An Ode to Class Discussion

Many of the professors in the history department at Vassar follow the same general structure to their courses in that there are two types of classes: "lecture" days (an outline is handed out and the professor spends most of the time delivering a lecture) and "discussion" days (the class as a whole discusses the assigned readings). I've never been one to over-express myself in class so, for me, lectures are usually better than discussions. I use the word "usually" here because I'm gradually finding myself gravitating more towards discussion days. This isn't so much because I'm suddenly find myself wanting to contribute more, but because, as I'm moving out of 100 (beginner) level courses and into the 200 (intermediate) level, I'm finding myself in classes with a bright, astute peer group who really do make some engaging, thought-provoking comments.

Now, that's not to say that this doesn't happen at the 100 level. In fact, it most certainly does. The real difference is that at the 100 level you have a few students who are really "on the ball" while, at the 200 level, the vast majority of the class is able to easily come up with and articulate meaningful ideas. Today, for instance, in my history class, we were discussing a work which our professor described as "quite the challenge." After a bit of initial grumbling about the piece, the discussion really picked up; over half of the twenty or so students participated without any prompting on the part of the professor.

Later on in the class, when our professor stepped in to provide some guidance in the form of a question, we had 100% participation. As we went around the room and all the students provided an example that satisfied the query, they were able to reply with a unique, thought-provoking answer, as well as quality textual support. There were no repeats, no "skip me please, I can't think of anything"s, no vague generalizations that lacked textual evidence. It was a true joy to be a part of and reminded me once again that Vassar really is the intellectual community I was looking for in my own college search.