A high degree of learning was by rote memorization. East Asian countries often adopt a strict exam-oriented approach in teaching, which encourages rote memorization. This tool of memory can be more efficient than rote memorization. Prayers recited in rote repetition are not observed. Adult learning is based upon comprehension, organization and synthesis of knowledge rather than rote memory. Teaching relies heavily on rote learning rather than on student-centred methodology. Courses were reduced to theory without practice thus encouraging rote learning to pass exams. MDAE focuses on applied learning and case studies rather than on rote learning. Some of the alternatives to rote learning include meaningful learning, associative learning, and active learning. Rote learning is the method most often used. The entrance examinations to both relied heavily on rote learning. He was against standardization, isolated drill and rote learning. Consequently, teaching was usually "talk and chalk" with rote learning. Joe Leydon of "Variety" describes the film as "depressingly rote and sometimes laughably silly". His rhetoric has been learned by rote.