Assignment 1:Reach 105 How People Learn

This chapter reminded me over and over again about the Understanding by Design book where it talks about the six facets of understanding. This chapter talks about how using new approaches in teaching can increase the possibility of of the majority gaining a moderate to deep understanding of material presented. One of the points stressed in this chapter was that the new science of learning emphasizes learning with understanding. I particularly became interested when in the chapter it discussed how memory has been favored over deep understanding, It gives the example of a typical multiple choice test question about arteries. This example is one that we see all to often just a series of m ultiple choice questions which are supposed to determine whether or not a student really has a deep understanding of a specific area. I am troubled by the emphasis on this types of tests as being the only true measure of understanding. I liked how the paragraph went on to talk about using learned material to solve other problems... in other words looking for evidence of trasfer. To me that is what we should really be after and not just a replay of certain facts but being able to target that trasferability in our students. I think back to my own education when I was younger and it would seem that those multiple choice tests were always favored. It was not until I went to college that I was able to hit what I knew and write papers, do projects, or create essays that I was able to apply what I knew to different situations.