Professor Diamond divides this first day of the semester into two parts: first she presents the details of the class: e.g., not providing handouts but asking them to take notes; putting a list of vocabulary on the board every day; the grading methods, office hours, and so on. At every point, she explains why she has chosen to do something: for instance, she wants them to take notes because her studies of the brain show that they’ll learn better if they’re writing, or that she writes on the board rather than showing a slide because it gives students a chance to think and to put material in their “association cortex.” In the second half of the class, as she begins to discuss the organization of the body, she continues to explain how and why. Professor Diamond also asks the class a number of questions, including three at the beginning “to determine whether we need this class”—a quick and easy way to find out the general knowledge level of the group (in this case, 750 students). One such question is “How many of you know the structural and functional unit of the lung?” She also hold up a human brain for them to see as she talks about it. And she asks them to introduce themselves to someone in the class they don’t know.