centrality of virtue to human life and the Socratic method as the proper means of pursuing this topic.
Perhaps more importantly, theLachesis honest with regard to the obstacles lying in wait for those
who pursue higher questions and ideas. While the dialog ends without resolving the questions of
what constitutes courage or the question of the relationship between courage and the whole of
virtue, the action of the dialog provides both its interlocutors and its reader with explanations for
why this is the case (seeLaches, 199e, 190c–d). Whereas politics serves as an obstacle for both
Laches and Nicias, the improper education Nicias receives at the feet of the sophists identifies
another, perhaps more difficult, obstacle to overcome. For the reader, it is recognition of these
limitations that opens up the possibility of pursuing the higher questions of the human condition.
This understanding of the nature and purpose of education relies on the face-to-face interaction
between interlocutors engaged in common intellectual activity. Modern technology, especially the
use of DBs, facilitates pursuit of these higher questions and issues in the classroom. The DBs allow
the moderator to address questions, clarify things, and identify the question or topic of conversation
for a particular reading ahead of time. Whereas the DBs focus on questions provided by the
instructor, the face-to-face interaction begins where Socratic inquiry begins: the opinions of the
interlocutors. With extra time at our disposal, class time can focus on putting the Socratic method
into practice. Becoming aware of the obstacles found along this pathway, steps are taken toward a
life of inquiry devoted to seeking the truth.
Notes
1 The Center for Democratic Governance and Leadership and the Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL) at
Bridgewater State University provided generous financial support for this project. The views expressed
here are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of the Center for Democratic Governance
and Leadership or the OTL.
2 Leo Strauss,Liberalism Ancient and Modern(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968), ix.
3 Ibid., 10.
4 Robert E. Clausen and William E. Bowman,“Toward a Student-Centered Learning Focus Inventory for
Junior High and Middle School Teachers,”Journal of Educational Research68/1 (1974): 9–11.
5 Stephanie Bell,“Project-Based Learning for the 21st Century: Skills for the Future,”The Clearing House
83/2 (2010): 40.
6 SeeRichard M.Felder and Rebecca Brent,“Navigating the Bumpy Roadto Student-Centered Instruction,”
College Teaching44/2 (1996): 43–7; Kimberly Overby,“Student-Centered Learning,”ESSAI9/1 (2011):
109 – 12; and Allison Zmuda,“Leap of Faith: Take the Plunge Into a 21st Century Conception of Learning,”
School Library Monthly26/3 (2009): 16–18.
7 See Susan M. Land, Kevin Olliver, and Michael J. Hannifan,“Student-Centered Learning Environments:
Foundations, Assumptions, and Design,”inTheoretical Foundations of Learning Environments, David
H. Jonassen and Susan M. Land, eds. (New York: Routledge, 2012), 8–13.
8 According to analyses of the traditional classroom, learners are often denied opportunities to develop the
decision-making, self-monitoring, and attention-checking skills deemed necessary for optimizing the
learning experience. Consequently, learners become increasingly compliant in their learning, viewing
the task as one of matching their meanings to those expected by external agents. On the traditional
classroom see R. Keith Sawyer,“Introduction: The New Science of Learning,”inThe Cambridge
Handbook to the Learning Sciences, R.K. Sawyer, ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2006), 1–18. For the consequences see Mary McCaslin and Thomas Good,“Compliant Cognition:
The Misalliance of Management and Instructional Goals in Current School Reform,”Educational
Researcher21/3 (1992): 4–17.
9 Chris Quintanaet al.“A Scaffolding Design Framework for Software to Support Science Inquiry,”Journal
of Learning Sciences13/3 (2004): 337–86.
10 See Quintanaet al.“Scaffolding Design,” 337 – 86; John S. Brown, Allan Collins, and Paul Duguid,
“Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning,”Educational Researcher18/ 1 (1989): 32–41; and
Sasha A. Barab and Thomas Duffy,“From Practice Fields to Communities of Practice,”inTheoretical
Foundations of Learning Environments, David Jonassen and Susan Land, eds. (Mahwah: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, 2003), 29–66.
108 Jordon B. Barkalow