Chapter 8 and 9: Teacher- Centered and Learner-Centered Instruction EDG 4410 Ergle

Teacher Centered Instruction Includes teaching strategies in which the teacher’s role it to present the knowledge to be learned and to direct, in a rather explicit manner, the learning process of the students (Shuell, 1996).

Learner Centered Instruction Includes teaching strategies where the student, with the teacher’s guidance, takes more responsibility for constructing his or her own knowledge and understanding (McCombs and Miller, 2007).

Direct Instruction Teaches essential knowledge such as math and reading. Is especially useful when skills can be broken down into specific steps for low achievers and exceptional students. Ranges from highly structured approaches to more flexible approaches. Content students would have difficulty obtaining on their own.

Direct Instruction Four phases: – Introduction and review – Develop Understanding Use of examples and non-examples – Guided Practice – Independent practice

Backward Design Planning with the standards and learning objectives first Then addresses specific strategies of teaching and lesson planning to achieve the goals Ensures alignment of planning, implementation and assessments.

Guided Discovery Present examples and guide students to find concept/pattern Lead students to learning objective/concept and closure Teacher provides structure and feedback to ensure accuracy and completeness.

Guided Discovery Structure Present examples Describe examples Present more examples or non-examples and compare Repeat Identify characteristics or relationships State definition or relationship Ask for additional examples

Lecture Provide information Integrate information from variety of sources Expose different points of view Time and energy efficient Simple; low teacher demands

Lecture cons Ineffective for maintaining attention Do not check for understanding Harder for students to process information Learners are passive – Try and grab attention – Divide into short segments – Allow for student interaction – Plan for effective questioning

Learner Centered Instruction Teacher still must have active role Takes greater planning and organization skills Teacher facilitates learning Cooperative Learning Strategies: – Social interaction facilitates learning – Students work together in groups on clearly defined tasks – Learning objectives create group goals and direct activities – Teachers hold students individually accountable – Students develop collaboration skills and learn content objectives

Typical Problem Areas Off task behavior: – Unclear task goals and lack of accountability Failure to get Along: – Teach social skills, conflict resolution and team building Misbehavior: – Specific task assignments, accountability,lack of modeling, confusion Ineffective Use of Group Time: – Circulate, create time frames, give time cues,

Ideas: Group Work Think Pair Share Pairs Check Jig Saw Student Teams Kagan Structures (go to a workshop if you can!)

Others Discussions – Structured – Create Classroom Culture – Model and teach (Ron Clark) how to have a productive discussion Problem Based Inquiry – Real world investigations of questions or problems – Systematic, short or long term