Herbert A. Simon - Pedagogy

Pedagogy

Simon's work has strongly influenced John Mighton, developer of a program which has achieved significant success in improving mathematics performance among elementary and high school students. Mighton cites a 2000 paper by Simon and two co-authors which counters arguments by French mathematics educator Guy Brousseau and others suggesting that excessive practice hampers children's understanding:

criticism of practice (called 'drill and kill,' as if this phrase constituted empirical evaluation) is prominent in constructivist writings. Nothing flies more in the face of the last 20 years of research than the assertion that practice is bad. All evidence, from the laboratory and from extensive case studies of professionals, indicates that real competence only comes with extensive practice.... In denying the critical role of practice one is denying children the very thing they need to achieve real competence. The instructional task is not to 'kill' motivation by demanding drill, but to find tasks that provide practice while at the same time sustaining interest.

— John R. Anderson, Lynne M. Reder, and Herbert A. Simon, 'Applications and misapplications
of cognitive psychology to mathematics education', Texas Educational Review 6 (2000)