A Student-Centered Approach to Teaching
Some teaching styles are more student-centered than others. Student-centered teaching styles provide a wide variety of active learning opportunities. Instructors should travel back and forth along the spectrum throughout the duration of a course. Through careful planning and reflective practice, instructors can ensure that there is instructional variety and that every lesson provides opportunities for active learning. Explore the graphic below: Which teaching styles do you use most often? Least often? Do your lesson plans include opportunities for student engagement?
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Adapted from Lathan, J. (n.d.).
What does an active learning classroom look like?
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Inside Active Learning Classrooms
Source: Inside Active Learning Classrooms (University of Minnesota)
Active Learning Across Language Domains
- Whether it is a podcast or video, provide students with a Podcast Listening Guide or Video Viewing Guide to promote active listening. Look here for sample Listening and Viewing Guides.
- “Fill in the Blank” Digital Note Taking – guide your students in their note taking skills by providing them with summary lecture notes that require them to fill in the blanks.
- Charting Notes
- Cornell Notes
- Visual Notes – Watch The First Principles of Visual Note-Taking (9:25)
- Article – Read “How Lectures Can Help Build Students’ Listening Skills” by Loleen Berdahl
Questioning:
Developing and using effective questions is an important skill for instructors. Consider which level of Bloom’s Taxonomy you are targeting. Polling systems, such as PollEverywhere.com, Slido, and Mentimeter can be easily added to your slide deck.
For more guidance about how and why questioning skills are important, read the following information developed at Cornell University: Using Effective Questions
For examples of Bloom’s Taxonomy Question Stems look HERE.
Speaking:
Peer-to-peer conversation is one of the easiest ways to cultivate student engagement. When students interact with each other, they exchange diverse perspectives and ideas which deepens their understanding of the subject matter. Students are often more comfortable speaking with a partner or in a small group instead of in front of a room full of people. It should be said that rich and meaningful conversations do not always occur naturally. Most often, instructors must first create a classroom environment conducive to collaboration. The following tips offer guidance in this regard:
- Start by creating a classroom environment where students feel safe to express their ideas. Extablish classroom norms grounded in respect and a celebration of diversity.
- Plan to include opportunities for conversation in every lesson. Create well-crafted questions that stimulate curiosity and require critical thinking (see Questioning Tab).
- Offer a variety of formats for students to exchange information e.g. face-to-face, digital forums, dialogue journals, online meetings, etc.
Look HERE to explore specific classroom talk techniques.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
- Mind Mapping
- Choice Boards: Choice boards allow students to actively engage in their learning by selecting from a menu of learning or assessment activities. It is an excellent tool for individual study or groupwork and provides instant differentiation of instruction. Look here for examples of Choice Boards and digital templates.
Active Learning Resources
Simple techniques require less time and plannning on the part of the instructor but they are also less engaging for students. For a description of each of the techniques listed in the image below, look HERE.
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Source: Prepared by Chris O’Neal and Tershia Pinder-Grover, Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, University of Michigan.
226 Active Learning Techniques
Iowa State University
The Active Learning Spectrum
University of Wyoming
Subject-Specific Resources for Active Learning
CUE
Recommended Reading & Viewing
Active Learning: An Introduction
Felder and Brent (2009) provide instructors with a clear and relatable introduction to active learning. Read their article.
Active Learning & Student Identities
Colleen Flaherty (2023) shares how student success and pedagogical equity can be improved through the use of active learning.
Active Learning Works for Students
“Active learning” means you participate, collaborate with others, and apply concepts to the real world. Watch the video to learn more.
References
Armstrong, P. (n.d.). Bloom’s taxonomy. Center for Teaching. Vanderbilt University. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/
Berdahl, L. (2024, January 16). How lectures can help build students’ listening skills. University Affairs. https://universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/the-skills-agenda/how-lectures-can-help-build-students-listening-skills/
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. (n.d.). 226 Active Learning Techniques. Iowa State University. Retrieved on July 29, 2024 from https://www.celt.iastate.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/CELT226activelearningtechniques.pdf
Flaherty, C. (2023, March 29). A matter of (teaching) style: Active learning and student identity. Inside Higher Education. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2023/04/05/what-know-about-active-learning-and-college-student-identities#
Inside active learning classrooms. (2010, August 18). University of Minnesota. https://youtu.be/lfT_hoiuY8w?feature=shared
Lathan, J. (n.d.). An educator’s guide to teaching styles and learning styles. University of San Diego. Retrieved August 1, 2024 from https://onlinedegrees.sandiego.edu/teaching-to-every-students-unique-learning-style/
O’Neil, C. & Pinder-Grover, T. (n.d.) The active learning continuum. Centre for Research on Learning and Teaching – University of Michigan. https://crlt.umich.edu/sites/default/files/resource_files/Active%20Learning%20Continuum.pdf
Texas A & M University. (n.d.). Cell biology: Make a note of that. Texas A & M School of Veterinary Medicine. https://vetmed.tamu.edu/peer/cell-biology-make-a-note-of-that/
Watson, R. (n.d.). Active learning spectrum. University of Wyoming. Retrieved July 29, 2024 from https://www.uwyo.edu/science-initiative/lamp/_files/als_handout.pdf