Posts Tagged ‘student-centered approach’
December 5 - How Technology Can Improve Learner-Centered Teaching
By: Mary Bart in Instructional Design
For faculty looking to create a more learner-centered environment there are always a few bumps in the road. First they need to get used to no longer being the “sage on the stage” and then there’s the adjustment period for students who aren’t used to being active participants in their learning. In many ways, technology
July 21 - 7 Learner-Centered Principles to Improve Your Teaching
By: Mary Bart in Online Seminars
Most of us are being asked to do more—teach more, assess more, report more, publish more. This seminar will help you use your limited time wisely, because it’s done all the heavy lifting. You’ll not only gain new insights into how students learn but also learn about practical and effective teaching strategies that reflect the latest research.
July 15 - A Learner-Centered Approach Affects Student Motivation
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching and Learning
Most of the time research evidence grows by bits and pieces—not all at once, and the evidence documenting the effectiveness of learner-centered approaches is no exception. It continues to accumulate, as illustrated by this study. It occurred in a third-year pharmacotherapy course in a doctor of pharmacy program. The students were randomly assigned to five- and six-member groups, with each group being assigned a patient case with multiple drug-related problems.
April 8 - Standards and Pedagogies of Student Engagement
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching Professor Blog
A colleague raised a very interesting point in response to the February 17 post on evidence-based teaching. That entry explored some of the reasons instructional practice is not better informed by research findings.
August 23 - The Benefits of Making the Shift to Student-Centered Teaching
By: Mary Bart in Effective Teaching Strategies
Would you let your students decide when you hold office hours?
How about whether projects are worth more points than exams, or vice versa?
Would you let your students decide some of the topics that will be covered in the course?
July 9 - Learning from Experience
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Learning Styles
In an editorial published in the Journal of Geoscience Education, a geography faculty member offers a testimonial in favor of learner-centered teaching. “Through my 15 years of teaching Earth System Science, I have explored various ways of teaching it and have become convinced that the Learner-Centered Environment, that builds upon constructivist theory principles and fosters teaching practices that recognize the active roles students must play in their learning, is particularly suitable for Earth system science education.” (p. 208)
June 8 - Practicing Learner-Centered Teaching in Large Classes
By: Mary Bart in Online Seminars
Creating a learner-centered classroom involves more than just engaging students; it is a philosophical shift in how the instructor approaches the class. This 75-minute audio online seminar is a step-by-step guide to integrating learner-centered strategies into existing courses.
November 12 - Problem-Based Learning: Benefits and Risks
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Effective Teaching Strategies
Problem-based learning, the instructional approach in which carefully constructed, open-ended problems are used by groups of students to work through content to a solution, has gained a foothold in many quarters of higher education.
July 2 - Reflective Teaching Strategies to Promote Student Autonomy
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Philosophy of Teaching
The two nurse educators who authored the article referenced below begin with a quote from the first page of Stephen Brookfield’s book Becoming a Critical Reflective Teacher. “One of the hardest things teachers have to learn is that the sincerity of their intentions does not guarantee the purity of their practice.”
September 14 - A Useful Strategy for Assessing Class Participation
By: Denise D. Knight in Educational Assessment
One of the changes we have seen in academia in the last 30 years or so is the shift from lecture-based classes to courses that encourage a student-centered approach. Few instructors would quibble with the notion that promoting active participation helps students to think critically and to argue more effectively. However, even the most savvy instructors are still confounded about how to best evaluate participation, particularly when it is graded along with more traditional assessment measures, such as essays, exams, and oral presentations…
