Learner-centered Instruction

In today's session, we discussed strategies for implementing learner-centered teaching. After Susan Madsen's excellent presentation, we generated a list of terms related to learner-centered instruction, as follows:

group work
power
application
reflection
decision-making
team work
assessment
individualized
responsibility
engagement
research
ownership
sharing
feedback
resistance
empowerment
planning
execution
trust
coaching
activity
floundering
discovery
modeling

We then grouped the terms that were alike in some way and gave those groupings titles. My groups follow:

Techniques: group work, application, reflection, decision-making, team work, research, sharing, coaching, activity, discovery, modeling

Students roles: individualized, power, responsibility, engagement, ownership, empowerment, trust

Instructor roles: individualized, feedback, assessment, planning, execution, trust, coaching

Difficulties: resistance, floundering

Next, we re-grouped the terms to determine if there were other relationships we hadn't explored yet. My examples is:

Interactions: group work, team work, sharing, coaching, modeling, feedback, trust

Things that "stretch" learning: application, reflection, decision-making, research, activity, discovery

Changes: power, responsibility, engagement, ownership

What's hard: individualized, planning, execution, resistance, floundering

Next, we came up with summarizing principles or concepts, such as,

Both interpersonal and mechanical components of teaching must be considered, with particular emphasis on personal ownership.

The process of learner-centered teaching is very interactive, but the outcome is interactive.

We then noted how our categories and these summarizing phrases relate to Weimer's Principles of Learner-centered Instruction (see pg. 82 in her book).

To make these principles more concrete, we reviewed some more learner-centered models of instruction, including Concept Development, Concept Attainment, Cooperative Learning, Cause-and-Effect, and Problem-centered Inquiry (from Instruction: A Models Approach).

Finally, we completed a rubric on our current teaching practices and made goals for transformation (homework).