FAQ's on Learning-Centered Teaching Principles

Questions:

1. Is active learning the same as learning-centered teaching?

2. Do I have to give a test to all students before lecturing to assess their pre-existing knowledge of a topic?

3. My students think they already know everything they need to know about my topic. How can I demonstrate to them that they don’t?

Answer to 1:
Active learning is a necessary, but not sufficient aspect of learning-centered teaching. Active learning is a method; learning-centered teaching is a philosophy and set of practices that includes active learning. Learning- centered teaching needs to include:
· the students’ taking responsibility for their own learning (and not just learning it actively with the teacher still being responsible for what learning takes place),
· a balance of power between the student and the faculty,
· a concern for how and why learning occurs, and
· learning-centered assessments, including formative assessments,
Active learning can be part of teacher centered instruction, whereas learning- centered teaching always involves active learning. Many different active learning methods or strategies are possible within learning-centered teaching.

Answer to 2:
No. While testing students on a topic, particularly in the beginning of a course, is a means of assessing pre-existing knowledge, the instructor has a variety of other means of accomplishing the goal. The goal is not for the instructor to know what knowledge already exists, but for the student to recognize and appreciate what knowledge already exists and have the student consider that knowledge during the learning process. Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are good tools for learning about pre-existing knowledge and how classroom activities can help integrate new and old knowledge.

Answer to 3:
The students must demonstrate to themselves that they do not know what they need to about the topic. One way to provide such a demonstration is to give the students a pre-test or other activity that depends on their grasp of the topic. The pre-test or activity will also provide you with information about what your students really do know. You can use this information to target your lessons to those areas where the students’ knowledge gaps are the largest. You may even learn that the students really do know everything they need to on the topic and be able to move on to other material.

In developing the activity, be sure that you do not set the students up to fail. The purpose of the activity is not to show the students that they are stupid, but to show them that they don’t know as much as they think they do and to wet their appetites to learn more. A frustrated and angry student is motivated to learn nothing; a curious student is motivated to learn a lot.

For an example of an exercise that motivates students to learn, see the 2003 Document of Innovations submission ‘Getting Ready to Learn, or, Maybe This Isn’t As Easy As I Thought’ by Leslie Ann Bowman and Mignon Adams.

Last updated on: February 25, 2005