Learner Centered Teaching

Teaching in the absence of

learning is just talking.
Thomas Angelo
We all learn in different ways

 Add 17 + 56 in your head

We don’t all Learn Alike
 A--In columns like on paper

 B—Added 10 to 56 and 7 to 66

 C—Added 20 to 56 and subtracted 3

from 76

 D—Rounded 56 to 60 added 17 and

subtracted 4
Seven Keys to Facilitating Students’
Learning in College

1.Recognizing that No employer has as their

priorities for their new college hires-

WANTED good note takers and people who

do great on multiple choice tests!
Seven Keys to Facilitating Students’
Learning in College

2.Learning almost
always happens
outside the
classroom.

.../www.mssa.sailorsite.net/ images/student6.jpg
Seven Keys to Facilitating Students’
Learning in College
 3. Giving students some choices and control
over their learning will result in them actively
engaging in their own learning.
Seven Keys to Facilitating Students’
Learning in College

3A.Students control almost nothing about

the teaching and learning processes but
they are the ones doing the learning.

This is a significant obstacle to their

learning.
( Maryellen Weimer, Learner-Centered Teaching, 2002)
Seven Keys to Facilitating Students’
Learning in College
 4. The more often you explain WHY—
 Why you want them to learn certain material
 Why use a certain learning strategy
 Why use a certain problem solving approach
 Why I want you to work in groups
 Why I want you to be more independent
 Why this learning will prepare you for future learning

 The more students will see the RELEVANCE of their

education—which leads to greater engagement
Seven Keys to Facilitating Students’
Learning in College

5. Assessments that
are not cumulative
in design tell us little
about what students
have learned.
( Robert Bjork, UCLA, Memories and
Metamemories, 1998)

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Seven Keys to Facilitating Students’
Learning in College
6.Students have 12
or more years of
neural networks
for how “school”
and “learning” are
supposed to be.

Changing these
beliefs will not
happen over night. .
www.stevespanglerscience.com/. ../bg/WMCH-100
Seven Keys to Facilitating Students’
Learning in College

7. We teach much
more than just the
cognitive brain — www.lccs.edu/.../ teens-working%20together.jpg

learning is a
social/emotional
process as well.
(John Bransford, How People Learn,
2000)

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What do we mean when we say
someone has learned?
 Learning is a
change in the
neuro-patterns
of the brain
(Ratey, 2002)

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Definition of Learning
Robert Bjork, UCLA, Memory and Metamemory
 The ability to use information after
significant periods of disuse

 And the ability to use the information to

solve problems that arise in a context
different ( if only slightly) from the context
in which the information was originally
used
The Brain and Learning
 The key message
about the brain is this:
“The neurons that fire
together wire
together” (Hebb, 1949,
Ratey 2002)
The Brain and Learning
 Meaning that the more we
repeat the same actions
and thoughts
 the more we encourage
the formation of certain
connections
 the more fixed the neural
circuits in the brain for
that activity become.

 (Ratey, 2002 pg 31)

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The Brain and Learning
 “Use it or lose it” Is
the corollary:

 if you don’t exercise

brain circuits, the
connections will not
be adaptive and will
slowly weaken and
could be lost. (Ratey
2002, pg.31)
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Teaching to the Brain
 “The brain is an analog processor,
meaning, essentially, that it works by
analogy and metaphor.

 It relates whole concepts to one

another and looks for similarities,
differences, or relationships between
them.” (Ratey, 2002, pg.5)
The Brain and Learning
 The brain is nothing like a computer-it is
not about bits of data

 Instead, the brain is largely composed of

maps, arrays of neurons that apparently
represent entire objects of perception or
cognition, or at least sensory or cognitive
qualities of those objects such as color,
texture, credibility, or speed.( Ratey, 2002, pg.
5)
Learner-Centered Teaching
Being a learner-centered teacher means focusing attention squarely
on the learning process:

 What the student is learning

 How the student is learning

 The conditions under which the student is learning

 Whether the student is retaining and applying the learning

 How current learning positions the student for future

learning.

( Maryellen Weimer, 2002)

Learner-Centered Teaching
 In learner-centered instruction the action focuses
on what the students are doing not what the
teacher is doing.

 Teachers cannot do it for students.

 They must set the stage and help out during

rehearsals, but it is up to the students to perform

 When they do learn it is the students not the

teachers that should receive the accolades
( Maryellen Weimer, 2002)
Learner-Centered Teaching

Major Elements
 1. Engaging students in first hand learning.

 Empowers students by providing them with opportunities to

figure things out for themselves

 Students learn to believe in the analytical abilities of their own

minds

 Students connect with the world around them.

It feeds a learner’s innate curiosity and the desire to investigate
real phenomena.
Learner-Centered Teaching
Major Elements
 1. Engaging students in first hand learning.

 It requires close engagement with the immediate environment.

It generates questions that focus subsequent investigations.

 It invites learners to gather and record their observations, to

analyze and interpret them, and to arrive at provisional answers.
Learner-Centered Teaching
 Finally, engaging students in first hand
learning
 involves communication of the results of this
investigative process.
 sharing evidence and discussing findings with
others
 This underscores that learning is a social
process. http://www.firsthandlearning.org/about.html
Learner-Centered Teaching
Major Elements
2. Choice and Control
Sharing power creates community

Having choices leads to a sense of control

which is at the heart of being human ( James Zull,
The Art of Changing the Brain)

Sharing control leads to greater trust

between teacher and student
Learner-Centered Teaching
Major Element
3. Building Life Long Learning Skills and
Attitudes
 Learning how to learn
 Learning how to locate needed information
 Learning how to collaborate with others
 Learning how solve problems
 Learning how to transfer knowledge
Learner-Centered Teaching
Major Elements
 4.Ownership of Learning

 The feeling that “I did it”

 Builds confidence and self esteem
 Learn to take risks
 Builds Metacognition— “I know how I did it”
Learner-Centered Teaching
Major Elements
 5. Promotes Relevance
 I understand why I need to learn
 I understand how this is preparing me for the
future
 I understand why I need to be able to learn on
my own