Learner-Centered Teaching
Phyllis Blumberg, Ph.D.
Director of the Teaching and Learning Center
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
1. Most of this material comes from Blumberg, P. (2008) Developing Learner-Centered Teachers: A Practical Guide for Faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Please cite this reference if you use material from this website Blumberg Developing Learner Centered Teaching
This site contains links to presentation or workshops I have done at various places over the past few years. These presentations provide more information about learner-centered teaching and offer some insights into how I conducted the workshops. All workshops have an active learning component either through small group discussions or individual reflection questions. Many of these activities are not given here. Please contact me at p.blumbe@usciences.edu if you would like more information on these presentation or workshops.
Versions of most of these workshops have been offered repeatedly to new faculty at the University of the Sciences, at the Lilly Conference, The Teaching Professor Conference, the POD Network conference and to faculty at various colleges and universities in the USA and around the world and trainers for the United States Army.
• Implementing Learner-centered approaches in your teaching
• The purposes and processes of assessment: How
you assess your students will impact how and what they learn.
2. An overview: Learner-centered teaching is
an approach to teaching that is increasingly being encouraged
in higher education. Learner-centered teachers do not employ a
single teaching method. This approach emphasizes a variety of
different types of methods that shifts the role of the instructors
from givers of information to facilitating student learning.
Traditionally instructors focused on what they did, and not on
what the students are learning. This emphasis on what instructors
do often leads to students who are passive learners and who did
not take responsibility for their own learning. Educators call
this traditional method, “instructor-centered teaching.”
In contrast, “learner-centered teaching” occurs when
instructors focus on student learning.
Interactive
presentation introducing learner-centered teaching lct
intro general plenary Polk
Learner-centered/ learning-centered teaching or student-centered
learning. Educators commonly use three phrases with this
approach. Learner- centered teaching places the emphasis on the
person who is doing the learning (Weimer, 2002). Learning-centered
teaching focuses on the process of learning. Both phrases appeal
to faculty because these phrases identify their critical role
of teaching in the learning process. The phrase student centered
learning is also used, but some instructors do not like it because
it appears to have a consumer focus, seems to encourage students
to be more empowered, and appears to take the teacher out of the
critical role (Blumberg, 2004).
Introduction to Learner-Centered teaching for general audiences
- Intro to learner-centered teaching- teaching so your students will learn more
- A general introduction to learner-centered teaching
- Becoming a learner-centered teacher
- Overcoming myths or misconceptions about learner-centered teaching
3. Why should instructors use learner-centered approaches
in their teaching?
Strong, research evidence exists to support the implementation
of learner-centered approaches instead of instructor-centered
approaches. Knowledge of this research helps instructors defend
their teaching methods to their students and to more traditional
faculty peers.
A task force of the American Psychological Association integrated
this research into fourteen Learner-Centered Psychological Principles
which can be summarized through the following five domains.(Lambert
& McCombs, 2000) (Alexander & Murphy, 2000)
1. The knowledge
base. The conclusive result of decades of research on knowledge
base is that what a person already knows largely determines what
new information he attends to, how he organizes and represents
new information, and how he filters new experiences, and even
what he determines to be important or relevant. (Alexander &
Murphy, 2000)
2. Strategic
processing and executive control. The ability to reflect on and
regulate one’s thoughts and behaviors is an essential aspect
of learning. Successful students are actively involved in their
own learning, monitor their thinking, think about their learning,
and assume responsibility for their own learning (Lambert &
McCombs, 2000)
3. Motivation
and affect. The benefits of learner-centered education include
increased motivation for learning and greater satisfaction with
school; both of these outcomes lead to greater achievement (Johnson,
1991; Maxwell, 1998; Slavin, 1990). Research shows that personal
involvement, intrinsic motivation, personal commitment, confidence
in one’s abilities to succeed, and a perception of control
over learning lead to more learning and higher achievement in
school. (Alexander & Murphy, 2000)
4. Development
and individual differences. Individuals progress through various
common stages of development, influenced by both inherited and
environmental factors. Depending on the context or task, changes
in how people think, believe, or behave are dependent on a combination
of one’s inherited abilities, stages of development, individual
differences, capabilities, experiences, and environmental conditions.
(Alexander & Murphy, 2000)
5. Situation
or context. Theories of learning that highlight the roles of active
engagement and social interaction in the students’ own construction
of knowledge (Bruner, 1966; Kafai & Resnick, 1996; Piaget,
1963; Vygotsky, 1978) strongly support this learner-centered paradigm.
Learning is a social process. Many environmental factors including
how the instructor teaches, and how actively engaged the student
is in the learning process positively or negatively influence
how much and what students learn (Lambert & McCombs, 2000).
In comparison studies between students in lecture and active learning
courses, there are significantly more learning gains in the active
learning courses (Springer, Stanne, & Donovan, 1999).
4. Advantages of Learner-centered teaching over Instructor-centered
teaching
• When the focus becomes student learning, colleges attain
higher rates of student retention and have better prepared graduates
than those students who were more traditionally trained (Matlin,
2002; Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2002).
A Learner-centered teaching model. Weimer (2002)
described five learner-centered practice areas that need to change
to achieve learner-centered teaching: the Function of Content,
the Role of the Instructor, the Responsibility for Learning, the
Processes and Purposes of Assessment, and the Balance of Power.
• The functions of the content in learner-centered teaching
include building a strong knowledge foundation and to develop
learning skills and learner self-awareness.
• The roles of the instructor should focus on student learning.
The roles are facilitative rather than didactic.
• The responsibility for learning shifts from the instructor
to the students. The instructor creates learning environments
that motivate students to accept responsibility for learning.
• The processes and purposes of assessment shift from only
assigning grades to include constructive feedback and to assist
with improvement. Learner-centered teaching uses assessment as
a part of the learning process.
• The balance of power shifts so that the instructor shares
some decisions about the course with the students such that the
instructor and the students collaborate on course policies and
procedures.
While Weimer’s model appeals to faculty, they find that
is less pragmatic in describing ways to implement change (Wright,
2006). Since these five practices are broad abstract categories,
they do not identify specific learner-centered behaviors for many
instructors. To assist faculty, I defined each practice into specific
components and incremental steps between instructor-centered and
learner-centered teaching. Incremental steps allow instructors
to make changes gradually over time. These incremental steps define
a manageable transition process from instructor-centered to learner-centered
teaching.
Interactive presentations and workshops on one or more specific
aspects of leaner-centered teaching
- Students takings responsibility for learning
- How you assess your sudens will impact how and what they learn
- Aligning courses in terms of their objectives, teaching learning methods and assessments
- Organizing content to be taught through organizing schemes
- Implementing Learner-centered approaches in your teaching
4. Rubrics as a learner-centered tool. I organized
these incremental steps into rubrics. Rubrics provide concrete,
incremental steps between levels. (Rubrics are commonly used to
objectively and effectively grade student assignments.) Instead
of assessing student performance, these rubrics are a tool to
evaluate the status of a course on the continuum from instructor-centered
to learner-centered for Weimer’s five learner-centered practices.
Instructors can see incremental steps, given on the rubrics, in
the transformation process toward learner-centered teaching. This
tool explains various ways to change an instructor’s teaching.
Specific courses may be at different points in their transition
to learner-centered teaching as indicated by different levels
on the components of the rubrics.
Discussions with faculty developers, instructional designers,
instructors, and administrators over four years led to the development
of specific components, and the levels on the rubrics. A total
of over 250 faculty developers and instructors offered feedback
and validation. These individuals represent many different disciplines,
and they teach at all levels in higher education. This cycle of
seeking feedback and making changes to the components and the
levels validated the rubrics and gave me confidence that the specific
components and the levels on the rubrics transcend disciplines
and different types of courses.
Rubrics
Reading and understanding the rubrics
• Read the rubrics horizontally across the page
– from left to right, considering one component or one horizontal
line at a time.
• The left-hand column lists the components of the practice.
– As you can see, the six components for The Responsibility
for Learning are:
1. Responsibility for learning
2. Learning to learn skills or skills for future learning (including
time management, self-monitoring, and goal setting)
3. Self-directed, lifelong learning skills (including determining
a personal need to know more, knowing who to ask or where to look
for information, determining when need is met)
4. Students’ self-assessment of their learning
5. Students’ self-assessment of their strengths and weaknesses
6. Information literacy skills (framing questions, accessing and
evaluating sources, evaluating content, using information legally)
http://www.acrl.org
The four columns to the right of the Components column identify
the incremental levels from learner-centered, on the left, through
two levels of transitioning, to instructor-centered, on the right.
• The “Learner-centered approach” column describes
the goals that you should be aiming for when transforming a course.
•The two levels of transitioning, “Higher,”
and “Lower,” show small transformative goals, which
are easier to implement.
Even these small steps often have a large impact on the overall
learner- centeredness of a course. Furthermore, small steps in
one component often have spillover effects onto other aspects
of the course.
•The right-hand column describes an instructor-centered
approach.
• The arrows in the second row of the rubric, above the
two levels of transitioning, indicate the direction toward which
you are striving.
5. Using Rubrics at the Beginning of a Change Process
You can use the rubrics as a self-assessment tool at the beginning
of a change process toward learner-centered teaching. The rubrics
allow you to determine your status on the learner-centered continuum
and they help you identify specific components you might want
to change. The levels on the rubrics suggest incremental changes
you can make on these components to transform your teaching.
Transforming your overall approach to teaching a course may
take several years, whereas moving from one level to the next
on a specific component on a rubric within one of Weiner’s
five practices is a realistic short-term goal. It is recommended
that instructors try to change two to three specific components
incrementally and not try to redo completely the entire course
all at once. While this transformation process to make courses
more learner-centered is not an easy process, the results are
worth the effort.
After instructors use the rubrics to identify their current
instructor- to- learner-centered status, they should pick a
few specific components they want to change to be more learner-centered.
A Planning for transformation form. I found
that providing guidance and organization assists instructors
to begin their change process. I developed a form to help instructors
plan all aspects of changes on specific components. Instructors
should complete a separate planning for transformation form
for each component they wish to change. On this form, instructors
record their current status of their course on that component
they wish to transform, plan what changes they want to make
and the projected learner-centered status once they make these
changes. They address tactical planning considerations. Once
instructors complete this planning for transformation form for
the components they want to transform, they are ready to begin
making changes to their courses.
Planning for Transformation Exercise
6. Using Rubrics to Identify Incremental Steps from
Instructor-Centered to Learner-Centered Teaching
Instructors and administrators can use the rubrics as a program
assessment tool to show the status of curricula or educational
programs or to show the changes that have been made toward becoming
more learner-centered. The same rubric tools can be used before
implementing changes and then afterwards to document the progress
educational programs made over time. Individual instructors
can use the rubrics to document how their teaching evolved as
they incorporated more learner-centered approaches. These rubrics
could be placed in annual evaluation of teaching, teaching dossiers
for promotion or when applying for new positions.
How to use he rubrics to assess courses or a curriculum
• Assessing
teaching on learner-centered rubrics
• Benchmark poster
7.Should or can all course be learner-centered? Being a learner-centered instructor should be your goal, but it is not necessary or practical to be learner-centered on every component. Instructors should not expect their courses ever to be at the highest standard in all categories with every component. For a consideration of how much your course can be learner-centered click the workshop on overcoming myths about learner-centered teaching.
Specific sources:
• Blumberg, P. (2004). Beginning journey toward a culture
of learning centered teaching. Journal of Student Centered Learning,
2(1), 68-80.
• Blumberg, P., & Everett, J. (2005). Achieving a campus
consensus on learning-centered teaching: Process and outcomes.
To Improve the Academy, 23, 191-210.
• Blumberg, P. (2008) Developing Learner-centered teaching:
A practical guide for faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
•
Blumberg, P. Practical Tools to Help
Faculty Use Learner-Centered Teaching Approaches: To Improve
the Academy, 2008, 27: 111-134.
•
Alsardary, S., Blumberg, P. Interactive,
Learner-Centered Methods of Teaching Mathematics. PRIMUS -
Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies,
2009:19, 401-416.
• Blumberg, P. Maximizing Learning Through Course Alignment and Using Different Types of Knowledge. Innovative Higher Education, 2009, 34(2), 93-103,
• Coffman, S. J. (2002). Ten
strategies for getting students to take responsibility for their
learning. College Teaching, 51, 2-4.
• Felder, R., & Brent, R. (1996). Navigating
the bumpy road to student-centered instruction. College Teaching,
44(2), 43-47.
• Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences.
San Francisco: Jossey- Bass, Publishers.
• Oakley, B., Felder, R. M., Brent, R., & Elhajj, I.
(2004). Turning student groups into effective teams. Journal of
Student Centered Learning, 2(1), 9-23.
• Weimer, M. (2002). Learner-centered teaching. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Useful Periodicals :
• College Teaching published by Heldref Publications www.heldref.org
• The Journal of Student-Centered Learning published by
New Forums Press, Inc. P.O.
Box 876 Stillwater, OK 74076
• The Teaching Professor newsletter published by Magna Publications
(www.magnapubs.com)
• New Directions in Teaching and Learning published by Jossey-Bass
www.josseybass.com
• Journal of Excellence in College Teaching published by
the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching of Miami
University of Ohio http://ject.libmuohio.edu
Citations for additional references referred to on this site
Alexander, P., & Murphy, P. (2000). The research base for
APA's leaner-centered psychological principles. In N. Lambert,
& B. McCombs (Eds.), How students learn (pp. 25-60). Washington,
D.D.: American Psychological Association.
Association of College and Research Libraries. (2004). Information
literacy competency standards for Higher education. Retrieved
October 5, 2004 from
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/informationliteracycompetency.htm
Bruner, J. (1966). Toward a theory of instruction. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.
Johnson, W. D. (1991). Student-student interaction: The neglected
variable in education. Educational Research, 10(1), 5-10.
Kafai, Y., & Resnick, LM. (1996). Constructionism in practice.
Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Lambert, N., & McCombs, B. (2000). Introduction: Learner-centered
schools and classrooms as a direction for school reform. In N.
Lambert, & B. McCombs (Eds.), How students learn (pp. 1-15).
Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Matlin, M. W. (2002). Cognitive psychology and college-level pedagogy:
Two siblings that rarely communicate. In D. F. Halpern, &
M. D. Hakel (Eds.), Applying the science of learning to university
teaching and beyond. (pp. 87-103). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Maxwell, W. E. (1998). Supplemental instruction, learning communities
and students studying together. Community College Review (Fall),
retrieved December 20, 2005 from findarticles.com
Piaget, J. (1963). Origins of intelligence in children. NY: Norton.
Slavin, R. E. (1990). Cooperative learning theory, research and
practice. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Sternberg, R. J., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2002). The theory of
successful intelligence as a basis for instruction and assessment
in higher education. In D. F. Halpern, & M. D. Hakel (Eds.),
Applying the science of learning to university teaching and beyond
[The theory of successful intelligence as a basis for instruction
and assessment in higher education] (pp. 45-54). San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher
mental process. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wright, R. (2006). Walking the walk: Review of learner-centered
teaching, by Maryellen Weimer. Life Sciences Education, 5 (311),
312.