Randall Cone

Why should anyone bother to attend university courses, given today’s widespread access to
information on most topics – much of which is free, complete, and available on the Internet?
This is not a difficult question to answer, given that STEM employers (and graduate programs)
want candidates that are able to “do”, not just “know”. Albert Einstein aptly described this
phenomenon in the famous quotation:

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.”

This idea reminds us that the educational process itself can be even more important than
idiosyncratic, temporal, or topical knowledge. Largely agreeing with Einstein’s observation, I have
adopted a method of teaching, called “Inquiry-Based Learning”, which focuses on educational
processes, rather than discrete educational events. Inquiry-Based Learning, or IBL, is a method of
teaching wherein most of the learning is student-centered, and students are required to take a high
level of responsibility for a course’s classroom activities and work. The American Mathematical
Society and the Mathematical Association of America each espouse the effectiveness of IBL in
mathematics teaching2, labeling it a “high impact practice” in the development of critical thinking.