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Understanding the expectations of US classrooms

Education is a cultural activity, and classroom emphases and expectations vary across the globe. Some cultures value memorization of traditional texts, while others value creative thinking. Some emphasize individual learning; others expect students to work together.

In the United States, college courses typically require creative, original thinking rather than rote memorization. Most courses expect students to work together at least some of the time. Students might learn their course material in the following ways:

by participating in class discussions
by learning the rules, patterns, and theories and then applying them to a variety of situations
by synthesizing (connecting) ideas from multiple sources
by working with others to develop new approaches or hypotheses

While you might sometimes be required to memorize or learn basic facts and principles, your instructors will most often expect you to move beyond memorization and show original thinking about the content of the course.

The following examples are questions from exams in introductory economics classes. The first example is from a class that emphasized memorization of facts; the second is from a class where students were expected to apply concepts to everyday situations.

Emphasis on memorization

Question: What does “opportunity cost” mean?

Answer: “Opportunity cost” is the value of a resource measured in terms of the next-best alternative use of that resource.

Emphasis on original thinking

Question/task: Illustrate the concept of “opportunity cost” with an example from your own life.

Answer: The opportunity cost of going to the movies with my roommate last night was the extra time I could otherwise have spent studying for my economics exam. In other words, I gave up extra study time by going to the movies.

To answer the second question, students needed to learn the definition of opportunity cost. But they were expected to go beyond the definition and do some creative thinking.