Rote memorization is a necessary form of instruction. There is some content that should remain at the forefront of a student's mind in order to tackle more complex subjects. For example, memorizing phonetic sounds or character meaning is essential to language and reading skills.
Furthermore, students must commit multiplication tables to memory before studying geometry or calculus. Memorization will help a student achieve high marks, however, it requires creativity and critical thinking to apply that knowledge in a real-world setting.
Creativity and critical thinking skills are necessary to understand and apply abstract ideas and content. Educators believe that, along with memorization, fostering creativity and cultivating critical thinking skills are crucial for curriculums.
We must teach students how to think, rather than simply what to think. It is my understanding that some schools in Kinmen County made an effort to increase critical thinking requirements in the curriculum; however, the campaign lost momentum due to unverifiable results.
Unfortunately, the growth of creativity and critical thinking skills is not measurable over short amounts of time, nor with the standard multiple-choice exams many schools currently administer. This does not diminish the importance of these skills.
Although there are a many ways to measure creativity and critical thinking skills, none are easy, and most require diligent time and attention by instructors.
Creativity can be assessed through assignments that require a finished product like a short story, or a musical composition. Critical thinking skills are visible in project-based learning assignments that require students to discover or solve real-world problems.
The most important way to introduce creativity and critical thinking into your classroom is to reward originality. Students can be praised for considering alternative solutions to the same problem.
As a secondary science teacher in the state of Alabama, I taught students to think with a skeptical mind, and to be critical of all outcomes until they could verify the results for themselves.
If public education does not equip students with the knowledge and tools necessary to solve real-world issues, then we are selling our children short, despite our efforts.
Consequently, when designing education curriculum, the important thing is to design material that will challenge the students to think differently rather than merely to produce the correct answer.