As I ended a class period during which I had done nothing but sit in the back of the room (except for the 10 minutes I left to run an errand), I held up a stack of papers and announced “I want you to know that I did prepare something for today’s class.” In response, I heard someone say, “Now you have scratch paper!” It was the ideal comment to end an ideal class.

The previous week I had given students Cathy N. Davidson’s “Collaborative Learning for the Digital Age.” Then I took them to the library and asked that they get some background on the topic of student engagement.

When students asked what I was looking for, I simply responded, “I want you to read.” When students asked if they were expected to write a paper about what they were reading, I answered, “Probably not.” And when they asked if they should take notes, my reply was “It’s up to you.” Although I did not assign homework after either class period, most (if not all) of the students checked out books and/or printed out articles and web sites in order to continue their reading at home.

After a week of class time in the library, I did not have a clear idea about what students had been reading. Because it was early in the semester, I could not be positive the discussion would go well. But I took my place in the back of the room and told students to discuss.

I didn’t know that we were going to begin class by watching Video Games and Learning. But we did. And then, very slowly at first, the students began to talk. As the class period continued, the conversation became livelier as students shared their educated opinions formed by the research they had been doing during the past week.

As the period came to an end, I guess I wanted some credit for having spent time preparing for the class.  Therefore, I showed students the stack of material I had copied for them. That is when I was informed that my preparations would make good scrap paper.

It takes a certain degree of courage to enter the classroom knowing that one does not have full control of the day’s plan, but not as much courage as I initially thought. There are several reasons for this:

• Students will read if we allow them to read what interests them. Although it is likely none of the students would have picked student engagement as the theme of the course, it is a topic to which they can relate; especially because I did not define the approach they had to take to the topic.
• Taking students to the library to read is a valuable use of class time because students will do what we ask them to during the class period.
• Too often, we have weak classroom discussions because students do not have sufficient background to approach the issues we want to cover. One or two days of reading in the library gives students sufficient background to begin an articulate discussion based on research and evidence.
• By working together in the library during class time, students will incorporate a variety of strategies they might not use if we simply assign them to do background reading as homework: consult with a reference librarian, scan the stacks for books related to their topics, consult electronic databases, and discuss research strategies with the professor and their colleagues in the course.
• Because students are given the opportunity to pursue a topic based on their own interests, more points of view will be incorporated into class discussions as a result of time spent in the library.

By giving students class time to do research inspired by Dr. Davidson’s “Collaborative Learning for the Digital Age,” the class discussion was much more interesting than it would have been if we had tried to have a discussion after only reading Dr. Davidson’s essay.

By giving students class time to gain background information, faculty members not only improve class discussions. We also benefit. For example, the quality of research papers/projects improves and grading becomes easier. Students enjoy the class more which makes teaching easier. Class discussions are more interesting for us as well as the students. And who couldn’t use some more scrap paper; especially when it comes as the result of increased student learning?