It was with some amount of sadness that I had my last peer-driven learning classes on Wednesday. They handed in their final papers, we listened to the last presentation, and we said goodbye. As we watched an interview with on of the pilots who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, in (partial) preparation for a discussion on the ethics and morals of modern warfare, I looked around the room. Every student was sitting there, raptly watching. The discussion afterwards was engaging and interesting, not to mention that most of the class participated. It wasn’t perfect, but this was one of the most rewarding teaching experiences I’ve ever had. To watch my students embrace an opportunity to explore, discover, and then share their findings with their peers was amazing. Their presentations were, largely, well-thought out and engaging. There was still an over-reliance on PowerPoint (seriously, if you don’t like it when your professor uses it, why WHY do you insist on using it, too?), but I think it really reflects how these students have been educated throughout their schooling.
