themorerecenttrendtowardsempiricalacquisition ofknowledgeinvolvingmore“hands
on”experience.Isthisthemosteffectivewayforstudentstolearn vitalacademic
informationwhileundertakingtheirdegrees?Undoubtedly,advantagesand
disadvantagesofbothacademiclearningstyleshaveto beevaluated.
Firstly, ontheonehand, despitebeingthemoretraditionaleducationalapproach,
learningfromtheoryinrelevantacademic discoursestoidentifyestablished knowledge
allowsusto gainaprofessionalinsight.Forexample,studentscaneasilyidentifyfacts
and opinionsfrompast discourses.Inaddition,studentsacquire knowledgemoreeasily
when given
relativetheoreticalexamplesto build upon.Forinstance,insubjectssuchas history
orsociology,studyingtextbookexamplesallowsstudentsto unravelcomplex
academictheorieswhichtheycouldexpand on.Alternatively,therearesome
disadvantagesforstudents.
Ontheotherhand,thereisno doubtthatstudentscouldfindthemselvesreading
tediousandmonotonousacademicpapers.Forinstance, university degreesinvolving
theevaluation ofnumerous‘long-winded’academicdiscoursesprovidelittleinspiration
forstudents, discouragingenthusiasm.Obviously,interestcan bestimulatedthrough
empiricalresearchinclass.BythisImeanthat‘thehuman brainlearnsbestby doing’.
Althoughtime-consuming,thereisnosubstituteforlearningfrommakingmistakes.
Inconclusion,whilebothapproacheshave benefitsand drawbacksin ourever-
changingacademicworld,Ihonestly believethatamorepracticalapproach promotesa
strongeracquisition ofacademicknowledge.Inspiteofthecomprehensivenature
whichtheoreticalteachingcan possibly provide, practicallearningequalsmorepositive
learningforfuturegenerations.
( 280 words)
Sample 60
Youshouldspendabout 40 minutesonthistask.
Thecostsofmedicalhealthcareareincreasing allthetime.Governments are
findingitdifficulttobalancethehealthcarebudget.
Shouldcitizensbetotallyresponsiblefortheirownhealthcostsandtakeout
privatehealthinsurance, orisitbetter
tohaveacomprehensivehealthcaresystemwhichprovidesfreehealth
servicesforall?Discuss.
Youshouldwriteatleast 250 words.
Givereasonsforyouranswerandinclude
anyrelevantexamplesfromyourown knowledgeorexperience.
modelanswer: