Learner-Centered Teaching
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. This site contains links to presentation or workshops I have done at various places over the past few years. 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. Traditionally instructors focused on what they did, and not on what the students are learning. 3. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 4. Rubrics 1. 5. 6.
Biography of Maria Montessori | American Montessori Society
Maria Montessori was an Italian physician, educator, and innovator, acclaimed for her educational method that builds on the way children naturally learn. She opened the first Montessori school—the Casa dei Bambini, or Children’s House—in Rome on January 6, 1907. Subsequently, she traveled the world and wrote extensively about her approach to education, attracting many devotees. There are now more than 22,000 Montessori schools in at least 110 countries worldwide. Maria Montessori was born on August 31, 1870, in the provincial town of Chiaravalle, Italy. Beginning in her early childhood years, Maria grew up in Rome, a paradise of libraries, museums, and fine schools. Breaking Barriers Maria was a sterling student, confident, ambitious, and unwilling to be limited by traditional expectations for women. In time, however, she changed her mind, deciding to become a doctor instead. When she graduated from medical school in 1896, she was among Italy’s first female physicians. Birth of a Movement
Student-Centered Teaching
In the traditional approach to college teaching, most class time is spent with the professor lecturing and the students watching and listening. The students work individually on assignments, and cooperation is discouraged. Learner-centered teaching methods shift the focus of activity from the teacher to the learners. These methods include active learning, in which students solve problems, answer questions, formulate questions of their own, discuss, explain, debate, or brainstorm during class; cooperative learning, in which students work in teams on problems and projects under conditions that assure both positive interdependence and individual accountability; and inductive teaching and learning, in which students are first presented with challenges (questions or problems) and learn the course material in the context of addressing the challenges. Videos and Publications on Active Learning Publications on Cooperative Learning General principles and strategies D.B. R.M. R.M. Dr. Return to Dr.
Theories of Cognitive Development: Lev Vygotsky. | Psycho Hawks
Theories of Cognitive Development: Lev Vygotsky. November 3, 2010 at 3:00 pm For my previous post on Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, click here. As with my previous post, I will explain a little about Vygotsky and his life before we look at his theory. Lev Vygotsky Born in Orsha, a part of the Russian Empire (now known as Belarus) on 17th November 1896, Vygotsky was a pioneer of psychology; he contributed much important research to the field. Vygotsky rarely conducted research; he was more focused on constructing the best possible theory on the transfer of knowledge. Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development. As stated above, Vygotsky believed children’s thinking is affected by their knowledge of the social community (which is learnt from either technical or psychological cultural tools). He described something known as the zone of proximal development (ZPD), which is a key feature of his theory. Level 1 – the ‘present level of development’. Diagram to demonstrate the ZPD.
Learner Autonomy: A Guide to Developing Learner Responsibility - Agota Scharle, Anita Szabo
MIT World | Distributed Intelligence
Student-Centered Learning: The First Steps Are the Hardest Ones
Educator Melba Smithwick never had too much difficulty trying out new ideas. But when a new principal encouraged a small group of teachers to give students more say in their learning, Smithwick hesitated. Included: Smithwick shares her first, tentative steps. I have always been a risk-taker. That year, in the school where I taught math, five teachers were assigned to a take a yearlong course in student-centered learning, attending one session each month. During the first months of the course, I began to think more deeply about my instructional practices and the projects I assigned my students. I always thought my classroom was student-centered. After more reading, more informal discussions with my principal, and more training, however, I accidentally stumbled upon a true student-centered learning situation in my very own classroom. Sam loved to stir up the class and then sit back and watch us go at it. As the class wound to an end that day, several students asked me if Sam was correct.
5 Tools to Help Students Learn How to Learn
Helping students learn how to learn: That’s what most educators strive for, and that’s the goal of inquiry learning. That skill transfers to other academic subject areas and even to the workplace where employers have consistently said that they want creative, innovative and adaptive thinkers. Inquiry learning is an integrated approach that includes kinds of learning: content, literacy, information literacy, learning how to learn, and social or collaborative skills. “We want students thinking about their thinking,” said Leslie Maniotes a teacher effectiveness coach in the Denver Public Schools and one of the authors of Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century. “When they are able to see where they came from and where they got to it is very powerful for them.” A good example is a long term research project. During the process, students will go through different stages of emotions. [RELATED READING: Creating Classrooms We Need: 8 Ways Into Inquiry Learning]
5 Excellent Strategies to Teach Students how to Learn
" Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day but teach him to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime " this quip summarizes the essence of education and learning. Teach students how to learn and they will learn for the rest of their lives.The focus should be on the process not the end product, but unfortunately today's educational system with its emphasis on high stake tests and standardized assessment puts the cart in front of the horse and turn students into empty pails that require filling up each time they are to pass a test. To redress the situation and empower our students with the learning and social skills they need to thrive in tomorrow's job market, inquiry based learning is the answer. Just like the 6 other important learning strategies I talked about in an earlier post here in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning, inquiry-based learning should have the lion's share in your teaching practice. 1. An Inquiry Community is the class itself. 2. 3. 4. 5.
