issue28 望指教，写到后来来不及了

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TOPIC: ISSUE28 - "Students should memorize facts only after they have studied the ideas, trends, and concepts that help explain those facts. Students who have learned only facts have learned very little."
WORDS: 580        TIME: 0:45:00          DATE: 2010-2-24 21:04:30
    The speaker holds that students should memorize facts only after they have studied everything that can explain the facts and if students have learnt only facts, they've learnt almost nothing. While I agree with the speaker that students merely learning facts is not sufficient  to be a comprehensive learner, the fact that the author unfairly ranges the learning process can not be neglected.
     It is well-known to all that facts are the fundation of all reamls of inquiry, whether it is in the science field or in the art area. However, merely facts will not make us understand anything classic and essential of the a certain course.
For instance, only knowing the fact that ice will melt when the temperature falls below zero degree centigrade may  provide few things  precious to further understand the property of ice and water, leaving alone delving into chemistry world. We should combine all the other things together-----empirical results, concepts and what can happen if the temperature changes. Although I concede that remembering only the facts may sometimes meets the demand of exam and students who do it this way may get a high score speculatively, one should keep in mind that the purpose we learn expertise is not dealing with the test but equipping us with strong weapon that can benefit all of us in the future. Therefore, we should not only learn to remember the facts but we must learn the details and concepts of every course.
    While advocating the importance of facts, I maintain that by agruing one should learn ideas, trends and concepts before memorizing facts, the author fails in understanding the whole learning process. It is sometimes neccessary
for a student to memorize the fact first before studying somthing that can explain the facts, especially for a course with obscure concepts and principles. The overall study process can be put into a halt if it begins with a complicated concept or idea, which is hard for a student to perseive by mind, rendering it difficult for a teacher to continue the class and students to maintain the courage and interests for further learning. Then, we can agree that facts should be learnt in some special courses in order to make the learning process easier. Nevertheless, one should keep it in mind that the process should be continued after memorizing the facts, making the recognition profound and all-round.
    However, learning the facts first can lead to a problematic road, too. Let's take human's endeaver of discovering the truth of the universe as a vivid example. When Coopernicus realized that the earth and other planets circles around the Sun, the whole scientific realm and all the people were infused with the belief that the earth was in the center of universe. They were then finding the evidences to support this fallacious belief. From this story, we can see that it is sometimes dangerous for one to be dominated with a fact at the firat place, as the eyes for innovation and suspection may be covered. As an saying goes," What you see is what you want to see. " , which also indicates that people might loss the ability to maintain their own thoughts when they are being inoculate with a fact, whether it is a truth or a flaw.
    All in all, the learning process of a student is complicated which should be determined on a case-by-case basis. There should be no doubt that facts playing a critical role in study. When it comes to which part of knowlege to learn when facing a totally new course, we should be really careful by taking into consideration all the neccessary factors, and then we can make a best choice.