Comments by "Alexander Philip" (@alexanderphilip1809) on "Getting rich teaching Hong Kong's kids | Unreported World" video.

Passing exams does involve learning, atleast to some extent and thats better than nothing. Why do you think they conduct exams in the first place.
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@mrmr6094 what exactly are you implying ? Even if you are regurgitating everything you memorized, you'd still need to apply what you memorized in context to formulate sound answers.
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@HawkinaBox memorizing is the first step. And what do you mean by not learning how exactky do you plan on measuring whether a child has learned something. Nobody can just blindly memorizes something without even remotely understanding it and hope to get far in their career or in even their for that matter.
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@HawkinaBox memorizing is necessary and so is processing it. Kind like a cpu.
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@emilychareontong3803 you are wrong. They memorize it first, that is true but understanding a concept doesnt always require a herculean effort. Contrary to popular belief most asian especially in E.Asian cultures memorization and comprehension complement each other, most importantly the curricullum is rigourous and competitive. It takes effort to memorize, comprehending whats been memorized makes the whole process more effective than understanding(or learning by your definition) it at the moment but forgetting it in the long term. Learning is incomplete if you cant recollect necessary facts and pertinant information at a future date when its necessary. This whole memorization vs comprehension debate is a pseudo intellectual b.s . You need both for a well rounded education, plus a students commitment(here in asia familial pressure works as an added bonus) to his academic pursuits goes a long way.
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@CM-rl2om cramming on its own wont be as effective a learning strategy if its without comprehension. You need both eyes working in tandem for a binocular vision.
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@keselekbakiak thats easily remediable. It just requires a deeper understanding of the concept. Shortcuts are necessary for quick calculations. They are quite useful if one sets aside their prejudices.
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@miqq2961 can you ?. Its depends on the question asked of you in the Test. If a test is graded based on verbatim definitions then your arguement holds water but if the answer is arrived at using the application of a concept thats been taught in class or is in the syllabus then the test would have served its purpose of atleast partially measuring that individual students comprehension of the subject matter.
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@cocadoodledoo6346 used to be the case. Also you are wrong. Our problem has more to do with chronically insufficient infrastructure and lack of student & teacher motivation and discipline in actual learning than just the testing regime. Also its easier to understand something at the moment you are reading it, but without memorizing it you wont be able to recall that particular info at a future date. Dont get me wrong deep understanding is quite the necessity in learning but without memorization, one is limiting ones capabilities. Like boxing with one hand tied behind their back. You will be constantly short changing yourself.
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