Getting to the Point of Research

摘要

After decades of working with students, I am still dismayed that generation after generation continue to misunderstand the task of research. Put quite simply, "research" for most students is mere compilation of facts rather than an exercise in problem-solving. The same difficulty probably exists in the general population, where people are really good at finding simple answers but struggle with deeper problem-solving. We could blame it on Google, which excels at answering fact-seeking questions but does little for more complex investigations.