Andrew Delbanco's College: Tell Me, Is And Should Be

There is an old Chinese proverb that says “ Tell me, and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. But involve me, and I will understand.” This is a philosophy I’ve held with me for most of my life. The premise of this quote is that teachers must engage their students so that the students can fully discover, process and apply the information they are being taught. At the same time, students must participate in class and think more about what the teacher is describing. This is all accomplished through active learning.

The topic of active vs. passive learning has been a popular one amongst the academic community for many years. In Andrew Delbanco’s book College: What It Was, Is and Should Be, Delbanco says “a mind must work to grow”, in reference

One example of active learning provided in Delbanco’s book is given through a remark made by a former Yale Clergyman, President Noah Porter. Porter says “the most effective teaching is teaching by questioning.” By asking questions, students are forced to actively engage the material and think “ why is the professor asking me this question?” What is my answer? ” And “why is this my answer?” Another particularly noteworthy example Delbanco provides through his book in support of active thinking and learning, is the concept of “lateral learning”-- “the proposition that students have something important to learn from each other. (Delbanco, pg 53-54) ” This, of course, can be accomplished through debates, group discussions, and group projects. Nevertheless, what Delbanco refers to as “passive absorption” also has its time and place in the classroom. Students need the sometimes passive lectures to begin active discussions and debates. However, this is no excuse for a student to not stay focused; students can stay actively engaged in lectures by writing down points of interest or question, asking questions and drawing diagrams/ pictures.

Before humans developed a language structure, we used drawings as our only form of written communication. Therefore at our core, we as humans are visually impressionable; thus meaning, the more visual aids we see, the more we can understand. Consequently, drawing pictures throughout a lecture allows one to make connections with the new information one is hearing about with something one has seen before. Analogies are also helpful for active participation. According to Google Definitions, an analogy is defined as “a comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification.” The National Science Teachers Association has a great article titled “The Teaching with Analogies Model.” This author of the article, Shawn Gynn, references a 5th-grade teacher trying to explain to her students what cells are. Her students love to play with legos, so the teacher asks them questions about what the legos are and what one can do with legos. She then explains that just like legos, cells come together to build bigger things. After explaining their similarities, the