The importance of understanding ideas and concepts for students

[Quang1997]

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
It is more important for students to understand ideas and concepts than it is for them to learn facts.
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer

My essay
There has been a heated debate concerning the importance of understanding ideas and concepts . In fact, there is a growing consensus that students should prefer learning facts to understanding ideas and concepts, as facts are significantly more important than ideas and concepts. However, there is a solid body of opinion that disagrees with that perspective, stating several advantages that students have better be able to understand ideas and concepts than learn facts. In my opinion, I concur with the latter for two primary reasons.
First of all, all facts initially come from ideas and concepts, not vice a versa. In fact, human establish facts and figures through the careful observation of the nature and the rigorous scrutiny of natural factors. To put it simply, human usually make an assumption first. In other words, they firstly have ideas and concepts. By careful examination of the ideas and concepts, human can obtain the accurate picture of the phenomenon. Human, then, acknowledge them as facts. This process has taken place relentlessly since human put their first steps on earth. As the successors of this modern and developing world, students should be equipped with the skills to understand ideas and concepts in order to be successfully inherit and maintain the society. Galileo’s claim of the solar system remains the epitome of the reason set forth therein. As it is stated above, facts are made on human skeptical consumption. In some specific cases, these assumptions can falsify the facts. Therefore, it is a demanding need that someone could have a more precise of the picture, understand the traditional ideas and correct them. In Galileo’s case, in his society at that time, it was well-known that the Earth was the center of the solar system. If Galileo had accepted that falsified facts, the majority of textbooks today would have had this disastrous assumption in the lesson about the solar system.
Secondly, the world could not develope if the amount of facts stagnated. In fact, there are millions of facts that human have not discovered or figured out yet. If students, the deciding factor in the society, put more emphasis on learning facts, there would be an escalation in the development of the society. Therefore, the students should focus their attention on the practice of understand ideas and concepts. As a result, they will be able to figure out more facts and bring upon significant innovations. Einstein’s life is a supreme example of this argument. When Einstein was young, instead of spending time reading the facts in his textbooks, he preferred to spend time understand the ideas and concepts of those prestigious scholars. As a result, Einstein successfully proved the most profound formula of all time: E equals m c squared.
Some people may argue that it is impossible for students to understand ideas and concepts without learning facts. They make a convincing argument. However, it is not said that learning facts is not of great importance. However, understanding ideas and concepts should play the primary goal in the education.
To sum up briefly, taking into account the fact that facts are derived from ideas, the catastrophic picture of the world if facts stagnate, I would argue that it is more important for students to understand ideas and concepts than it is for them to learn facts.

TOEFL listening discussions: What will the student try to do with his next essay?

[Luschen]

Hi, I thought your introduction was a little strained in this one, but the rest was better. You seemed to have fewer of the minor errors in this essay. I really liked your second body paragraph. Your first was ok, but it seemed to have a lot of repetition and not enough actual content . I would have focused more on Galileo or maybe also added things like astrology or alchemy that are no longer accepted as facts today.

@Quang1997

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
It is more important for students to understand ideas and concepts than it is for them to learn facts.
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer

My essay
There has been a heated debate concerning the importance of understanding ideas and concepts .{this sounds a little vague. I am not sure if this canned intro really works for this topic} In fact, there is a growing consensus that students should prefer {it is not really about preference, it is about importance or effectiveness} learning facts to understanding ideas and concepts, as facts are significantly more important than ideas and concepts. However, there is a solid body of opinion that disagrees with that perspective, stating several advantages that [allow] students [to] have better be able to understand ideas and concepts than [by] learn[ing] facts. {this sentence structure was not correct - it is correct now, but maybe rewriting it is better} In my opinion, I concur with the latter for two primary reasons.
First of all, all facts initially come from ideas and concepts, not vice a versa. In fact, human[s ] establish facts and figures through the careful observation of the nature and the rigorous scrutiny of natural factors. To put it simply, human usually make an assumption first. In other words, they firstly have ideas and concepts. {instead of restating this three times, which sounds receptive - try to explain it more fully, maybe by detailing the process} By careful examination of the ideas and concepts, human can obtain the accurate picture of the phenomenon. Human[s ], then, acknowledge them{
them is a bit unclear here - I would not use a pronoun} as facts. This process has taken place relentlessly since human[ity] put their first steps on earth. As the successors of this modern and developing world, students should be equipped with the skills to understand ideas and concepts in order to be successfully inherit and maintain the society. Galileo’s claim of the solar system {well, everyone acknowledged the solar system before Galileo - heliocentrism would be better} remains the epitome of the reason set forth therein. As it is stated above, facts are made on human skeptical consumption.{“skeptical consumption” sounds odd} In some specific cases, these assumptions can falsify the facts. Therefore, it is a demanding need that someone [sho]uld have a more precise [view] of the picture, understand the traditional ideas and correct them. In Galileo’s case, in his society at that time, it was well-known that the Earth was the center of the solar system. If Galileo had accepted that falsified fac[t ], the majority of textbooks today would have had this disastrous assumption in the lesson about the solar system.
Secondly, the world could not develo[p ] if the amount[number] of facts stagnated. In fact, there are millions of facts that human[s ] have not discovered or figured out yet. If students, the deciding factor in the society,{calling students the deciding factor sounds a little odd} put more emphasis on learning facts, there would be an escalation in the development of the society. {don’t you mean the opposite?} Therefore, the students should focus their attention on the practice of understand ideas and concepts. As a result, they will be able to figure out more facts and bring upon[forth] significant innovations. Einstein’s life is a supreme example of this argument. When Einstein was young, instead of spending time reading the facts in his textbooks, he preferred to spend time understand[ing] the ideas and concepts of those prestigious scholars. As a result, Einstein successfully proved the most profound formula of all time: E equals m c squared.
Some people may argue that it is impossible for students to understand ideas and concepts without learning facts. They make a convincing argument. However, it is not said that learning facts is not of great importance. However, understanding ideas and concepts should play[be] the primary goal in the education.
To sum up briefly, taking into account the fact that facts are derived from ideas, the catastrophic picture of the world if facts stagnate, I would argue that it is more important for students to understand ideas and concepts than it is for them to learn facts.

TOEFL listening discussions: What will the student try to do with his next essay?

[Luschen]

Hi, I thought your introduction was a little strained in this one, but the rest was better. You seemed to have fewer of the minor errors in this essay. I really liked your second body paragraph. Your first was ok, but it seemed to have a lot of repetition and not enough actual content . I would have focused more on Galileo or maybe also added things like astrology or alchemy that are no longer accepted as facts today.

@Quang1997

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
It is more important for students to understand ideas and concepts than it is for them to learn facts.
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer

My essay
There has been a heated debate concerning the importance of understanding ideas and concepts .{this sounds a little vague. I am not sure if this canned intro really works for this topic} In fact, there is a growing consensus that students should prefer {it is not really about preference, it is about importance or effectiveness} learning facts to understanding ideas and concepts, as facts are significantly more important than ideas and concepts. However, there is a solid body of opinion that disagrees with that perspective, stating several advantages that [allow] students [to] have better be able to understand ideas and concepts than [by] learn[ing] facts. {this sentence structure was not correct - it is correct now, but maybe rewriting it is better} In my opinion, I concur with the latter for two primary reasons.
First of all, all facts initially come from ideas and concepts, not vice a versa. In fact, human[s ] establish facts and figures through the careful observation of the nature and the rigorous scrutiny of natural factors. To put it simply, human usually make an assumption first. In other words, they firstly have ideas and concepts. {instead of restating this three times, which sounds receptive - try to explain it more fully, maybe by detailing the process} By careful examination of the ideas and concepts, human can obtain the accurate picture of the phenomenon. Human[s ], then, acknowledge them{
them is a bit unclear here - I would not use a pronoun} as facts. This process has taken place relentlessly since human[ity] put their first steps on earth. As the successors of this modern and developing world, students should be equipped with the skills to understand ideas and concepts in order to be successfully inherit and maintain the society. Galileo’s claim of the solar system {well, everyone acknowledged the solar system before Galileo - heliocentrism would be better} remains the epitome of the reason set forth therein. As it is stated above, facts are made on human skeptical consumption.{“skeptical consumption” sounds odd} In some specific cases, these assumptions can falsify the facts. Therefore, it is a demanding need that someone [sho]uld have a more precise [view] of the picture, understand the traditional ideas and correct them. In Galileo’s case, in his society at that time, it was well-known that the Earth was the center of the solar system. If Galileo had accepted that falsified fac[t ], the majority of textbooks today would have had this disastrous assumption in the lesson about the solar system.
Secondly, the world could not develo[p ] if the amount[number] of facts stagnated. In fact, there are millions of facts that human[s ] have not discovered or figured out yet. If students, the deciding factor in the society,{calling students the deciding factor sounds a little odd} put more emphasis on learning facts, there would be an escalation in the development of the society. {don’t you mean the opposite?} Therefore, the students should focus their attention on the practice of understand ideas and concepts. As a result, they will be able to figure out more facts and bring upon[forth] significant innovations. Einstein’s life is a supreme example of this argument. When Einstein was young, instead of spending time reading the facts in his textbooks, he preferred to spend time understand[ing] the ideas and concepts of those prestigious scholars. As a result, Einstein successfully proved the most profound formula of all time: E equals m c squared.
Some people may argue that it is impossible for students to understand ideas and concepts without learning facts. They make a convincing argument. However, it is not said that learning facts is not of great importance. However, understanding ideas and concepts should play[be] the primary goal in the education.
To sum up briefly, taking into account the fact that facts are derived from ideas, the catastrophic picture of the world if facts stagnate, I would argue that it is more important for students to understand ideas and concepts than it is for them to learn facts.

TOEFL listening discussions: What will the student try to do with his next essay?