Beyond Memorization:

Helping Freshmen LearnErin 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) A modern corporation

b) A church group

c) A nuclear family

d) 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. Remembering: Students can define a concept.

2. Understanding: Students can explain a concept to others.

3. Applying: Students can use the concept in a different situation.

4. 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.

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. Remembering: Students can define a concept.

2. Understanding: Students can explain a concept to others.

3. Applying: Students can use the concept in a different situation.

4. 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.