Understanding vs. Knowing

Authors

John R. Stiles, University of Northern IowaFollow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

How well do students understand concepts in science? Are teachers evaluating what students actually comprehend or merely how well they can recite information? How valuable are tests? What do they actually measure? How appropriate are the lessons to the children's developmental levels?

These and similar questions should be an important part of every teacher's evaluation procedure. We need to stop and ask ourselves such questions as: Why do I want my students to know this? Will knowing this make a difference in their lives? Is it important? Do the students really understand this? How can I be sure? From here, teachers can begin to design significant lessons and learning experiences for their students and develop evaluation procedures that measure understanding instead of merely how well a student has memorized data or how well students can take tests.

Publication Date

Spring 1994

Journal Title

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Volume

31

Issue

1

First Page

2

Last Page

6

Copyright

© Copyright 1994 by the Iowa Academy of Science

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Stiles, John R. (1994) "Understanding vs. Knowing," Iowa Science Teachers Journal: Vol. 31: No. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/istj/vol31/iss1/2