There used to be a methodology in education, specifically in mathematics, that was called “Drill and Kill.” This was usually used in the early years of education – elementary years. “Drill and Kill” was a way to get students familiar with fact operations. Students were given a worksheet with 20, 40, or even 100 fact problems on it. They were then timed to get through as many problems as possible with as much accuracy as possible. The more students saw the problems and the fact operations, the better they became in knowing their facts. Within the past decade, however, there has been a significant shift in mathematical teaching, and the “Drill and Kill” was labeled bad methodology. Students needed to know “Why” the facts worked the way they did and not just “How” to do them. Just like everything in education, there was a hard transition to teach more “Why”, and the “How” was not a priority. Needless to say, students no longer know their facts the way they used to, and in fact, are much further behind in mathematical operations ever since the shift to focus more on the “Why” than the “How”.
We need to re-shift the focus of basic mathematics to provide a foundation for students to build on. Students need to know the “How” before they can dive into the “Why”. Consider this, does it make sense to teach someone why they should change their car’s oil before teaching them how to change their car’s oil? Knowing “Why” doesn’t mean the oil is getting changed. The person is still driving around, slowly burning up their engine, because all they know is “Why” they need to change their oil and not “How” to change their oil. The same applies with basic mathematical computation or any content learning for that matter.
The “How” is concrete information. It is the foundation in which we build our knowledge. Without the “How”, there is nothing to build on. “How” is foundational to understanding and building knowledge. To ask “How something works,” begins the inquiry into understanding “Why it works.” Education should be a progressive development from concrete understanding to abstract understanding. Here is another example, we teach students “How” to say the Pledge of Allegiance before we teach them “Why” we say the Pledge of Allegiance. Sometimes, we teach them in unison, but more often than not, we start with the “How”.
During the elementary years of education, students need to be taught the “How” of concepts. As they progress through middle school and high school, the rigor of learning should change to become more in depth by answering the “Why”. At a young age, the idea of, “the more you do it, the better you get,” is at its prime. Rote memorization is nothing to shy away from. In fact, most of what we do in life is based on habits and what we have memorized. Our past experiences give us knowledge to build on to seek deeper understanding. When giving students facts to work through, they begin to memorize said facts. 7 x 8 = 56. This is what students need to know. It doesn’t matter if they know “Why” 7 x 8 = 56. Throughout my life and my career, never once have I had to stop and explain “Why” multiplication works the way it does. I did, however, need to know “How” it works.
Let’s use another subject as an example – the Water Cycle. The very first thing we teach students is “How” the water cycle works. Once students have a firm foundation on the “How”, we go deeper and ask them to explore “Why” it is important. There is no “Why” without the “How”. You cannot provide a clear explanation or have a firm understanding as to “Why” something works the way it does without first having a solid understanding as to “How” it works.
Now let’s take this real world. An employee is hired at a company, the manager, or whoever is training, explains “How” things are done. This provides a foundation to grow and build understanding for “Why” the company does things the way that they do. Without the “How”, an employee will be ineffective in their role. They will struggle doing what they are asked to do or are expected to do. In the beginning processes of learning, the “How” is what is emphasized. Once the “How” is learned and understood, the employee is given more freedom and responsibility within the company.
As children progress in their learning, so should the depth of their learning. However, if students lack a strong foundation in which to build deeper knowledge and understanding, students will be left more frustrated with little motivation to learn. I use the idea of riding a bike a lot in my blogs, because it is a good lesson in life. When we were learning how to ride a bike, no one told us “Why” we should learn to ride a bike. Rather, we were told “How” to ride a bike. The “How” is the foundation for all learning. Without the “How”, there is nothing to build on.
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