Nice List: Seven misconceptions about how students learn

I would have written the first one a bit different for a CS Ed audience.  There’s a big push in CS Ed to make sure students learn the “right” basic facts so that they don’t have to “unlearn” bad habits later.  Absolutely, that’s a real risk.  But that doesn’t mean that we can teach the basic facts first.  Context comes first — students have to know why they’re learning something in order to get deep learning.

Here are seven of the biggest myths about learning that, unfortunately, guide the way that many schools are organized in this era of standardized test-based public school reform.

Basic Facts Come Before Deep Learning

This one translates roughly as, “Students must do the boring stuff before they can do the interesting stuff.” Or, “Students must memorize before they can be allowed to think.” In truth, students are most likely to achieve long-term mastery of basic facts in the context of engaging, student-directed learning.

via Seven misconceptions about how students learn – The Answer Sheet – The Washington Post.