Hi Tami:
Good thought. I think when we're student centered we are shifting away from focusing on "our teaching" to the students "learning". Anything that moves in that direction helps, such as adjusting our approach, tweaking curriculum, or just listening to students to understand where they are coming from, then trying our best to assist their understanding.
Regards, Barry
Students need to feel valued. They will be more focused and motivated if they know their instructor is centered on their needs and skilled in the specific content.
Hi Mike:
Great. I think it comes down to "Teaching" vs "Learning". W could be teaching perfectly but if students aren't learning, what have we accomplished - have we even really taught?
So, by understanding how we can best provide and information that each student can relate to, "customized" if you will, we are practicing student centered. In fact, we don't necessarily have to too much differently. If we regularly are engaging students in creative activities, and they're participating and responsding, that's student centered.
I think a main idea is to get away from a frame of mind that's "curriculum-instution" based, to one that's "student-learning-engaging" based, we're appraching more of the tenets embraced by student centered learning.
Regards, Barry
Being a student-centered instructor engages students in the learning process. When an instructor focuses his/her attention completely on the lecture, some students naturally "tune out."
Asking the students questions, pulling up a chair nest to them and listening to their responses not only allows me to gauge what students are/are not understanding, but it requires students to be actively engaged in the classroom.
Being student-centered also requires the instructor to be creative and flexible in the delivery of content. Its amazing how many different analogies i've had to use to explain the same material.
Hi Gary:
True. SME's can teach or describe or illustrate or demonstrate a topic a hundred different ways. The challenge is to try to do it succesfully with this group of students. Tailoring your lessons, or tweaking things a bit to best match their abilities ought to be our goal in faciliting the best learning environment.
Regards, Barry
As the 'SME' it is easy to forget that not everyone knows what you know. By concentrating on the student, you put yourself in the position of having to hear(learn) what you are trying to pass on to the student. This focuses your presentation on what the student needs to know and makes you a better teacher in the bargain.
Hi Rhonda:
A simple way I sometimes explain my point of view is "Learning" vs "Teaching". We attempt to achieve both for our students. But we may teach great and have an awesome lesson, but if learning has not occurred, we have missed the mark.
If, however, the student learns what they need and we facilitated that, maybe even in a nontraditional manner, then I think we've been successful.
Regards, Barry
Hi Nancy:
I agree - if students feel comfortable in their class, and the the teacher is patient, approacable, and tolerent of opposing viewpoints, there will questions galore. And the benefit to the student and his/her classmates will be a more robust and meaningful learning experience.
Regards, Barry
Great thoughts.
When I think about student centered I think about shifting the focus from a forum based on my curriculum, my plan, my way, to a focus that asks "what would work best for these students, how can I best teach them the material they need, and what creative thing(s) can I do that may be diiferent from previous classes?".
I know we try to do this as much as possible, and usually there is a set curriculum that frames our lessons. More philosopically, we could ask "is it about our plan and teaching it great? Or is is it about the student learning the material, even if we deviate or modify the established curriculum.
There may be institutional limits to how much adjusting can be done - I understand. I just think the we think in term of student learning as much or more than "great teaching", the student will benefit. Teaching vs. learning.
Regards, Barry
Being a student-centered instructor is, in my opinion, the key to successful teaching; learning can only take place when students know they are being heard and recognized. Students will then risk asking the tougher questions, and even experiment a bit, which allows for teaching and learning sucess in the classroom.
Being a student-centered instructor is vital in any classroom and especially in a career college. Reaching the individual learner at his/her own level of understanding and learning style is the most effective way of helping that student attain the level of achievement necessary for success in your class and in future careers. Students in a class that is not student-centered often tune out because the instruction isn't geared toward their needs. They may become frustrated or simply bored when they realize that their needs are secondary to the teacher's motives. On the other hand, a teacher who is in tune to the students themselves and their capabilities and personalities is usually much better received by the students, who understand that the teacher is on their side and is genuinely interested in helping them achieve success.
As a student-centered instructor,I create my weekly course outline so that it shows what we will be doing in class each time we meet. This preparation not only helps the student be aware of what he or she must do each week to prepare for class, it gives me, the instructor, a checklist of what handouts I will need before class meets; it also helps me because I can check off each item as I complete it during class. I can refer to it before the next class session meets, and it gives me a sense of satisfaction to know that I accomplished what I set out to do for the week. If I did not complete a particular item, I know that I will need to include it in the next class session.
Additionally, I use this weekly course schedule to post in Blackboard what we will do and what we have accomplished. When a student emails me and asks what we did in class, I refer him or her to the class schedule and also to the information in Blackboard, which contains any changes I may have made during class as to things that I didn't accomplish or had time to add into class. My students know that they can trust the information to be accurate.
Finally, as a student-centered instructor, I schedule time as a writing tutor (I teach Foundations of Writing and Composition classes.)on Wednesday afternoons so that my students as well as any other students can come to me for writing help. My previous students know that they can find me in the library on Wednesday afternoons if they are having problems with papers they may be writing in their current classes.
:)
Colleen
Hi Alphia:
Great! Student centered simply puts the focus on how best to teach students waht they need to learn. Activities like you stated are great examples of doing somethinhg different you may have never done before, but it gets the lesson material delievered to the student. How much better that is compared to a fixed prepared lecture.
Regards, Barry
I encourage students to generate as many ideas as possible on a particular subject, then i select one of the ideas to iiustrate the point i need to get across. By focusing my individual attention on the needs of each student i can improve the success rate of the students and improve their outcome. For example, when teaching the concept of reading x-rays, its hard to grasp the identification of the sinuses .What i would do is sit with the student and use a view box and trace the outline of the sinus so that the student can better identify the sinuses on the film. Usually after this the student grasp the concept.
Hi Melanie:
You've present some great traits. One could ask, "is it all about curriculum, assignments, points and grades?" or, "are we interested in student learning, knowledge, skills, and applied study that lead to meaningful life and work?"
Student centered then shifts the focus from the teacher or institutional needs, to how can we best teach our students. Of course, we will have to rely on some of the organized methods alluded to above, but we want to be willing to adapt, adjust, modify, and/or create a pathway that leads to positive outcome, as much as a following a fixed process.
Regards, Barry
By being a student-centered instructor will enable to students to learn the material more effectively. Students will see your passion to help them learn the material and will take a more active role in learning. We could not be instructors without students in the seats and we owe them organized, thought-out, informative, engaging lesson plans. We should not look at teaching purely for personal gain. Personal gain/rewards should come from seeing students succeed in their coursework and develop life skills they can use in their field of interest.
Hi David:
I think many teachers assume that using an approved curriculum along with textbooks and related resources they will be meeting the needs of the student. Actually, this would be better described as "curriculum-based", or even "institutional-based" learning system because the apparent focus is on meeting these needs, rather than the students.
Of course we need solid curriculum with course objectives, student learning outcomes, assessments, and appropriate resources to teach our classes. Student-centered shifts the focus to what the student needs and how we can best provide that. Being creative with how objectives are covered is a good start, if that helps the students learn. A simple way of looking at it is "Am I teaching well", vs "Is the student learning?" Of course, the latter is what we want to achieve.
Regards, Barry
During class it's important to focus on the students so that their needs are being met. The students insure that your priorities are changing constantly.
If you make these problems about you, then you are not learning how to be proactive as a teacher who meets the needs of their students.
After class you are able to reflect on the issues of the day and assess wheather or not you could have done a better job. You can also share your experiences with colleagues or managers so they can help you improve.
Meeting the students' needs and making them your priority is being student-centered. Focusing on this goal will help you to reflect on how to improve. Figuring out these methods of improvement will help with success in teaching.
Hi Patricia:
I agree that whenever student are engaged or able to participate in their own learning, they will retain more, and the knowledge gained will be more memorable. Customizing your classes may not be possible to the fullest, but opportunities such as you suggest (discussion, group study, class presentations Q and A, etc. are good ways to develop this way of teaching.
Regards, Barry
I have been working on this aspect of my teaching for some time. I find that students learn better when they experience the information themselves.
The best way to do that is to have them active either discussing a topic or working on something they need to solve.
I do enjoy older students because they bring some experience to the classroom as well!
