I have one question and one point. First, I wonder if people are any more or less reluctant to speak up in class now that we (presumably) have a better handle on the unique tone and focus of the class.

Second, I think the reasons posited by Alex for speaking up in class only hold true where hand-raising is a way to have a limited dialogue with the professor; the list (information, affirmation, self-affirmation) is not particularly helpful if we think of speaking in class as a way to start discussion or bring up a alternative point of inquiry. While positive feeling (external and internal) may flow from shifting the debate, they need not be ends of themselves. In fact, since this class is specifically geared toward generating discussion, the "gunner" context in which we might typically view hand-raising seems particularly out-of-place.

-- KahlilWilliams - 24 Feb 2009