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Haley Sulla
Melody Wentworth
English 111
20 Jan 2015
Memorization over Learning
How people learn can be very complex. The problem today is that
students dont necessarily care enough about conceptually learning
information, but what they do care about is getting a good grade. They can
achieve this by doing minimal work and getting a good grade by using a skill
called memorization. Not only a student who is trying to do minimal work
and receive a good grade uses memorization but so does the overwhelmed
student. Some teachers pile on so much homework and material that a
student cannot keep up, where they are forced to memorize information that
they may only remember for one test. This is such a major problem because
students are no longer understanding the information they need to know.
Some of the information they are memorizing they may need to take with
them to other classes or even their careers. The problem is that a student
can fail and class and take more away from it then the student who received
an A in it. As a student myself I have faced this challenge. I have taken
classes that were just too challenging where I didnt have the time to

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understand what I was learning I would simply memorize the information for
a test. Did I remember this information days or weeks later, of course not.
Classes that were not as difficult I had no problem learning the information
that I still remember to this day. Though it is up to the student to put the
time in to conceptually understand the material. Our system is flawed in this
way and the standard of what students need to know may be too high. It is
not only the teachers or the systems fault, it is also the students obligation
to get the most out of their learning experience. This problem has been
overlooked or ignored and many share their views on it.
John Tagg, an associate professor at Palomar College expresses some
interesting beliefs on learning in his article. One of his main ideas was that
students need to be better conceptual learners rather than good
memorizers, but it may not be that easy. Tagg says the reason they cannot
recall the correct answers a year- or a month- later is that they never really
understood them in the first place, (Tagg 4). As I read his article I thought
that not all students want to just memorize the material, a lot of them
actually want to actually understand it, but other things get in the way of
that. Student engagement is important and helps the learner want to
conceptually understand the material, but uninteresting classes can get in
the way of this. Tagg doesnt realize that many different classroom events
can hinder this kind of learning, such as difficult classes, uninteresting
classes, lack of learning skills, and poor teaching skills. Classes that are too

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difficult may make the student feel already defeated to where they dont
want to try and understand the information. Tagg says, Jill carried the
learning away with her and made it her own. Jack, from what little evidence
you have, left it behind, (Tagg 3). Its not fair for students who learn more
and understand the information get a lower grade than those who are good
memorizers. I agree with a lot of John Taggs views but as you can see there
are some points I disagree with. Changing a learner from a memorizer to a
conceptual leaner isnt easy.
Since Tagg has some powerful thoughts on education and
learning there are many other authors who may share similar thoughts as
well. Paulo Friere from the article The Banking Concept of Education, thinks
that when a teacher acts like a narrator the student only memorizes the
content the narrator is saying but dont conceptually understand it. Friere
talks about how learning is so much more than just sitting in a class. These
two authors, Tagg and Friere, seem to agree on the fact that a conceptual
learner is a better student. Tagg even says, the learning experience Jill had
in your class continued with her when the class was over, changed her
understanding, behavior, decisions, and continued to do so a year later,
(Tagg 3).However those who understand the information dont always get the
better grade. Both Tagg and Friere share their similar views on this problem
and believe that memorization isnt as important as actually understanding
the information. Friere would disagree with Tagg when Tagg applies that it is

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all up to the teacher to achieve conceptual learning for the student, he

knows the student shares responsibility when is comes to their learning.
Theodore Sizer from the article Who is College For, shares similar
views on the problem of learning versus memorization as Tagg and Friere do.
They all understand it is a problem but they differ on the severity of the
problem they write about. He explains that the education system is a ritual
that everyone is used to so everyone accepts it. The students parents did
the same routine and so did their parents and so on. Its hard to break a
tradition such as high school and this may be why Freire and Tagg dont list
any solutions in their articles because there might not be any. Sizers article
differs from Taggs and Friere as he talks about routine being part of the
problem. Sizers article shows the reader how much time teachers waste
talking to students about things that dont matter like sports, assemblies,
announcements and non-related discussion. Sizer says Taking subjects in a
systematized conveyor belt way is what one does is in high school, (Sizer
267). Sizer believes that students just take subjects rather than learning
and absorbing the information. Tagg might agree with this because this could
relate to what Sizer says when he claims that students need to be better
conceptual learners rather than memorizers, when a student just takes
subjects they might not be conceptually learning the information but just
memorizing it.

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Tagg, Friere and Sizer understand that there is a problem when dealing
with memorization and learning but fail to list any solutions for this problem.
Thankfully Author Mezirow does, in the article on Transformative learning:
Theory to Practice, I noticed quite a bit of similarities between him and
Tagg. They both have strong opinions when talking about learning. In
Mezirows article he explains to be a conceptual learner that means you have
to transform, to what is being taught. In support of this Mezirow says New
information is only a resource in the adult learning process. To become
meaningful, learning requires that new information be incorporated,
(Mezirow 272). Tagg would agree with this, he believes that students dont
just absorb information by hearing it, the difference is Mezirow offered the
solution where Tagg does not. Mezirow seems to be more concerned about
classroom talk then Tagg is and claims that classroom discussion engages
the student. Tagg would disagree that classroom talk is the key to conceptual
learning. Mezirow knows it has to be incorporated for the learner to
conceptually understand it and not just memorize it. In this situation the
problem is a problem, but Mezirow offers the solution of transformative
learning and if we can transform learning we can get more students to
conceptually understand. Mezirow claims that changing a learner from a
memorizer to actually understanding the information is easier said than
done.

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Barry Alford who wrote the article Freirean Voices talks about how it
is difficult to find the right teaching voice and from what he has learned that
might mean not having a loud voice at all. As a teacher he says We dont
always encourage our students to think, he claims (Alford 278). Alford says
to have the right voice you have to listen. That is very true because you
absorb more information when you talk about it yourself and listen to your
peers. Alford believes if you let the students have the floor they feel like part
of the classroom is theirs, and they become more engaged and this will allow
the students to absorb the information rather than memorizing it. Tagg
knows that the students have to be engaged to conceptually understand,
Alford says by having a voice in the classroom that this can happen. These
two share a lot of thoughts when talking about how students learn and what
ways are effective. Alford gives the solution to the problem Tagg explains
with learning. When the students talk about the topic they get more out of it
and actually understand it. Its not just going in one ear and out the other.
This idea can be compared to Mezirow and his idea of transformative
learning, students having a voice in the classroom can be part of this
transition. Mezirow even says Students need to be able to adapt to changes,
get involved, that will make them successful, (Mezirow 271). These authors
share similar thoughts on solutions for the problem at hand. They would
both agree that changing the memorizing student into a student that can
comprehend the material isnt all that easy.

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Alexandra Calandra, the author from the article Angels on a Pin, says
that you have to have creativity in a classroom to grow as a learner. In the
article that Calandra wrote she explains a situation where a student was told
he was wrong simply because he didnt answer a question the way the
teacher would have. Calandra expresses that she thinks students should be
free to think however they want and Alford and Mezirow would agree with
this view. Alford says Students should have the floor, they need to feel a
sense of connection, (Alford 280). Tagg would agree with calandra on the
sense of creativity in the classroom but would also disagree with her, Tagg
makes it sound as if it is up to the teacher for the student to conceptually
learn and Calandra puts a lot of responsibility on the student. Calandra
implies that it is a big part of the students obligation to understand the
information given. Sometimes for students to conceptually learn they have
might have to think of the topic in their own way. Teachers that dont allow
students to think freely will make some students feel less interested and not
willing to learn. Allowing students to think freely in a classroom setting can
be a solution to the problem Tagg, Friere and Sizer express. Different types of
learning needs to happen in a classroom if that mean actually understanding
the material.
In conclusion, memorization in a classroom can become a problem if
the students are not conceptually learning. Many people have ignored this
problem yet those who didnt ignore have spoken up about it. As a student

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myself I understand how this is a problem because I myself have done this.
When dealing with learning memorization can be a problem because the
student will no longer take that information with them, they may forget it in
weeks, or even days. Our system is flawed in this way and the standard of
what students need to know may be too high. We know that memorization
over conceptually learning is a major problem and the solutions talked about
were letting students have a voice, transformative learning and creativity in
classrooms. Changing a learner from a memorizer to a conceptual leaner
isnt easy.

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References
Alford, Barry. "Readings about Uses of Learning." Freirean Voices. Pearson,
2012. 279-282. Print.
Calandra, Alexandra. "Angels on a Pin." Short Model Essays. Web.
Friere, Paulo. "The Banking Concept of Education." Puente. 1 Jan. 2014. Web.
8 Feb. 2015.
Mezirow, Jack. Learning as Transformation: Theory to Practice. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 2000. 268-274. Print.
Sizer, Theodore. "Who Is College For?" Exploring Relationships 1 (2012): 25968. Print.
Tagg, John. Why Learn? What We May Really Be Teaching Students. About
Campus, 2004. 2-8. Print.

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