Many of us were taught—from elementary school all the way through high school—under a traditional academic assumption that thinking follows learning. In this environment (which is still far too prevalent today), students sit passively in classrooms while volumes of information are passed down from teacher to pupil. Only after students have absorbed all that information are they admitted to higher-level classes where they may be invited to participate in class discussions, to test their own understandings, and to pursue questions where they have a personal interest.

But cognitive science—a relatively new discipline that investigates how people think and learn—has shown the assumption that thinking follows learning to be exactly backward: learning is an active enterprise, not a passive one. Learning is the consequence, not the cause, of thinking.

And so, the best learning environments present as many questions as they do answers. They activate learners and embrace the idea that there are many ways to approach and answer good questions. The best learning environments present students with opportunities to represent what they learn to others—not just through tests, but through work that indicates the complexity and depth of their understanding. And the best learning environments are communal. They are environments where people of different backgrounds and interests come together to share their multiple perspectives.

Creativity thrives in such environments. This is no surprise to anyone at Columbia College Chicago. Over the past few decades, cognitive science has demonstrated that the skills and inclinations required to make art—any kind of art—are at the very core of thinking. These skills are not only necessary to painters, actors, or dancers: they are equally valuable assets for historians, engineers, attorneys, and businessmen and women.

Those of you who studied at Columbia College understand this. Yes, Columbia is an arts college. And a media college. And a communications college. And a liberal arts college. Whether you studied film or marketing, dance or journalism, animation or American Sign Language, you did so in an environment where a “hands-on, minds-on” approach to education is valued. Where tough questions and multiple perspectives are encouraged and rigorously discussed. At Columbia, we’re continually striving to provide the kind of learning environment that can stimulate our students’ creativity—as thinkers, as learners, and ultimately, as cultural contributors.

Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D.
President, Columbia College Chicago