crammers are often teased and laughed at, but in fact these students need advice and support in order to change their learning habits.
Pros and cons of cramming
It is impossible to say that cramming is absolutely senseless. There are certain blocks of material that are to be learned by heart, such as formulas, words of the foreign language, exceptions from the general rules. Cramming trains the students memory. But it prevents the learner from implementing the knowledge into practice. If a single word of the crammed material is skipped or changed, the student is unable to continue.
Pros and cons of understanding the material
It is advisable to try to understand the material. To get the practical skills the student is to establish the relations between the parts of the course and between the course and the knowledge received earlier. Still there are some occasions when the understanding of the material does not help. For example, all rules have certain exceptions, which are to be crammed.
The process of preparation for the exam is to combine the elements of cramming and understanding. The preference should be given to the latter scheme of learning the material. Only understanding of the course material will help to implement theoretical material in practice.
