Educating Guesses

In both of my science classes this semester, the professors don't often approach new pieces of knowledge head-on. Instead, they ask students to guess at the system based on what said students already know about science.

Why do organic molecules usually bond covalently? We'd learned about organic molecules and about covalent bonding in General Chemistry, but this question from the Organic Chemistry professor threw the class for a loop. With some guiding of the conversation, the class was brought to the conclusion that it's because carbon, a building block of organic molecules, has four valence electrons and can't easily form an ionic bond.

The first Ecology lecture proceeded in the same manner-- how do populations interact with communities? There were lots of correct answers, from symbiosis to competition. It's not that students already know the material and aren't learning; rather, I would say that good questions bring out known information and require thought on how things actually work. Guidance is often necessary. As with every new level of science education I've encountered, the big discovery is that the systems through which the world works aren't nearly as simple as they were presented to be last year.