Knowing, Understanding, and Other Forms of Learning Knowing, Understanding, and Other Forms of Learning Bette LaSere Erickson and Glenn R. Erickson Introduction Probably the most conunon verbs in higher education are •"to know,·· .. to understand, •• •"to think, •• and •"to appreciate ... They sound like pretty good verbs for college classrooms. They call to mind some admired intellectual activities. However, they are also among the most slippery verbs we use in college classrooms. Consider, for example, what comes to mind when we say we want students .. to understand.'' To some, understanding means being well informed -remembering important facts, events, ideas, theories. To others, understanding involves the ability to ex- plain, to marshal evidence, to detect the unwarranted conclusion. Understanding is used synonymously with remembering, relating, comparing, applying, and a whole host of other intellectual processes. Blurring the distinctions among these intellectual activities would not be a problem if developing such abilities required the same teaching and learning activities. However, research on learning sug- gests there are some important differences among abilities -differ- ences which call for different teaching methods and study procedures. These materials describe four of the more common types of learning outcomes pursued in college courses. They also include some notes on how to formulate questions, write objectives, select teaching methods, and construct test items for each type. Although you may fmd it necessary to adapt or reshape the categories to fit your subject · matter, we think they provide a useful conceptual tool for clarifying 161 To Improve the Academy what you want students to learn and for making instructional deci- sions. Memorization In most courses, there is some basic information which students are expected to commit to memory. Such information sometimes includes names, definitions, terminology, or other facts. More often in college courses, students are asked to remember more complex information-fundamentallaws, theoretical propositions, the charac- teristics of a period, points of view expressed in their reading. For instance, the following questions ask students to recall infor- mation which was presented during instruction. What are the distinguishing characteristics of the following approaches to literary analysis: the historical approach; the psychological ap- proach; the thematic approach; the "elements of fiction" approach. Briefly summarize the procedures, the advantages,and the confounding variables associated with each of the following research designs: cross- sectional; longitudinal; time-sequential; and experimental. Briefly describe the following Piagetian concepts: assimilation; accom- modation; concrete operational thinking; formal operational thinking; conservation. Knowing how an insect feeds can be important in controlling insect damage to crops. What are the characteristics of each of the following types of feeders: generalized feeders; sucking feeders; boring feeders; rasping feeders. What general principles and techniques are suggested in your readings for controlling each type of feeder? Briefly describe the distinguishing characteristics of each of the follow- ing artistic movements: Neo-Classicism; Romanticism; Realism; Im- pressionism; Post-Impressionism. Many people -faculty, as well as students - do not recognize that these questions simply ask students to recall information which they've committed to memory. To be sure, they differ from questions which ask students to recall a name or a date or some other isolated bit of information. These questions require students to remember much more complex information. 162 - Knowing, Understanding, and Other Forms of Learning However, the distinguishing feature of memorization is NOT its complexity. Rather, this type of learning may be recognized by what we ask students to do with the information: to remember it and be able to recaU it. Memorization does not enjoy a very respectable position in higher education these days. To some extent, its reputation is deserved, since we've not always been sensible or frugal about what we ask students to memorize. Yet, being able to recall basic information is often necessary for further study in a course or in a field. Moreover, recent research on thinking and problem-solving suggests that the knowledge available to students plays a critical role in developing other intellec- tual skills and being able to transfer them to new problems and situations. Writing Objectives for Memorization It's fairly easy to write objectives which infonn students that memorization will be required. However, because we're often embar- rassed to tell students and colleagues that we want students to memo- rize, we camouflage these expectations in language which makes them sound more worthy. We ask students .. to become familiar with" or .. to understand." To the extent what familiarity and understanding really mean memorization, it's far more helpful .. to tell it like it is." The following sample of objectives make it pretty clear that memorization is required. Be able to describe the typical questions and conventions which char- acterize the following approaches to literary analysis: the historical approach; the psychological approach; the thematic approach; the elements of fiction approach. Be able to describe the procedures, the advantages, and the confounding variables for each of the following research designs: cross-sectional; longitudinal; time-sequential; and experimental. Be able to define the following Piagetian concepts: assimilation, ac- commodation, conservation, concrete operational thinking, formal op- erational thinking. 163 To Improve the Academy Be able to recall the characteristics of the major types of feeding systems found in insects and to recall the recommended techniques for controlling each type of feeder. Be able to recall the distinguishing characteristics of each of the following artistic movements: Neo-Classicism; Romanticism; Real- ism; Impressionism; Post-Impressionism. Teaching for Memorization and Retention Memorization and retention have been widely researched and much is known about the factors which affect them The following ftndings are especially important. Meaningful material is learned faster and remembered longer than meaningless material. Meaning is a key variable affecting mem- ory and retention; some believe it's the most important variable. However, meaning does not lie in the subject matter; it lies in the relationship between the subject matter and the learner. Although meaning obviously varies from student to student, we won't go far wrong if we assume that most students fmd the concrete more meaningful than the abstract; the familiar more meaningful than the unfamiliar; the present more meaningful than the distant past or distant future. That doesn't imply that we should abandon the abstract, the unfamiliar, the past or the future. Learning about such things is why students are in our classes. However, it does suggest that we'll be more successful if we begin instruction with the concrete, the familiar, and the present. In some subjects, it's relatively easy to point out how material relates to students• current questions and concerns and to draw exam- ples from their experiences. Other subjects require more creativity, and sometimes it seems the only way to make something familiar or concrete is by way of analogy, metaphor, or some other form of poetry. Practice facilitates memorization and retention. As we'll see, practice is an important condition for all types of learning, although the practice looks different for each type. For memorization and retention, practice takes the forms of recitation, drill, and review. Thus, it helps (1) to provide study questions; (2) to encourage students to quiz themselves and each other after reading an assignment or hearing 164 Knowing, Understanding, and Other Fonns of Learning a lecture; (3) to give quizzes; ( 4) to ask questions in class which require students to verbalize the infonnation which they are to remember. The rebellion against memorization has discouraged professors from using such instructional teclmiques in college courses. However, if we wish students to corrnnit material to memory and to remember it for any length of time, recitation and drill and review are sound instructional teclmiques. Testing for Memorization Writing questions which test memorization merely requires in- structors to ask students to recall or recognize material which was presented during instruction. To be sure, many of us could improve our skills in writing such items by attending to some technical prop- erties of test item construction. However, we think the more critical problem is that too few faculty and students distinguish between items which test memorization and items which test other types of learning. Thus, we'd like to raise the red flags on that issue from the beginning. Consider the English professor who spends a week discussing the ••Initiation"themes in the following short stories: .. Editha,'' .. The Open Boat," .. The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky," and .. 1 Want to Know Why." The professor then includes the following essay questions on the exam. ''Editha," "The Open Boat," ''The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky," and "I Want to Know Why" might be thought of as initiation stories in that they dramatize a naive, child-like character going through a difficult, painful, or bewildering experience which initiates him into a view of the world which the reader perceives as more realistic or mature. Discuss any 7WO of the above of initiation. At first glance, this question appears to require some fairly com- plex analytical skills. However, because the essay asked students to discuss literature which had previously been discussed in class, it's quite possible-indeed, probable-that students memorized the key ideas and appropriate references discussed in class and reproduced them on the exam. 165 To Improve til£ Academy This situation illustrates a testing practice found in many college courses and in many disciplines. Faculty and students mistakenly assmne that if a problem or question calls for an analysis or a solution or a conclusion, then it automatically tests something other than memorization. However, if the question is one which was discussed during instruction, then we're on very shaky ground if we conclude that students are demonstrating anything other than memorization. Concept Formation We all know students who can rattle off definitions of important concepts and terms, who can state fundamental laws and principles, who can describe key theoretical constructs. Many students can even give the definitions, state the laws, and describe the constructs in their own words. However, if we show these same students a particular example of a concept, many are unable to name the concept it exemplifies. If we present a new situation, they cannot recognize the laws or principles which are operating. If we give them an interpretation or an analysis, they cannot identify the theoretical perspective taken by the interpreter or analyst. And, we begin to worry that students have learned the deftnitions of concepts, statements of principles, and smnmaries of theoretical constructs in rote fashion. One good indicator of comprehension and understanding is Con- cept Formation-the ability to see relationships between specific instances and broader generalizations. Two kinds of challenges char- acterize this type of learning: (1) Give the broader generalization and ask students to supply specific examples and illustrations; or (2) Give specific examples or illustrations and ask students for the broader generalization. Because students often respond to the frrst challenge by supplying examples they've memorized from the text or readings, we recommend the second type of challenge. The following sample of questions all require the ability to recog- nize the relationship between a specific instance and some broader generalization. 166 Attached you'll find a paper analyzing Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter." Which approach to literary criticism does it exemplify? Knowing, Understanding, and Other Fcxm$ of Learning Professor Wisdom was interested in the effects of age on political attitudes. He used a well-known and widely accepted attitude survey that measures where an individual falls on the conservative-liberal continuum. He asked 100 people of different ages to complete the survey and tabulated the results. He found that older subjects responded more conservatively and concluded that aging is characterized by a progressive increase in conservative attitudes. Professor Wisdom's research design was an example of ... a) cross-sectional; b) longitudinal; c) time-sequential; or d) experimental? While playing with her paints, Sally discovered that blue and yellow make green. However, when her teacher asked her what colors are green, Sally said she didn't know. As soon as Sally is able to recognize that because blue and yellow make green, then green is composed of blue and yellow, Piaget would say she will be demonstrating which of the following? a) conservative; b) formal operational thinking; c) perpetual thinking; d) concrete operational thinking. A foreign insect which resembles a grasshopper and appears to like spinach has been introduced into the U.S. Entomologists are beginning to worry that the insect will destroy the nation's spinach crops, so they've been studying the insect in the lab. They've determined that the insect is hypognathous. They've also noted that it has mandibles, wings, and large head muscles. Based on this information, the insect is prob- ably an example of what type of feeder? The slide I'm showing you is a reproduction of a painting we've not discussed. Study the painting and decide whether you think it's an example of Neo-Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, or Post-Impressionism. Then explain what characteristic features of the painting led you to your decision. Writing Objectiv(!s for Concept Formation Concept fonnation objectives should somehow capture the key feature of this fonn ofleaming: the ability to recognize the relationship between specific instances and their broader generalizations. If the challenges are to be posed as we ·ve reconnnended, then the objectives should indicate that students (a) will be given specific instances and (b) asked to determine the broader generalization exemplified, illus- trated, or represented. The following statements illustrate some different ways in which such objectives might be phrased. 167 To Improve the Academy Given samples of essays written by literary critics, be able to identify the approach to literary analysis which the critics have taken. Be able to recognize examples of cross- sectional, longitudinal, time- sequential, and experimental designs. Be able to recognize examples of assimilation, accommodation, con- crete operational thinking, formal operational thinking, and conserva- tion. Whenever you encounter a new insect, you should be able to identify the type of feeding system the insect possesses. If I show you a painting we've not studied, you should be able to recognize the artistic movement to which it probably belongs. The most difficult part of cotmnunicating Concept Fonnation objectives to students is getting them to understand that they'll be asked to recognizenew examples and illustrations. Many students mistakenly assume that they'll be asked to recognize examples which were presented in their texts or in class. This leads them to some rather unproductive study behaviors. They write every example in their notes and spend hours memorizing them. Later, they may complain that test questions were not discussed in class. Thus, it's important that professors stress that this type oflearning involves the ability to recognize new examples and illustrations when- ever they're encountered. It helps if that information can be included in the objective. Also, since many students pay closest attention when instructors talk in tenns of tests, tell students from the start that the examples discussed in class or in the readings will not be the ones which appear on the tests. The test questions will ask them to recognize examples which they've never seen before. Teaching for Concept Formation Fortunately, much is known about how concepts are learned and about the instructional activities which promote Concept Fonnation. Certainly, more is known than will be discussed here. However, the following suggestions reflect some of the critical conditions for Con- cept Formation. 168 - Knowing, Understanding, and Other Fonns of Learning Highlight the critical properties, distinguishing characteristics, or key ideas of the concept, principle, generalization, or theory. These will provide the bases or the criteria for judging whether or not specific instances exemplify or illustrate or represent the broader generaliza- tions. Thus, it's critical that students have complete and accurate infonnation about what ''defines .. the concept. Present examples of the concept or principle or generalization or theory, noting in each case how the example embodies the key char- acteristics. The necessity for providing examples and contrasting them with non-examples is well documented in Concept Formation studies. Fortunately, most instructors know this and take great pains to find especially telling examples and illustrations. Provide opportunities for students to practice recognizing exam- ples of concepts, illustrations of principles, representations of theo- ries. As noted earlier, PRACTICE is a critical condition for all the forms of learning discussed here. In the case of concept formation, providing practice opportunities requires instructors (a) to pose a series of specific instances; and (b) to ask students the appropriate questions about them: Which concept does this exemplify? Which principle or law or generalization is illustrated in this situation? Which theory or approach does this interpretation reflect? Which theme is being dramatized here? In each case, instructors should ask students to note how the example or situation does or does not embody the critical properties or characteristics of the concept, generalization or theory. The questions included in the introduction to the section on Concept Formation provide some good examples of practice exer- cises. Start with relatively simple and clear examples and gradually introduce more complex and subtle examples. The first task is to illustrate the properties, characteristics, features which define the concept or generalization or theory. Students will be able to recognize these more clearly if they don't initially get lost in an illustration which is complicated, abstract, or foreign to them. However, if all the examples are simple ones, students won't learn to recognize more complex ones. Draw examples and illustrations from a variety of situations and settings. This recommendation is based on studies of transfer of 169 To Improve the Academy learning. Students are more likely to be able to recognize new exam- ples if the examples used during instruction sample the range of situations and contexts in which you want students to be able to recognize the concept, principle, or theory. Be prepared to provide more practice examples and illustrations than you ever imagined might be necessary. There's no magic mnnber which we can offer as a guide. However, we think most instructors grossly l.Ulderestimate the number of examples needed and the amo\Ult of practice required. Testing for Concept Formation By now, it should come as no surprise that testing for Concept Formation involves (a) presenting a specific instance or situation- one that students have not seen before; and (b) asking students which concept it exemplifies, principle it illustrates, theory it reflects, theme it dramatizes. The questions at the beginning of the section on Concept Formation might make good exam questions, assuming they were not discussed during instruction. At the risk of belaboring the issue, we'd like to stress what does NOT constitute a test of Concept Formation Questions which ask students to recall or recognize defmitions of concepts or statements of principles or summaries of theoretical constructs are not adequate tests of Concept Formation. They can be answered on the basis of memo- rization. Similarly, questions which present examples or illustrations which were presented or discussed during instruction are not adequate tests of Concept Formation. Even though the form of the question is appropriate, such questions also may be answered on the basis of memorization. Application It's one thing to be able to defme a concept, state a principle, or summarize a theory. It's another thing to recognize examples or illustrations of these things. And, it's yet another to be able to use them to solve problems, perform analyses, make decisions, draw conclu- sions. 170 Knowing, Understanding, and Other Fonns of Learning Application is the ability to use concepts, principles, generaliza- tions, theories and the like to expklin or analyze or otherwise cope with specific situations or problems. Most college professors stress the importance of being able to apply previously learned material to a variety of problems and situations. Indeed, many believe that the primary reason for learning such material in the ftrst place is because it's useful in understanding and coping with the situations and prob- lems one encounters in life. The challenge to apply involves presenting a specific problem or situation and asking students to use what they•ve learned in some way-to explain the situation. to solve the problem, to predict an outcome, to make a recommendation. to formulate a policy. Applica- tion questions usually tell students explicitly or strongly imply which concepts, principles, theories, or generalizations students should use in order to complete the task. (We mention this by way of foreshad- owing. It's yet another thing to cope with specific situations without being told which concepts or principles or theories one should use.) The following questions all ask students to use something they•ve learned in a specific situation or problem. A major publishing company has decided to publish a book on Haw- thorne's short stories. The publishers plan to devote one whole section of the book to "Rappaccini's Daughter." That section will include several articles, each analyzing the story using a different approach to literary criticism. You've been asked to write the article which analyzes the story using a thematic approach to literary criticism. Outline what you'd say in such an article. Professor Wisdom was interested in the effects of age on political attitudes. He used a well-known and widely accepted attitude survey that measures where an individual falls on the conservative-liberal continuum. He asked 100 people of different ages to complete the survey and tabulated the results. He found that older subjects responded more conservatively and concluded that aging is characterized by a progressive increase in conservative attitudes. Use your knowledge of the strengths and limitations of cross-sectional research designs to critique Professor Wisdom's conclusions. Peter, who is mid-way through the first grade, is having a great deal of trouble with subtraction, although he did fairly well with addition. He listens carefully when his teacher explains the material and tries hard 171 To Improve the Academy to do the problems in his workbook. But he just can't seem to get it. Identify one activity which Piaget might recommend to help Peter. A foreign insect which resembles a grasshopper and appears to like spinach has been introduced into the U.S. The insect is threatening the nation's spinach crops. As an entomologist, you have been hired by a famous sailor from California to combat this pest. Preliminary study revealed that the insect is a generalized feeder. How would you treat the spinach crop to control the pest? Posted around the room are reproductions of 20 paintings. You have been asked to organize an exhibition designed to capture the spirit of Impressionism. However, space limitations permit you to include only 5 paintings. Which of these paintings would you include in the exhibi- tion? Be prepared to explain why you chose the paintings you chose. Writing Objectives for Application Minirnally, application objectives should tell students two things: (1) that they'll be given specific problems or situations; and (2) that they'll be asked to use what they've learned to do something with those problems or situations. At their best, application objectives also say something about the nature of the problems which will be given and alert students to the ways in which they'll be asked to use what they've learned. The following statements illustrate how such objectives might look. 172 Be able to discuss any American short story, using each of the following approaches to literary analysis: the historical approach, the thematic approach, the psychological approach, the elements of fiction approach. Given research on the effects of aging, be able to use your knowledge of the strengths and confounding variables associated with cross-sec- tional, longitudinal, time-sequential, and experimental designs to cri- tique the studies. Given descriptions of children's responses in instructional situations, be able to use Piagetian constructs to explain their responses and to recommend appropriate instructional activities. Given information about the feeding systems of insects which are making pests of themselves. be able to recommend procedures for controlling the pests. Knowing. Understanding, and Other Forms of Learning If I show you a collection of paintings, you should be able to organize or critique an exhibit which claims to represent one of the following artistic movements: Neo-Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impres- sionism, Post-Impressionism. As with Concept Fonnation objectives, students often misinter- pret application objectives to mean that they will be expected to solve the problems or explain the situations or analyze the literature which were discussed in class. Again, ifs important to stress that the ability to apply involves coping with a variety of new problems and situations. To put it in terms which students are more likely to understand, test questions will present problems and situations which have not been discussed in class or in the readings. Teaching for Application Before talking about how to teach for application. there's some good news and some bad news. The good news is that lots of research has been done in this area, usually under the rubric .. transfer of learning." Many studies have asked essentially the same question: .. If students learn how to apply concepts, principles, or theories in one situation, will they be able to apply those concepts, principles, or theories in other situations? The bad news is that the research fmdings have not been very encouraging. It appears that not much transfer occurs, even in the best of instructional circmnstances. In other words, we can teach students how to apply our subject matter in one situation; but give them a new situation, and they act as if they've never encountered such a problem. There has, of cc:>urse, been much speculation and some research into why application skill seem so difficult to develop. While we can't be as confident as we were in discussing Memorization and Concept Fonnation, we can offer the following suggestions. Demonstrate how to apply course materials to specific problems or situations. That is, pose a sample problem or situation and show students how you would go about solving it or explaining it or whatever. Highlight key decisions and explain why you did what you did. 173 To Improve the Acatkmy Provide opportunities for students to practice application. Again practice is a critical condition for application. It requires instructors to pose specific problems or situations and to ask students to solve the problems or explain the situations or predict"the outcomes or whatever. Be keenly aware that instructors demonstrating how to apply is not the same as students practicing how to apply. If you solve all the problems or explain all the situations, you ·n get lots of practice ... but you probably don•t need it Your students probably do. Pose problems and situations which sample the range of contexts in which you hope students will be able to apply course material. Transfer of learning studies found that when the problems used during instruction differed dramatically from the problems posed to test for transfer, students appeared unable to transfer. However, when instruc- tion sampled the range of contexts in which students were expected to apply, transfer seemed to increase. Help students recognize similarities in problems and situations. One obstacle to transfer seems to be that students fail to recognize similarities between new problems and those they•ve already solved successfully. Professors might help students recognize such similari- ties by asking: What are the "givens .. in this situation? What are you asked to do? How is this situation similar to (or different from) other problems you•ve solved? What concepts and principles did you use in solving those problems? Would they work in this problem or situation? Plan instruction systematically so that students receive lots of · guidance on early attempts to apply and less and less guidance on subsequent attempts. Students often need step-by-step prompts, hints, and feedback when they first encounter problems or situations which require them to use course material in some way. In fact, we recom- mend that initial practice exercises be done in class where instructors are available for such guidance. In any event, teaching for application is not the time to use the "sink-or-swim •• approach. Many students will find it too frustrating, will give up prematurely, and may drown in their sense of failure. However, students do need to learn to cope with problems or situations on their own. They won•t if professors continue to "lead them through .. the analyses or the solutions or the critiques. Thus, it's 174 Knowing. Understanding, and Other Forms of Learning importa.tlt to withdraw gradually the prompts and the hints and the other step-by-step questions. Provide more practice than you ever dreamed might be required. Again. most of us grossly underestimate the amount of practice which students need. We forget what it's like to be a novice in our fields- how it felt to encounter a problem the first or second or tenth time. This means, of course, that teaching for application takes time. It's tempting to short-cut the instructiooal process and hope for the best. However, instructors who fall prey to such temptations are likely to be disappointed when they test their students' application skills. Testing for Application In order to test students' abilities to apply, instructors must (a) present a specific problem or situation-one that has not been dis- cussed previously; and (b) ask students to use some concept or principle or theory to solve the problem, analyse the situation, predict the outcome, or whatever the appropriate task might be. The examples of questions included in the introduction to application might be good test items, assuming that they were not used during instruction. How- ever, how to write multiple choice items which test application is a topic considered elsewhere. We'd like to stress here that asking students to recall the definition of a concept, the statement of a principle, or the description of a theoretical construct is NOT an adequate test of whether students can apply the concept, principle, or construct. Such questions on the basis of memorization. The problems and situations posed on exams must be new to students. Finally, questions which test for application usually state explic- itly or strongly imply which concepts, principles, theoretical con- structs, or ideas students are to use in dealing with the situation or problem. In part, it's this feature which distinguishes Application from Complex Problem Solving. Complex Problem Solving Complex Problem Solving is the ability to use course material in coping with real life situations and problems. It resembles Application 175 To Improve the Academy in that it involves presenting a particular problem or situation and asking students to do something with it-to perfonn an analysis, to fmd a solution, to offer an explanation, to reconunend a policy, to reach a decision. Indeed, it may be useful to think of Application and Complex Problem Solving as a continuum rather than as separate categories. However, for purposes of instruction and evaluation, it's helpful to make some distinctions. Application problems and situations are usually fairly structured and direct about what is to be done. Ifs clear which features of the problem or situation deserve attention and which concepts and prin- ciples are to be used. Thus, an application task states explicitly or strongly implies how to approach and think through the problem or situation. In contrast, Complex Problem Solving tasks and questions permit more flexibility in detennining how to approach and think through the problem or situation for several reasons. First, the problems and situations posed in a Complex Problem Solving question are usually more complicated and less structured. More information is presented, and some of the information may be irrelevant and conflicting. Key ideas and relationships are less obvious and may be embedded in a morass of detail. The task to be accom- plished should be clear, but the questions or issues to be considered along the way may not be so obvious. Thus, Complex Problem Solving situations usually demand some restructuring. They may require stu- dents to determine what questions to ask or issues to consider, to decide which features of the situation warrant attention, to judge the credibility of sources and resolve conflicts, to take some key elements out of the contexts in which they're presented, to see relationships which are not explicitly stated or immediately obvious. Secondly, a Complex Problem Solving task does not tell students which concepts, principles, theories, or ideas they should use in coping with the situation. Part of the challenge is to sort through what one has studied and to select that which seems relevant and useful. Further- more, Complex Problem Solving tasks usually require students to use-or at least consider-more than a single concept or principle or construct or idea. Finally, there is usually more than one approach to a Complex Problem Solving task and a range of acceptable answers. Thus, part 176 Knowing, Understanding, and OtherFonns ofLeaming of the problem is to establish the criteria by which an acceptable answer is to be judged, to decide what kind of evidence or support is required, to gather the evidence, and to defend one's answer in light of the criteria established and the evidence available. In short, Complex Problem Solving situations and problems re- semble •