It is more important for students to understand ideas and concepts than it is for them to learn facts.

It is more important for students to understand ideas and concepts than it is for them to learn facts.

It is hard to deny that facts offer us intuitive and direct knowledge of the world, and this may lead impressionable people to generate the opinion that learning facts is more important for students than understanding ideas and concepts. However, such a statement suffers from both logical and factual fallacies, and we should examine it meticulously. As far as study, technology, and efficiency are concerned, I strongly hold that understanding the ideas and concepts is more significant than learning facts.

First and foremost, knowing the ideas and concepts behind the facts helps us to have a better understanding of facts and do well in the study. Take the case of myself, who used to memorize mathematical formulas without knowing the ideas behind them. As a result, I often forget them and get bad grades. Then I try to think about why the formulas hold and what is the concept behind those formulas. Consequently, I never forget formulas afterward and do well in mathematics. Had it not been for my deep understanding of the ideas, I would never be good at math.

Furthermore, with the development of technology, we can get facts easily today. For example, we can get any fact we want on the Internet or in the university’s databases, hence it is meaningless to learn too many facts. However, you cannot understand ideas and concepts without thinking deeply, so ideas and concepts are worthier.

Nevertheless, a voice arises that understanding the ideas takes more time than learning facts, hence it is more efficient to only know facts. Ironically, understanding the ideas can help us discover new facts and devise new inventions to save working time, which is more efficient and effective for our society. Therefore, understanding ideas is more efficient actually.

In a nutshell, I maintain that it is more important for students to understand ideas and concepts than it is for them to learn facts.