Beyond Memorization:
Helping Freshmen Learn
Erin Delaney
U100 Faculty
Learn the Following Term
Gesellschaft:
A term used by Tonnies to describe an urban industrial society in which people
have impersonal, formal, contractual, and specialized relationships and tend to
use social relationships as a means to an end.
Test Question 1
What does gessellschaft mean?
a) Societies that rely on mechanized production, rather than on human or animal labor, as the
primary means of subsistence.
b) An urban industrial society in which people have impersonal, formal, contractual, and
specialized relationships and tend to use social relationships as a means to an end.
c) The rule of the many by the few.
d) The organization of economic life on the basis of owning or not owning the means of
production, purchasing or selling labor power, and controlling or not controlling other
people's labor power.
Test Question 2
Which of the following is a good example of a gesellschaft?
a)
b)
c)
d)
A modern corporation
A church group
A nuclear family
A local bowling team
Test Question #3
To what extent is the society of CSUN a Gesellschaft? Use specific examples
to support your points.
Studying for Memorization
• When most students prepare for an exam, they focus on memory. They
focus on the questions:
• How much can they remember?
• How accurately can they remember?
• They may use flashcards or test themselves on vocabulary terms.
• If they do poorly on an exam, many students feel like they didn’t remember
enough, or that they didn’t remember accurately.
A Problem with Studying for Memorization
• A key problem with studying for memorization is that most instructors don’t
test for memorization.
• They often ask more difficult questions that require students to apply terms
to specific situation or compare and contrast different terms.
• This means that a student who studied definitions is not well-prepared to
answer the instructor’s test questions.
Memorization Isn’t Bad
• Memorization is not a bad skill; indeed, students do need to memorize some
terms.
• However, students do need to go beyond memorization in order to do well
on college-level exams.
Thinking Skills
Below, you will see a scale of different thinking skills. They are ordered from least to
most difficult
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Remembering: Students can define a concept.
Understanding: Students can explain a concept to others.
Applying: Students can use the concept in a different situation.
Analyzing: Students can distinguish this concept from other, similar concepts.
Evaluating: Students are able to make good judgments about the concept.
Creating: Students can construct new information based on the concept.
Step 1: Remembering
• Students can define terms using the original definition they learned
• They can match their definition with a similar exam answer
Sample Step 1
A mentor supports and encourages people to manage their own learning in
order that they may maximize their potential, develop their skills, improve their
performance and become the person they want to be.
How would we remember this definition?
Step 2: Understanding
• Students can explain the term to someone else in their own words
• They can explain why the concept is relevant
• They can explain why understanding one concept is important to
understanding an overarching concept
How can we show that we understand the term “mentor?”
Step 3: Applying
• In order to apply information, students must be able to use their knowledge
in a new situation.
• They can transfer a skill or concept from one situation to another.
• They can recognize real-life examples of a concept
How can we apply the concept “mentor?”
Step 4: Analyzing
• To analyze, students must be able to distinguish between our concept and
other, similar concepts.
• They can break the concept into parts and explain what those parts mean.
• They can discern patterns within information
• They can distinguish between different levels of significance
How can we analyze the concept “mentor?”
Step 5: Evaluating
• In order to evaluate, students must be able to make judgments about the
concept.
• They can answer questions like, “Can I determine the best rationale, plan,
solution, given the information?”
• They can consider the implications of their decisions
How can we evaluate the concept “mentor?”
Step 6: Creating
• Students can blend the concept with other information, generating their own
thoughts, ideas, viewpoints, and positions.
• Creating is focused on originality.
How can we create original ideas about mentors?
Recap: Different Levels of Thinking
1.
2.
3.
4.
Remembering: Students can define a concept.
Understanding: Students can explain a concept to others.
Applying: Students can use the concept in a different situation.
Analyzing: Students can distinguish this concept from other, similar
concepts.
5. Evaluating: Students are able to make good judgments about the concept.
6. Creating: Students can construct new information based on the concept.