Educators should teach facts only after their students have studied the ideas trends and concepts that help explain those facts Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reason

Learning is a complex process and students can often struggle to grasp the material presented to them. The prompt suggests that educators first introduce the ideas, trends, and concepts, as these will assist in explaining the facts. In my opinion, I mostly agree with this statement and argue that omitting the overall facts of a given subject has its advantages and disadvantages.

Adopting this approach may be counterproductive in cases where learning the ideas and trends without knowing the actual facts can lead to confusion. For instance, in philosophy there is an overwhelming amount of ideas, concepts, and terms that students understand. However, these terms are quite arcane to laypeople and require an overall understanding of the goal of philosophy. An educator who begins by presenting esoteric terms, such as ‘premises’, without elaborating on how these premises contribute to a coherent argument may end up confusing students. This example demonstrates that some subjects are very complex and students must have an understanding of the facts in order to grasp why these terms are necessary.

However, it is often the case that understanding the ideas, trends, and concepts can provide essential building blocks that assist in developing a greater understanding of the overall fact. Take math for instance. Math is required for nearly everything on earth – it is present in technology, physics, and many more fields. Given the complexity of this subject, students are first introduced to the ideas and concepts, followed by different formulas, and so on. If educators were to immediately dump the general fact of ‘math’, students would become overwhelmed. This example illustrates the advantages of adopting the recommendation, as this would help students develop a baseline understanding; ultimately assisting in their understanding of more advanced concepts.

This recommendation would also be advantageous for students who struggle with information overload. Some facts require an understanding of many concepts – presenting the facts before the basic building blocks can lead to confusion and stress and interfere with students’ quality of learning. In the case where an educator presents the facts before equipping their students with baseline knowledge may damage the morale of their students. Consequently, the classes work-ethic may decline, resulting poor performance. This example illustrates a case where adopting this recommendation would help alleviate the stress of students and enhance their quality of learning.

There are advantages and disadvantages to adopting this recommendation. However, I believe that the benefits outweigh the costs; therefore, my opinion remains that educators should teach facts only after students are taught the ideas and concepts that help explain those facts.