Eric Dammer
Fr. Rick Wojnicki
Styles & Ways of Learning
February 13, 2001
Chapter 4: Haste Makes Waste
Langer argues here that rote memorization is mindless, does not encourage the learner to apply facts to himself or herself, does not recognize the effect of variable context on “facts,” and is a way to remember facts that are soon forgotten and worst of all—by manufacturing “packages” of information that get lost—an academically condoned waste of time. Studies show that encouraging students to apply or create different contexts that relate themselves to what they read, they remember more effortlessly while enjoying the assignment more. Song lyrics are easy to remember because we enjoy listening to the words and are constantly relating them to our own experiences.
In classes like composition, it is clear to me that I can only write in my own voice and in my best style when I actually have formed a strong opinion or am drawing on strong convictions about my topic. This works particularly well in writing, and I will continue to use this method in situations that call on me to write responses to passages, issues, or situations. However, such writing is not necessarily concerned with facts.
While I have a good memory for decontextualized facts, it is clear that it should be even better at remembering facts in which I have varied either their context or my own in relation to those “facts.” For example, I can take a problem in math or physics that involves Lambert’s law about the increase in the rate of loss of light through transparent media by putting myself into the problem: If I were a diver and I were ten feet below the surface, how dark would I expect it to be? If I were in a glass cube 10 feet think, how bright would it really be in there? By just changing the perspective of such a problem to my perspective, I can relate better and remember not only the answer, but also the method I used—I am certainly more likely to use the method again if or when I find myself in such a situation!