“Relational and Instrumental Understanding"

Comments on “Relational and Instrumental Understanding"



Going through Dr.R. Skemp article, I liked the fact that he contrasted relational and instrumental understanding by emphasizing on “faux amis” (a word which sounds the same or alike in two languages, but whose meanings are different). According to Skemp, "understanding" is also a faux amis.
In his article, Skemp, mentions that “instrumental mathematics is usually easier to understand; sometimes much easier.” Instrumental mathematics might be easy to understand, but not for “all” the students. Students have different abilities in learning. Sometimes they learn visually, they have to see things, or touch things in order to understand the concepts better. In this case, in a class with thirty or more students, instrumental method is not making things easier. On the other hand, I also agree with the fact that “‘some’ topics… are difficult to understand relationally” and therefore, they must be taught instrumentally. Thus, instrumental methods could be used but within a limit.
According to Skemp, “it is nice to get a page of right answers” by using instrumental method, but the work, or the mark has no value since everything was memorized and students would not be able to remember anything after a week or so.
A page of right answers might “restore [a student’s] self-confidence”, but it also can do the opposite in long-term since the material learnt by instrumental method are easy to forget. Skemp also chains this idea by saying: “It is easier to remember [using relational method]” which is true indeed.