Does Dr. Dobson favor memorization of specific facts as a learning tool?
Question I assume that you favor a highly structured curriculum that emphasizes the memorization of specific facts, which I consider to be a very low level of learning. We need to teach concepts to our kids and help them learn how to think — not just fill their heads with a bunch of details. Answer I agree that we want to teach concepts to students, but that does not occur in a vacuum. For example, we would like them to understand the concept of the solar system and how the planets are positioned in rotation around the sun. How is that done? One way is for them to learn the distances between the heavenly bodies, i.e., the sun is 93 million miles from Earth, but the moon is only 240,000. The concept of relative positions is then understood from the factual information. What I’m saying is that an understanding of the right factual information can and should lead to conceptual learning. More… • Read a related question and answer. • Our Web area on schooling provides information on schoo
