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Running head: STUDENT CENTERED AND/OR DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

Student Centered And/Or Differentiated Instruction

Samantha Mattfield

Regent University

In Partial Fulfillment of UED 496 Field Experience E-Portfolio, Spring 2020

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Introduction

“Let my teaching fall on you like rain; let my speech settle like dew. Let my words fall

like rain on tender grass, like gentle showers on young plants. I will proclaim the name of the

Lord; how glorious is our God!” (Deuteronomy 32:2-3, NLT)

These words serve as a reminder as to why I chose to teach and reach out to children that

are not my own. While this verse points out that my teaching will have an effect on my students,

children need a say in how their education goes if they are at all to be successful. Students will

never be reached if they do not get some control over their own learning.

What is Student-Centered Instruction then? According to Lee and Hannafin in “A design

framework for enhancing engagement in student-centered learning: Own it, learn it, and share

it”, they explain, “As the name suggests, students assume increased autonomy and responsibility

for their own learning. Often, students identify individual learning goals to pursue external goals.

Students build on unique background knowledge and experiences and further explore, select, and

use tools and resources.” (Lee & Hannafin, 2016, pg. 708)

Teachers are looking for new ways to instruct students so that they can ensure every

student succeeds. Student-centered instruction might be what many people are looking for and

based off personal observations, students love having a say in what they do and often want

opportunities to express themselves.

Rationale for Artifacts

For my first artifact, I chose a lesson I designed where students were put in groups and

given a small prompt to find a creative way to conserve resources or help the ecosystem. There

were no suggestions on how they might do this and they were to work with their prompts to

solve the problem.

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I thought that this would be a great way for students to use critical thinking skills and

relate the problem to the world around them. Briefly, I went over the concept of conservation

with the students, but after that I left it up to them. There was no big group teaching. We watched

a video then I assigned students a table and partners. Then I briefly explained the assignment to

them and allowed them to take control from there. In the article “Developing an assessment-

centered e-learning system for improving student learning effectiveness”, Wang explained how

teachers have to adapt because of problems effectively teaching every student. The author states,

“In a traditional learning environment, as required by a teaching schedule, teachers often need to

teach more than one student at a time. Therefore, it is not possible to provide effective teaching

feedback based on students' personal needs.” (Wang, 2014, pg. 2) By letting the students do the

assignment completely on their own, they were able to decide how and what they did with the

lesson.

The second artifact I selected was a series of anchor charts I had the class fill out all over

the room. Each one was labeled as a different ecosystem (an aquatic or terrestrial one) and after

reviewing the different types of ecosystems using small pamphlets that each student received, I

had them go around the room and fill out what animals or plants would be in each ecosystem.

They each had a different color pen and many of them used their pamphlets. It was up to them

which ones they wanted to do and what they wanted to write or draw about. I chose this artifact

because it was a great example of student-centered work and it involved each kid and they were

given a chance to express themselves using the content they had learned. Both of the artifacts

were a great example of instruction that was student lead and allowed me to see what they knew

and understood by allowing them to choose how their work was represented. There was no one
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right way to do it and that is why I enjoyed doing it because it allowed each child to share their

knowledge to in a way that made the best sense to them.

Reflection

For the most part, I think the artifacts show a great way to allow students to become

engaged in their learning process and show what they know and what they are interested in

without having to be taught by the teacher all the time. Turner in “Student-Centered Instruction:

Integrating the Learning Sciences to Support Elementary and Middle School Learners” points

out the need for teachers to think long and hard about what methods of teaching will best help

their students succeed. Turner writes, “Teachers need to be able to reach disengaged students in

order to teach them. To do so, teachers need to know how students learn, which helps teachers

understand how they should they teach. That knowledge can make a difference between

instruction that engages students and instruction that maintains students as disengaged learners.”

(Turner, 2011, pg. 29)

After doing this lesson and activity, I know I would love to do more assignments like

this. I did these with two different groups. It went much better with the first then it did with the

second. That taught me the need for differentiation as the second group was more prone to

struggling with assignments. If I ever do a lesson or activity like this again, I will remember to

determine how much instructional input the students need based on their level of independence.

While this lesson may not have succeeded in every way, it was a win for me. I learned so much

and I know how I can do better in the future. I cannot wait to see what else I learn!
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References

Lee, E., & Hannafin, M. J. (2016). A design framework for enhancing engagement in student-

centered learning: Own it, learn it, and share it. Educational Technology, Research and

Development, 64(4), 707-734.

doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.regent.edu:2048/10.1007/s11423-015-9422-5

Turner, S. (2011). Student-Centered Instruction: Integrating the Learning Sciences to Support

Elementary and Middle School Learners. Preventing School Failure, 55(3), 123–131.

https://doi-org.ezproxy.regent.edu/10.1080/10459880903472884

Wang, T. (2014). Developing an assessment-centered e-learning system for improving student

learning effectiveness. Computers & Education, 73, 189-203.

doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2013.12.002