Chapter 4: Why is it so hard for students to understand abstract ideas

• The mind finds it hard to absorb abstraction, and it needs concrete and familiar.
• There is rote, shallow and deep learning, and shallow is most common.
• Lack of deep learning could be due to lack of student attention.
• Another reason is it is difficult to fit together abstraction plus examples.
• Deep learning takes more work and time.
• Learning transfer occurs when we take old knowledge and applied to new problems.
• A difficulty is the different surface structure.
• Avoid distracting from learning objectives.
• This points to the value of analogies, providing examples and comparisons, having realistic expectations.
• Need application!
• Overall, it is hard to understand new and transfer it.