Communication is the most important one. Communication is crucial between the teacher and the student but also among the students. Not just communication after a project or a presentation, but there has to be a constant open-ended dialogue and constant feedback among all classroom participants. Learning involves the exchange of ideas back and forth not just the download of information.

Risk taking. Students need to be able to take risks in the classroom, to ask a “stupid” question, not have all the answers, and not worry whether an answer is right or wrong. Learning involves creating an enviroment where there’s open discussion and allowing students to “push the envelope”, only then can they improve and grow.

Self-direction. Students need to have a sense of ownership and be able to choose projects based on their interestes and passions. Learning involves exploring issues and ideas that a student feels strongly about. It also means demostrating knowledge in various ways.

While everyone’s learning style may be different, I thought those three things, communication, risk taking and self direction are rather universal.

To make the learning experience even more enriching, I find, at the very least, an angle of personal interest in the material being taught. This brings me to the How Students Learn diagram on your blog. Of the branches stemming from the core of learning, the box entitled Demands Personal Investment is where I sit. With 20 or so students in a classroom, a teacher cannot cater to each student’s personal investment in the class; instead the student must take the material and customize it to meet their own goals and objectives. Taking this one step further involves asking questions of fellow students and teachers that address your personal learning needs. Also, the freedom to choose topics for assignments is another way students can personalize their learning and maximize one’s educational ROI.

When I looked at the classes I have found most engaging and interesting, the common factors were that each group dynamic provoked communication, valued personal experience and identity and fueled questions.

I am an sponge for information and I want to hear what other people think, know or don’t understand. I get as much of my learning from the other students as I do from the instructors.

Listening to questions posed by and engaging in a discussion with my peers propels me to think wider and deeper about the subject and to really challenge myself intellectually.

On one hand, we pay high tuition to Georgetown University in order to obtain professional knowledge from teachers hired by Georgetown University. For this business-like reason, I can understand why Mark restated that we are his customers. On the other hand, just like a salesman instructs his customer how to correctly use the product to ensure the product works well. We are taught to learn and practice those qualities of students’ native information experiences to better our study and performance.

To value safely made mistakes is quite important to me since my experience of learning does not cover this part. Personally, learning from mistakes helps me probe into more questions which I am unfamiliar with in this field. In addition, it also grants me an opportunity to examine my study so that I will gain impressive experience to avoid committing to the same mistake again.