Ms. Oakley discusses the way she applied her approach to learning and becoming fluent in Russian to re-learning the mathematics she didn't quite "get" in school.
"Time after time, professors in mathematics and the sciences have told me that building well-ingrained chunks of expertise through practice and repetition was absolutely vital to their success. Understanding doesn’t build fluency; instead, fluency builds understanding. In fact, I believe that true understanding of a complex subject comes only from fluency."
"In other words, in science and math education in particular, it’s easy to slip into teaching methods that emphasize understanding and that avoid the sometimes painful repetition and practice that underlie fluency."
The entire article is well worth your time.
H/T to John Graves!
Mike,
ReplyDeleteThis article looks like it stems from a larger discussion which is taking place on account of Common Core. Do we emphasize understanding over rote and repetition? I have tackled three areas in my life where rote and repetition were essential to my ability to grasp and come to a fuller comprehension of the material at hand. The first was bagpiping. It was only through the continuous practice and memorization of music that I gained the ability to understand musical phrasing and idioms. And then with the Russian language, again memorization (props to Mrs. Gwathmy (sp) and Mrs. Thuman for their Latin instruction) gave me the ability to speak and start with simple phrases which progressed into even more complex sentences. Even, now, I as I work though different computer programming languages for work, I see my biggest gains in productivity when I make a point of forcing myself to remember the syntax of certain processes.
Thanks,
Patrick Cusack, STE 1990
Amen to all of this. Musicians don't memorize a,d,g Its memorized by repetition.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for ST. Thomas Episcopal School. It taught logic, discipline of the mind and above all a love for learning.