Student Centered Learning vs Teacher Centered Learning

"I cannot teach anybody anything; I can only make them think" – Socrates

Student-centered learning, also known as learner-centered education, broadly encompasses methods of teaching that shift the focus of instruction from the teacher to the student. In original usage, student-centered learning aims to develop learner autonomy and independence by putting responsibility for the learning in the hands of students. Student-centered instruction focuses on skills and practices that enable lifelong learning and independent problem-solving. Student-centered learning theory and practice are based on the constructivist learning theory that emphasizes the learner's critical role in constructing meaning from new information and prior experience.

Student-centered learning puts students' interests first, acknowledging student voice as central to the learning experience. Student-centered learning emphasizes each student's interests, abilities, and learning styles, placing the teacher as a facilitator of learning for individuals rather than for the class as a whole.

In a student-centered classroom, students choose what they will learn, how they will learn, and how they will assess their own learning. This is in contrast to traditional education, also dubbed "teacher-centered learning", which situates the teacher as the primarily "active" role while students take a more "passive", receptive role. In a teacher-centered classroom, teachers choose what the students will learn, how the students will learn, and how the students will be assessed on their learning. In contrast, student-centered learning requires students to be active, responsible participants in their own learning and with their own pace of learning.

Student-centered teaching has been shaped and inspired by Humanistic educational philosophy, constructivism, pragmatism, and contemporary neurological science.

Humanism underlines the value of meeting each student’s individual needs in order that each experience intellectual development, self-actualization, and personal growth (Aloni, 2002)

Constructivism is the theory that all knowledge, including declarative, procedural, and conditional, is the product of the individual’s interaction with ideas, the social environment and institutional environments in which ideas are interpreted, applied, and valued. The teacher’s goal in the learning process is to guide students into making new interpretations of the learning material, thereby 'experiencing' content, reaffirming Rogers' notion that "significant learning is acquired through doing". Through peer-to-peer interaction, collaborative thinking can lead to an abundance of knowledge. In placing a teacher closer to a peer level, knowledge and learning is enhanced, benefitting the student and classroom overall. According to Lev Vygotsky's theory of the zone of proximal development (ZPD), students typically learn vicariously through one another. Scaffolding is important when fostering independent thinking skills. Vygotsky proclaims, "Learning which is oriented toward developmental levels that have already been reached is ineffective from the viewpoint of the child's overall development. It does not aim for a new stage of the developmental process but rather lags behind this process ( Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), Jean Piaget (1896-1980), Maria Montessori ).

Pragmatism asserted that teaching should be immediately relevant to students and facilitate student’s exploration of the problems through participating in civic life (John Dewey (1859–1952).

All-in-all, constructivist theories of learning are characterised by innovative methods of teaching which aim to promote learning in communication with teachers and other learners and which take students seriously as active participants in their own learning and foster transferable skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and reflective thinking

The revised European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance, due to be approved by the ministers of European higher education in May 2015, include the following passage on student-centered learning: "Institutions should ensure that programmes are delivered in a way that encourages students to take an active role in creating the learning process and [should ensure] that the assessment of students reflects this approach."

3. Five Key Changes to Practice (By Maryellen Weimer):

In order for teaching to more effectively promote learning, instructional practice needs to change in five areas.

The Balance of Power

Currently: Most instructional practice still features teacher action. In most courses, teachers make most, if not all, decisions pertaining to syllabus, textbooks, assignments and course policies

The Change: Instructional action should focus on students learning. Students could be given more power to make decisions for their own learning and which would not only have a positive impact on students' educational experiences but would also motivate them to work harder for the course.

Examples: Students enjoy working on their projects more when they are given the autonomy to choose the nature and scope of their projects. This is a simple way a teacher can 'share power' with learners

2. The Role of the Teacher
Currently: The teacher is the only source of information, an organizer and a controller.

The Change: the teacher's role is similar to that of a guide, facilitator or coach. On the surface, the learner-centered approach may seem to simplify the roles and responsibilities of teachers, but it actually requires teachers to put in more effort and work. As the approach focuses on learners and what they are doing, teachers have to put more time and effort in designing instructional activities and assignments which are to become the main vehicles through which learning occurs. In addition to tasks associated with traditional modes of teaching such as organising content, generating examples and crafting questions, teachers have to create and maintain classroom conditions conducive to learning-centered activities and methods.

3. The Function of Content

Currently: Faculty cover content with the goal of building strong knowledge foundations. The purpose of teaching is to provide the students with materials for them to learn the content. As a result, they know much, but don’t know how to apply the knowledge. They know words and structures, but can’t use them for communication. As teachers, we often wonder how much content is enough or which chapters of the textbook to cover. Weimer (2002) challenges her readers to consider a new content-learning relationship. Firstly, she argues that content, though important, is only a vehicle to help students develop communication or study skills. Secondly, content is used to promote self-awareness of learning (i.e. content as a means for students to understand how they learn and discover their strengths and weaknesses). Finally, content also provides the context for students to learn and apply the information.

The Change: As university teachers, our teaching goals should not be confined to merely helping students master the subject; we should aim to develop students' communication and critical thinking skills as well as the ability to apply their knowledge to solve problems.

Example: approaches that do not separate learning strategies from content – end of class summaries, exam review sessions