Teaching Facts & Information

Conceptual knowledge consists of abstract concepts which have been "constructed" in the mind. But these concepts also need to be communicated to others. Hence these are summarized in terms of definitions and statements.

These definitions & statements can also be learnt or remembered without full or partial understanding of the underlying concepts.

These can be said to be factual knowledge in math.

Remembering factual knowledge is not a difficult issue for those who understand the underlying concepts.

But those who want to remember factual knowledge without understanding, there are basically two strategies - Memorizing & Remembering By Repeated use.

In simple terms, there are 3 kinds of memory - working memory, short term memory & long term memory. Working memory is only a few seconds and a few words long. If the information is important, it goes into short-term memory where it would stay for a few minutes. To be remembered in our brain the information needs to go into our long-term memory.

Memorising is a commonly understood & adopted strategy. It is a conscious effort yo push some information into our long term memory. But without any relation to context it fades away after some time. It is a difficult strategy and needs a lot of time & repetition. Memorizing something without understanding also creates a lot of anxiety and mental stress of the risk of not being able to recall it when needed.

Many a time, in the stress created while sitting for an examination and waiting for the question papers to be distributed, there is a danger of temporary mental "blank outs" or memory loss.

Memorising techniques offered by some trainers use ideas like mnemonics & "memory palaces". But these are not suitable in academic subjects.

Remembering by Repeated use is a strategy all of us use in our life. How do we remember the names of our friends & relatives? In the fixed land phone era, how did we remember the phone numbers of our friends?

Have we ever sat down, written down numbers & names and tried to memorise them? Then how did we remember them and recall them easily as and when we wanted?

We were using the strategy of remembering by repeated use. In simple terms, we were "recalling" and "using" the information frequently. We phone our friends frequently and exchange news about them. Over a period of time, such information lodges itself in our long term memory.