Recall of facts


Recall of facts is a value of education which is to be de-emphasized in reform of science according to new American national curriculum standards. Recall of facts is often associated with rote learning.

Science in the United States

According to "The Influence of the National Science Education Standards on the Science Curriculum" by James D. Ellis of the University of Kansas:
"Teaching for depth of understanding of important science concepts is preferred, rather than recall of science facts. Teaching less content in depth is better than covering too much content superficially."

Mathematics in the United States

In North America, the 1989 NCTM math Standards called for decreased emphasis of memorization of facts. The revised 2000 Standards and the 2006 Focal Points made it clear that students should still memorize basic addition and multiplication facts. Newer editions of textbooks such as Everyday Mathematics stress that