Response after reading Relational Understanding and Instrumental Understanding
In this article, I was "stopped" three times since some of content reminds me of my own study experience.
In the beginning of the article, Skemp wrote about Faux Amis. As an ELL(English Language Learner) and having no knowledge about any Latin language, I used to struggle about understanding French words in an English article - since my first language is very different, it is difficult to guess the meaning of words. However, this might prevent me from misunderstanding Faux Amis. Similarly in math, if a student is not familiar with any math symbol, they might have less chance to misinterpret symbols since they need to ask about every single of them. Maybe it is necessary for students to ask instead of guessing.
There is a sentence that impressed me, "well is the enemy of better". It probably means if a student just does "well" in a problem or a course so that the can just pass, they would lost motivation of improving and making more effort on their learning. Telling students that they can do better is a good way to encourage and motivate them.
The comparison of learning music in pencil-and-paper pattern and instrumental pattern reminds me of my experience of taking music class in elementary school. Looking back to the past, I realized that the learning method I "suffered" is one of the most discouraging ways - instead of learning about how to sing, we were required to learn about five-line stave and different kinds of ovals and how to draw them properly. Many students were disappointed about the class and would rather math or other teacher to "take" this class period and I was on of them. As a result, I am now not able to read five-line stave and refuse to learn anything related to that.
According to my own knowledge and experience, I am to some extend agree with Skemp. However I also believe that there are different kinds of students and some of them do not follow this pattern and may do better by learning in a "boring" way. There is no "better" ways of learning but more suitable way for a individual to learn.
In the beginning of the article, Skemp wrote about Faux Amis. As an ELL(English Language Learner) and having no knowledge about any Latin language, I used to struggle about understanding French words in an English article - since my first language is very different, it is difficult to guess the meaning of words. However, this might prevent me from misunderstanding Faux Amis. Similarly in math, if a student is not familiar with any math symbol, they might have less chance to misinterpret symbols since they need to ask about every single of them. Maybe it is necessary for students to ask instead of guessing.
There is a sentence that impressed me, "well is the enemy of better". It probably means if a student just does "well" in a problem or a course so that the can just pass, they would lost motivation of improving and making more effort on their learning. Telling students that they can do better is a good way to encourage and motivate them.
The comparison of learning music in pencil-and-paper pattern and instrumental pattern reminds me of my experience of taking music class in elementary school. Looking back to the past, I realized that the learning method I "suffered" is one of the most discouraging ways - instead of learning about how to sing, we were required to learn about five-line stave and different kinds of ovals and how to draw them properly. Many students were disappointed about the class and would rather math or other teacher to "take" this class period and I was on of them. As a result, I am now not able to read five-line stave and refuse to learn anything related to that.
According to my own knowledge and experience, I am to some extend agree with Skemp. However I also believe that there are different kinds of students and some of them do not follow this pattern and may do better by learning in a "boring" way. There is no "better" ways of learning but more suitable way for a individual to learn.
Fascinating and thoughtful commentary! Thanks!
ReplyDelete