rote learning
- noun
- /roʊt ˈlɜrnɪŋ/
- The emphasis was on rote learning of civic duties and values and an uncritical commitment to lists of democratic precepts.
- rote learning and memorization
Examples
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Instruction for these students should go beyond the rote learning that is typical of traditional spelling instruction.
Academic text (1997) -
Sometimes people learn by repeating the words aloud; this form of rote learning was popular not so long ago.
Blog text (26) -
Course content to be based on rote learning, not understanding.
Academic text (2012) -
Therefore, rote learning becomes the norm for most song learning.
Academic text (2003) -
My recollection of high school biology class is that it was mostly rote learning with lots of memorization.
Blog text (32) -
Responses to repeatedly assigned questions, some with random numbers, are analyzed to distinguish rote learning from learning with understanding.
Academic text (2011) -
Education has changed, evolving from rote learning to today's active, constructivist, and progressive models.
Academic text (2013) -
Classroom studies have noted the strong emphasis on memorization and rote learning, even at the upper grade levels (Eccles & Midgley, 1989).
Academic text (2006) -
Morris (1981) suggests emphasizing a meaningful understanding of the material using concrete manipulatives, and de-emphasizing rote learning relying upon memorization.
Academic text (1994) -
Rote learning can help students memorize important facts for exams, but it doesn't foster true understanding.
Synonyms
Learning something so you can remember it exactly
Learning something by repeating it many times without understanding it
Learning something so you remember it exactly
How Understood
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is directly compositional: 'rote' specifies a memorization-without-understanding method and 'learning' names the process of acquiring knowledge, so together they clearly mean memorizing by repetition without grasping meaning. This pattern is conceptually common across languages (e.g. memorization-by-heart expressions), making the phrase immediately predictable for a learner who already knows both constituents.
Etymology
Rote learning gives a clear picture: rote suggests repeating the same thing again and again, like walking the same path until you do it without thinking, and learning is what you remember. So rote learning means 'memorizing by repeating' often 'without understanding'.