“ a point was the first thing that the students learned about” is that a independent or dependent clause?

Answer 1

It is considered an independent clause because it contains a subject (the students), a verb (learned) and has a complete thought (The students first learned about a point.) The sentence could be written as such: The first thing the students learned about was the point. Although, I'd admit, I am not entirely clear as to what "a point" means in this sentence.

Answer 2

This is an independent clause because it has a subject (a point) and a verb (was). The sentence is problematic though - first of all "a" point is not the right article. It should say "The" or some specific word like "the main point" and the sentence ends with a preposition "about" which is not advised.