Jeff Borden strongly advocated for active learning at this year’s Educa. As evidence, he described a survey of 16 000 students who were asked about their favorite courses. The respondents almost unanimously cited those courses that required critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving. Borden also surprised the audience by saying that critical thinking is more likely with a cafeteria-like noise level around 65 to 80 decibels, while a lecture hall with 35 decibels is not as good for brain activation. Discussion is an excellent learning method; that’s why study circles were considered as cheating in university some years ago, but now they are obligatory. If you need an environment that does not in any way support learning, Borden said, choose a classroom. Borden’s views were supported convincingly by MIT’s research which amused the Educa audience: it shows that student attention is lower while listening to lectures than while sleeping.