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Why is a lack of debate creeping into classrooms?

2 months ago, as I was studying for a final exam at the Library, I overheard a student loudly advising another: “You should just research whatever your professor thinks and reiterate their point of view. Professors are egotistical like that. If you disagree with them, the bar becomes higher.” A few days later, a friend casually mentioned how he avoids speaking up in class because “you never know what will come and haunt you now that anyone can record anything”.

I was not surprised by either of these comments. Throughout my university education, I have been in *some* classrooms where all I saw were silent nods, superficial comments, and half-baked ideas — and students daydreaming, sketching, or shopping online. In these classes, students were not speaking up as much, and not taking the time to figure out what they think and why they think what they think. I am not even referring to political polarization and how insular elite universities can be. The lack of intellectual diversity and depth in some classrooms is across issues.

What I also noticed — from those who do speak up — is a lot of data “dumping”. It is as if data points and studies, which are absolutely critical, have become a shield protecting students from forming a point of view. I am also guilty of citing data without wrestling enough to develop a point of view.

I have been thinking about why I was seeing that lack of depth so frequently. I considered the following:

1. Students are genuinely overwhelmed, with classes, activities, recruiting and events. While all of these could be stimulating and offer opportunities, they can leave students feeling too exhausted to study and to grapple with ideas. It takes less time to quickly outline the pros and cons than to confront the real trade-offs and form a coherent point of view.
2. The grading system rewards a certain structure and clarity, rather than a genuine effort to grapple with messy issues.
3. Some students may be less likely to speak up out of fear that what they say will be taken against them.
4. Some professors may feel attached to their viewpoints, forgetting to design classrooms that encourage dissent with these views. In doing so, they may, inadvertently, bias students towards their own points of view without taking the time to examine.
5. Some students, like the one I overheard at Lamont, figured they can just use Google to figure out what their professor thinks and rehash that.

I often find myself wondering how we can create classrooms where students are incentivized to take the time to wrestle with issues. How can we bring strong and vigorous debates back into classrooms? I do not have a clear answer, but I know that my favorite professors explicitly welcome disagreement, assign readings spanning different viewpoints, and bring into class speakers they vehemently disagree with. These professors push back, constantly asking “What do you think? Why do you think that? What are the main critiques against you, and how would you respond? What are your biases? and what would it take to change your mind?”