Chapter Summary And Analysis

At face value, the terms knowing and understanding may be construed as equivalent. This chapter highlights how very different these two terms actually are. In chapter 3, knowing is defined as relating to facts or “things that can be directly observed,” while the term understanding is “having a sense of things” (Contant, Bass, & Carin, 2014, pg. 68). To clarify, knowing is similar to memorizing or only grasping the surface detail of a concept. On the other hand, understanding is getting pass the surface of a concept, and developing a profound comprehension of a concept. With that in mind, understanding allows one to apply what they ascertained to similar instances to reinforce and recall what they learned. This is in fact called rehearsal. On

Personally, no single concept is 100% solid, but many do express valid ideas that have continually show how children construct learning. Take Jean Piaget, a constructivist. His learning theory broke into stages: sensory, preoperational, concrete and formal. These stages highlight how children learn as they enter each stage, or grow up. At first, children start learning through their senses and interactions with the environment. Next, developing a sense of perception and judgment. Third, developing a concrete way of thinking. Finally, higher-order thinking. Social constructivism stresses how interactions with peers and teachers, during the learning process, helps facilitate the learning process (pg. 73). With that in mind, there is also shared thinking and community of learners. All of which just exemplifies how vital social interaction constructs learning within

I can sadly say with confidence that I did believe these two terms were quite similar. In order to understand something you have to know it. So it was quite a shock to read a chapter that elucidated the major differences among these two terms. As a future educator and facilitator of science, this realization will benefit me greatly. As a student, I always thought that I must memorize the properties, characteristics and mathematical values that circle around the sciences. I do not want my future students to think this way. I want to encourage grasping the big ideas behind all the facts and math. I want to teach to understand not know. I read an article on decimals; the article established that the best way to teach concepts like decimals is through multiple representations. I think this is true for science as well. Enhancing student’s skills to rehearse a concept of science is much more essential and beneficial to them. This will help students become effective and critical thinkers, rather than