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

Essay topics:

"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."

The speaker makes a threshold claim that students who learn only facts learn very little, then
condudes that students should always learn about concepts, ideas, and trends before they
memorize facts. While I wholeheartedly agree with the threshold claim, the condusion unfairly
generalizes about the learning process. In fact, following the speaker's advice would actually
impede the learning of concepts and ideas, as well as impeding the development of insightful
and useful new ones.
Turning first to the speaker's threshold daim, I strongly agree that ifwe learn only facts we
learn very little. Consider the task of memorizing the periodic table of dements, which any
student can memorize without any knowledge of chemistry, or that the table relates to
chemistry. Rote memorization of the table amounts to a bit of mental exercise-an opportunity to
practice memorization techniques and perhaps learn some new ones. Otherwise, the student
has learned very little about chemical dements, or about anything for that matter.
As for the speaker's ultimate claim, I concede that postponing the memorization of facts until
after one leams ideas and concepts holds certain advantages. With a conceptual framework
already in place a student is better able to understand the meaning of a fact, and to appreciate
its significance. As a result, the student is more likely to memorize the fact to begin with, and
less likely to forget it as time passes. Moreover, in my observation students whose first goal is
to memorize facts tend to stop there--for whatever reason. It seems that by focusing on facts
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first students risk equating the learning process with the assimilation of trivia; in turn, students
risk learning nothing of much use in solving real world problems.
Conceding that students must learn ideas and concepts, as well as facts relating to them, in
order to learning anything meaningful, I nevertheless disagree that the former should always
precede the latter--for three reasons. In the first place, I see know reason why memorizing a
fact cannot precede learning about its meaning and significance--as long as the student does
not stop at rote memorization. Consider once again our hypothetical chemistry student. The
speaker might advise this student to first learn about the historical trends leading to the
discovery of the elements, or to learn about the concepts of altering chemical compounds to
achieve certain reactions--before studying the periodic table. Having no familiarity with the
basic vocabulary of chemistry, which includes the informarion in the periodic table, this student
would come away from the first two lessons bewildered and confused in other words, having
learned little.
In the second place, the speaker misunderstands the process by which we learn ideas and
concepts, and by which we develop new ones. Consider, for example, how economics
students learn about the relationship between supply and demand, and the resulting concept
of market equilibrium, and of surplus and shortage. Learning about the dynamics of supply and
demand involves (1) entertaining a theory, and perhaps even formulating a new one, (2)
testing hypothetical scenarios against the theory, and (3) examining real-world facts for the
purpose of confirming, refuting, modifying, or qualifying the theory. But which step should
come first? The speaker would have us follow steps 1 through 3 in that order. Yet, theories,
concepts, and ideas rarely materialize out of thin air; they generally emerge from empirical
observations--i.e., facts. Thus the speaker's notion about how we should learn concepts and
ideas gets the learning process backwards.
In the third place, strict adherence to the speaker's advice would surely lead to illconceived
ideas, concepts, and theories. Why? An idea or concept conjured up without the benefit of data
amounts to little more than the conjurer's hopes and desires. Accordingly, conjurers will tend to
seek out facts that support their prejudices and opinions, and overlook or avoid facts that
refute them. One telling example involves theories about the center of the universe.
Understandably, we ego-driven humans would prefer that the universe revolve around us.
Early theories presumed so for this reason, and facts that ran contrary to this ego-driven
theory were ignored, while observers of these facts were scorned and even vilified. In short,
students who strictly follow the speaker's prescription are unlikely to contribute significantly to
the advancement of knowledge.
To sum up, in a vacuum facts are meaningless, and only by filling that vacuum with ideas
and concepts can students learn, by gaining useful perspectives and insights about facts. Yet,
since facts are the very stuff from which ideas, concepts, and trends spring, without some facts
students cannot learn much of anything. In the final analysis, then, students should learn facts
right along with concepts, ideas, and trends.

Votes
Average: 6.6 (1 vote)
Essay Categories

Comments

Grammar and spelling errors:
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...learn only facts learn very little, then condudes that students should always lea...
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... concepts, ideas, and trends before they memorize facts. While I wholeheartedly a...
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... threshold claim, the condusion unfairly generalizes about the learning process. ...
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...earning process. In fact, following the speakers advice would actually impede the lear...
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...owing the speakers advice would actually impede the learning of concepts and idea...
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...s impeding the development of insightful and useful new ones. Turning first to...
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...seful new ones. Turning first to the speakers threshold daim, I strongly agree that i...
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Line 7, column 94, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...ngly agree that ifwe learn only facts we learn very little. Consider the task of ...
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...the periodic table of dements, which any student can memorize without any knowled...
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... chemistry, or that the table relates to chemistry. Rote memorization of the tabl...
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Line 10, column 96, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...bit of mental exercise-an opportunity to practice memorization techniques and per...
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Line 11, column 89, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...rn some new ones. Otherwise, the student has learned very little about chemical d...
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Line 13, column 95, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...stponing the memorization of facts until after one leams ideas and concepts holds...
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Line 14, column 89, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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... advantages. With a conceptual framework already in place a student is better abl...
^^^
Line 15, column 97, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...the meaning of a fact, and to appreciate its significance. As a result, the stude...
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Line 16, column 98, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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... to memorize the fact to begin with, and less likely to forget it as time passes....
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...with, and less likely to forget it as time passes. Moreover, in my observation stu...
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Line 17, column 98, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...observation students whose first goal is to memorize facts tend to stop there--fo...
^^^
Line 18, column 94, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...ason. It seems that by focusing on facts 17 first students risk equating the lea...
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Line 20, column 101, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...ssimilation of trivia; in turn, students risk learning nothing of much use in sol...
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Line 22, column 94, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...s, as well as facts relating to them, in order to learning anything meaningful, I...
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Line 23, column 93, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...s disagree that the former should always precede the latter--for three reasons. I...
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Line 24, column 94, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...lace, I see know reason why memorizing a fact cannot precede learning about its m...
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Line 25, column 93, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...ignificance--as long as the student does not stop at rote memorization. Consider ...
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Line 26, column 91, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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... our hypothetical chemistry student. The speaker might advise this student to fir...
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Line 27, column 92, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...out the historical trends leading to the discovery of the elements, or to learn a...
^^^
Line 28, column 92, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...ncepts of altering chemical compounds to achieve certain reactions--before studyi...
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Line 29, column 94, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...ic table. Having no familiarity with the basic vocabulary of chemistry, which inc...
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Line 30, column 98, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...rion in the periodic table, this student would come away from the first two lesso...
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Line 31, column 90, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...ered and confused in other words, having learned little. In the second place, ...
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Line 33, column 89, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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... the process by which we learn ideas and concepts, and by which we develop new on...
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Line 34, column 81, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...es. Consider, for example, how economics students learn about the relationship be...
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Line 35, column 91, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...ly and demand, and the resulting concept of market equilibrium, and of surplus an...
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Line 36, column 94, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...earning about the dynamics of supply and demand involves 1 entertaining a theory,...
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Line 37, column 83, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...nd perhaps even formulating a new one, 2 testing hypothetical scenarios against t...
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Line 38, column 92, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...and 3 examining real-world facts for the purpose of confirming, refuting, modifyi...
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Line 39, column 92, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...ifying the theory. But which step should come first? The speaker would have us fo...
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Line 40, column 93, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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... through 3 in that order. Yet, theories, concepts, and ideas rarely materialize o...
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Line 41, column 93, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...ir; they generally emerge from empirical observations--i.e., facts. Thus the spea...
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Suggestion: Thus,
... empirical observations--i.e., facts. Thus the speakers notion about how we should...
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...l observations--i.e., facts. Thus the speakers notion about how we should learn concep...
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Line 42, column 91, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...n about how we should learn concepts and ideas gets the learning process backward...
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...he third place, strict adherence to the speakers advice would surely lead to illconceive...
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...advice would surely lead to illconceived ideas, concepts, and theories. Why? An i...
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Line 45, column 95, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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... conjured up without the benefit of data amounts to little more than the conjurer...
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Line 46, column 97, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...res. Accordingly, conjurers will tend to seek out facts that support their prejud...
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Line 47, column 92, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...inions, and overlook or avoid facts that refute them. One telling example involve...
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Line 50, column 91, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...cts that ran contrary to this ego-driven theory were ignored, while observers of ...
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...ere scorned and even vilified. In short, students who strictly follow the speaker...
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... unlikely to contribute significantly to the advancement of knowledge. To sum ...
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Line 54, column 90, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...d only by filling that vacuum with ideas and concepts can students learn, by gain...
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Line 55, column 95, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...spectives and insights about facts. Yet, since facts are the very stuff from whic...
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Line 56, column 97, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...s, and trends spring, without some facts students cannot learn much of anything. ...
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Line 57, column 97, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
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...lysis, then, students should learn facts right along with concepts, ideas, and tr...
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Transition Words or Phrases used:
accordingly, actually, but, first, if, look, moreover, nevertheless, second, so, then, third, thus, well, while, as for, for example, in fact, in short, as a result, as well as, in other words, to begin with, to sum up, in the first place, in the second place, in the third place

Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments

Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 8.0 19.5258426966 41% => More to be verbs wanted.
Auxiliary verbs: 17.0 12.4196629213 137% => OK
Conjunction : 39.0 14.8657303371 262% => Less conjunction wanted
Relative clauses : 24.0 11.3162921348 212% => Less relative clauses wanted (maybe 'which' is over used).
Pronoun: 44.0 33.0505617978 133% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 108.0 58.6224719101 184% => OK
Nominalization: 12.0 12.9106741573 93% => OK

Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 4278.0 2235.4752809 191% => OK
No of words: 776.0 442.535393258 175% => Less content wanted.
Chars per words: 5.51288659794 5.05705443957 109% => OK
Fourth root words length: 5.27795192801 4.55969084622 116% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.83617597196 2.79657885939 101% => OK
Unique words: 368.0 215.323595506 171% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.474226804124 0.4932671777 96% => OK
syllable_count: 1244.7 704.065955056 177% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.59117977528 101% => OK

A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 9.0 6.24550561798 144% => OK
Article: 9.0 4.99550561798 180% => OK
Subordination: 8.0 3.10617977528 258% => Less adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 22.0 1.77640449438 1238% => Less conjunction wanted as sentence beginning.
Preposition: 18.0 4.38483146067 411% => Less preposition wanted as sentence beginnings.

Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 34.0 20.2370786517 168% => OK
Sentence length: 22.0 23.0359550562 96% => OK
Sentence length SD: 56.3607080488 60.3974514979 93% => OK
Chars per sentence: 125.823529412 118.986275619 106% => OK
Words per sentence: 22.8235294118 23.4991977007 97% => OK
Discourse Markers: 8.20588235294 5.21951772744 157% => OK
Paragraphs: 56.0 4.97078651685 1127% => Less paragraphs wanted.
Language errors: 54.0 7.80617977528 692% => Less language errors wanted.
Sentences with positive sentiment : 14.0 10.2758426966 136% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 8.0 5.13820224719 156% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 12.0 4.83258426966 248% => Less facts, knowledge or examples wanted.
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?

Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.468314953951 0.243740707755 192% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.120265634252 0.0831039109588 145% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0816280674595 0.0758088955206 108% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0952193354409 0.150359130593 63% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0758473908504 0.0667264976115 114% => OK

Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 15.9 14.1392134831 112% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 49.15 48.8420337079 101% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 7.92365168539 111% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 11.9 12.1743820225 98% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 14.97 12.1639044944 123% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.72 8.38706741573 104% => OK
difficult_words: 196.0 100.480337079 195% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 11.0 11.8971910112 92% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.8 11.2143820225 96% => OK
text_standard: 11.0 11.7820224719 93% => OK
What are above readability scores?

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Write the essay in 30 minutes.
Maximum six paragraphs wanted.

Rates: 66.67 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 4.0 Out of 6
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.