One could hardly ask a more basic question toward building a pedagogy of understanding. If the aim is a way of thinking about teaching and learning that puts understanding up front on center stage most of the time, we had better know what we are aiming at. Knowledge, skill, and understanding are the stock in trade of education.
Most teachers show a vigorous commitment to all three.
Everyone wants students to emerge from schooling or other learning experiences with a good repertoire of knowledge, well-developed skills, and an understanding of the meaning, significance, and use of what they have studied. So it's worth asking what conception of knowledge, skill, and understanding underwrites what happens in classrooms among teachers and students to foster these attainments. For knowledge and skill, a rough answer comes readily enough. Knowledge is information on tap. We feel assured a student has knowledge when the student can reproduce it when asked.