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In this paper, we provide an in-depth view of the Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (UTA) program at Virginia Commonwealth University as a potential model for other large research universities who might wish to implement similar learner-centered initiatives in their first-year experience courses. Unlike graduate teaching assistants, whose primary objective in the classroom is to assist the professor, the UTAs assist the students by facilitating student engagement, offering peer-to-peer assistance, and modeling successful academic practices. The UTA program, founded in 2008, is integrated through all levels of VCU's University College. This paper explores the benefits offered to all stakeholders: faculty, students, and undergraduate teaching assistants.

Capstone experiences are typically the culmination of an undergraduate program and allow students to integrate their content knowledge with communication and technical skills, many of which are desirable in the job market and graduate school. Learner-centered teaching fits well with a capstone course because it requires students to be more engaged in the material and take an active role in their education. The capstone course in the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Geology program has recently been revised to include more learner-centered teaching and a Spring Break field trip. Each student in the course chose and led a field trip that illustrated a specific geologic feature or process. The majority of assignments for the course revolved around preparing, leading, and reporting on the field trip topic. The students generally enjoyed the course, found it beneficial, and learned geologic content because of their own inquiry. By shifting the course to emphasize learner-centered teaching, the students were more prepared for assignments, applied and enhanced their geologic content knowledge, gained exposure to new geologic settings, improved their communication skills, and bonded with their classmates.

Capstone experiences are typically the culmination of an undergraduate program and allow students to integrate their content knowledge with communication and technical skills, many of which are desirable in the job market and graduate school. Learner-centered teaching fits well with a capstone course because it requires students to be more engaged in the material and take an active role in their education. The capstone course in the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Geology program has recently been revised to include more learner-centered teaching and a Spring Break field trip. Each student in the course chose and led a field trip that illustrated a specific geologic feature or process. The majority of assignments for the course revolved around preparing, leading, and reporting on the field trip topic. The students generally enjoyed the course, found it beneficial, and learned geologic content because of their own inquiry. By shifting the course to emphasize learner-centered teaching, the students were more prepared for assignments, applied and enhanced their geologic content knowledge, gained exposure to new geologic settings, improved their communication skills, and bonded with their classmates.

Capstone experiences are typically the culmination of an undergraduate program and allow students to integrate their content knowledge with communication and technical skills, many of which are desirable in the job market and graduate school. Learner-centered teaching fits well with a capstone course because it requires students to be more engaged in the material and take an active role in their education. The capstone course in the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Geology program has recently been revised to include more learner-centered teaching and a Spring Break field trip. Each student in the course chose and led a field trip that illustrated a specific geologic feature or process. The majority of assignments for the course revolved around preparing, leading, and reporting on the field trip topic. The students generally enjoyed the course, found it beneficial, and learned geologic content because of their own inquiry. By shifting the course to emphasize learner-centered teaching, the students were more prepared for assignments, applied and enhanced their geologic content knowledge, gained exposure to new geologic settings, improved their communication skills, and bonded with their classmates.

viii, 167 p. : 23 cm

Vietnam has experiences fast achievements in teaching English for high school students in long time. One of this study’s purposes is to state what are challenges in teaching English and recommendations. Barraket (2005) pointed that the re-orientation of the curriculum toward student-centredness in this case had a positive effect on student performance, learning experience and subject evaluation. In particular, the use of student-centred techniques facilitated a strong social context for learning, and provided students with a common experiential framework from which to explore the technical aspects of the curriculum. By using combination of different qualitative methods, SWOT and PDCA analytical techniques, our research results shown, We make suggestions to I,prove teaching quality: 1. Quality control of teacher input (degrees, teaching experience, trial teaching requirements); 2. Develop a set of standards for teacher quality

Specific tools and techniques to help students of English as a Second Language overcome pronunciation problems are presented. The selection of problems addressed is based on the frequency and seriousness of errors that many native Chinese-speaking learners produce. Ways to resolve various problems (e.g., missing final consonants, misplaced stress in sentences, misused intonation patterns) are discussed in three ares of pronunciation: sounds; stress and rhythm; and intonation. Individual and class activities for correction of these errors, designed to meet students' different learning styles (auditory, visual, tactile, kinesthetic), are described. Contains 15 references. (Author/MSE)

Specific tools and techniques to help students of English as a Second Language overcome pronunciation problems are presented. The selection of problems addressed is based on the frequency and seriousness of errors that many native Chinese-speaking learners produce. Ways to resolve various problems (e.g., missing final consonants, misplaced stress in sentences, misused intonation patterns) are discussed in three ares of pronunciation: sounds; stress and rhythm; and intonation. Individual and class activities for correction of these errors, designed to meet students' different learning styles (auditory, visual, tactile, kinesthetic), are described. Contains 15 references. (Author/MSE)

Specific tools and techniques to help students of English as a Second Language overcome pronunciation problems are presented. The selection of problems addressed is based on the frequency and seriousness of errors that many native Chinese-speaking learners produce. Ways to resolve various problems (e.g., missing final consonants, misplaced stress in sentences, misused intonation patterns) are discussed in three ares of pronunciation: sounds; stress and rhythm; and intonation. Individual and class activities for correction of these errors, designed to meet students' different learning styles (auditory, visual, tactile, kinesthetic), are described. Contains 15 references. (Author/MSE)

Learner-centered approaches have captured the imagination and loyalty of educators since the time of Dewey and the Progressive Movement, yet they have never been implemented at scale. What marks this era as different is the renewed interest in personalized, learner-centered education of today. It builds from a powerful combination of economic, scientific, egalitarian, and technological forces: there exists a better understanding of what truly constitutes college and career readiness for an ever-changing, global marketplace. Cognitive neuroscience and learning theory research reveal close connections among motivation, agency, and learning. For the first time in our history, the nation is committed to preparing all students for success in postsecondary education and careers. The rapid expansion of technological advances and availability makes a level of personalization possible at a scale that has never before been available. Given the pace and scope of these changes, many educators find themselves tackling challenges for which they are not fully prepared and devoting immeasurable energy to learning "on the fly" and on their own. Some noteworthy online and in-person professional development opportunities have emerged to support personalized, student-centered approaches. State and local teacher preparation and professional development systems across the country still do relatively little to advance abilities to deliver these approaches-nor have such competencies been defined in ways that system leaders can act upon them. The development of "Educator Competencies for Personalized, Learner-Centered Teaching" ("the Competencies") serves as a first step in identifying the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that educators need in order to create and thrive in effective personalized, learner-centered environments. The Competencies are organized into four domains--Cognitive, Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Instructional. For each domain, both high-level competencies and detailed "indicators" that describe specific ways that educators can meet each competency in a personalized, learner-centered manner have been identified. A personalized, learner-centered education approach does not throw out previously gained knowledge and evidence of good teaching and learning. Far from it. Instead, this framework deliberately builds a bridge from those foundations toward a vision of how the teaching profession can evolve to meet the changing needs of learners. Presented here are key principles identified to guide and inform the work and perspective of this report. The intent is for this framework to serve as a "living" tool to guide educator development, so that a growing number of teachers are able to help scale the transformation to personalized, student-centered learning. Appended are: (1) Glossary of Terms; (2) Methodology; (3) Source Frameworks; (4) Crosswalk of InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards to Educator Competencies for Personalized, Learner-Centered Teaching; and (5) Selected Resources from Students at the Center.

In the past few decades, nonconventional learner-centered (NLC) trends in ELT have emerged amidst the current and probably dominant conventional teacher-centered (CTC) approaches used by majority of private and public schools in the Philippines. With the implementation of the K-12 curriculum, Afro-Asian literature remained the focus of the eighth grade. The argument of which approach is more effective seems to have surfaced in the recent years. In several literatures, both approaches have been found effective in teaching in different disciplines. However, in the teaching of literature, specifically Afro-Asian literature, it seems that limited to no studies have been conducted in the Philippine private school context. This comparative study focuses on the Grade 8 ESL literature classes of Hope Christian High School, Manila, Philippines and aims to determine which approach is more effective in teaching Afro-Asian literature. The teacher preferred the CTC approach while students preferred the NLC approach based on qualitative data. From the quantitative data, the results showed that there were no significant differences in the Afro-Asian literature test scores immediately after the CTC or NLC instructional sessions. I conclude that there is no particular teaching approach that is more effective and suggested that an eclectic or mixed approach would be more beneficial in teaching Afro-Asian literature in Hope Christian High School.

Too often, in discussing the teaching of English, language teachers behave as if language were the most important factor in the classroom. The author thinks this is seldom the case. Language teachers need to see English as essentially an educative subject, linked to the cognitive development of learners, rather than as something isolated from the rest of the curriculum. Unfortunately, in many classrooms throughout the world, little true education takes place. Instead, there is rote learning of material irrelevant to the learners' interests. Language teachers need to be aware of the educational potential of English in such circumstances. To fully realize this potential they need to look outside the confines of English language teaching itself. There is now a considerable body of work that focuses on the conditions under which children learn most effectively. This work relates both to the internal processes involved in apprehending and storing information and to the most favorable conditions for the operation of these processes. In this article, the author considers the relevance of this work to the teaching of English. He deals with it under five main headings: (1) reduction of coercion; (2) active learner involvement; (3) experience before interpretation; (4) avoidance of oversimplification; and (5) the value of silence. [This article was first published in Volume 18, No. 3 (1980).]

Transforming K-12 education systems to meet the new economic, civic, and cultural demands of our global society requires a modern teacher workforce. Specifically, it requires a teacher workforce with the knowledge, skills, and systems of supports to be successful in student-centered, competency-based, and diverse learning environments. This brief: (1) articulates a future-ready vision for the teaching profession; (2) frames the role state policymakers can play in advancing toward this vision; and (3) describes state policy priorities that can modernize teaching, including: convening a state task force to craft a unifying vision and roadmap; increasing diversity of the educator workforce; preparing teachers for learner-centered, competency-based, equity-oriented education; redesigning teacher licensure and credentialing; and building balanced systems of assessments that enable learner-centered, competency-based, equity-oriented teaching.

Learner-centered teaching is a collection of instructional practices that shift the emphasis of courses from the instructors' goals and methods of delivery to the knowledge and skills that the students develop. This study examined potential commonalities between features of learner-centered teaching and the past significant learning experiences of current faculty. A phenomenological analysis of written essays revealed eight dominant themes: 1) Student responsibility for learning, 2) Learning through direct experience or example, 3) Responsive instructors, 4) Difficult activities that took time, 5) Connections to previous knowledge and experiences, 6) Direct research experience, 7) Challenging initial ideas and assumptions, and 8) Rich in content. These themes are discussed in terms of their connections to features of learner-centered teaching and potential implications for educators. (Contains 2 tables.)

The development of English-speaking skills is of paramount importance in today’s thriving society as students need to communicate fluently and accurately in a myriad of different scenarios. The speaking skill is considered to be one of the most difficult skills to master because learners in the EFL context lack opportunities to interact and use the target language in authentic communicative settings. The development of communicative competence in language learners, despite teachers’ efforts to teach speaking skills, is not evident in the EFL context. When considering the challenges of teaching speaking skills, literature suggests that the implementation of learner-centered teaching acknowledges students’ voices as central to the learning experience, thereby improving learners’ speaking skills (Larasati, 2018). This approach to teaching speaking skills also allows students to take part in the responsibility for building language competence; and it helps to shift the focus of learning from teacher to students, which enhances learners’ critical and higher-order thinking skills. Learner-centered teaching has proven to be a teaching approach consistent with constructivist learning theories that increase students’ intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy in performing specific language skills. Therefore, this project seeks to provide a meaningful workshop for in-service teachers to implement learner-centered communicative activities in EFL classes.

The learner-centered paradigm departs from traditional teaching models by focusing on students more than teachers and learning more than teaching. Thus, classes are more egalitarian; they emphasize critical thinking, active learning, and real-world assignments. Graduate students in learner-centered classrooms were surveyed about perceptions of their experiences in relation to the key dimensions of the learner-centered paradigm and noted that the approach contributed to their feeling respected as learners, developed their critical thinking skills, and encouraged their self-directedness. Based on these findings, post-secondary instructors are encouraged to experiment with learning-centered approaches to further explore this promising model.

This article presents an empirical study carried out among the students of higher secondary schools to find out how English language learning occurs naturally in an environment where learners are encouraged by an appropriate method such as visual learning. The primary data was collected from 504 students with different pretested questionnaires. A selection of a series of variables is taken into consideration in the survey, which is measured and information of each one is collected to describe what is researched. The results indicate that visual learning is an essential part of the overall experience that the learners gain towards their process of language learning. Also, it constitutes a vital process of "Input and Interaction" for the learner ensuring that his needs, necessities and aspirations are taken into account and by making him involved, produce genuine learning.

This article presents an empirical study carried out among the students of higher secondary schools to find out how English language learning occurs naturally in an environment where learners are encouraged by an appropriate method such as visual learning. The primary data was collected from 504 students with different pretested questionnaires. A selection of a series of variables is taken into consideration in the survey, which is measured and information of each one is collected to describe what is researched. The results indicate that visual learning is an essential part of the overall experience that the learners gain towards their process of language learning. Also, it constitutes a vital process of "Input and Interaction" for the learner ensuring that his needs, necessities and aspirations are taken into account and by making him involved, produce genuine learning.

The knowledge teachers in an elementary school had of constructivist principles in the context of standards-based teaching and assessment was investigated and then addressed through a graduate-level course developed by the researcher. The knowledge level of the teachers was studied through interviews, classroom observations, and responses of 46 teachers to a Scale of Constructivist Approaches developed and administered by the researcher. The researcher then developed and implemented a practicum as a three-credit graduate level course through a local college accompanied by the development of a training and mentoring presentation on CD-ROM. Analysis of the data for the 16 teachers who completed the course and the 7 who continued in the 5-month training and mentoring project that followed the course indicated that after the course and the subsequent training and mentoring, participants were able to use effective questioning strategies to prompt student use of metacognitive strategies and use varied questioning levels to address the needs of all learners. They were able to prepare adequate assessment prototypes promoting higher level thinking skills and to prepare standards-based assessment instruments within a constructivist framework. Participants indicated improvement in their ability to apply constructivist principles to their standards-based classrooms. Seven appendixes contain supplemental information about the practicum, including the initial survey. (SLD)

pages cm

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Learner-Centered Micro Teaching (LCMT) on the development of teacher candidates' teaching competencies. To achieve this goal, teacher candidates' teaching behaviors on subject area, planning, teaching process, classroom management, communication, and evaluation have been pre- and posttested, and the effectiveness of LCMT has been determined based on differences in the results of pre- and posttests. In this study, pretest-posttest design was used without a control group. Teacher candidates' teaching behaviors before they entered the experiment were determined by pretests and at the end of the treatment the teacher candidates were given posttests. The experimentation was constructed based on LCMT model. Results based on the scores in the pre- and posttests showed that LCMT model had a progress in teacher candidates' teaching behaviors on subject area, planning, teaching process, classroom management, communication, and evaluation. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Learner-Centered Micro Teaching (LCMT) on the development of teacher candidates' teaching competencies. To achieve this goal, teacher candidates' teaching behaviors on subject area, planning, teaching process, classroom management, communication, and evaluation have been pre- and posttested, and the effectiveness of LCMT has been determined based on differences in the results of pre- and posttests. In this study, pretest-posttest design was used without a control group. Teacher candidates' teaching behaviors before they entered the experiment were determined by pretests and at the end of the treatment the teacher candidates were given posttests. The experimentation was constructed based on LCMT model. Results based on the scores in the pre- and posttests showed that LCMT model had a progress in teacher candidates' teaching behaviors on subject area, planning, teaching process, classroom management, communication, and evaluation. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

This paper argues that it is time to think differently about assessing the role of educational technology in the teaching and learning process. The first section addresses the question, "What is learning?" The second section examines the purpose of education. The third section discusses the knowledge base needed to apply educational technology appropriately to the teaching-learning process, including the learner-centered principles as a framework, the learner-centered psychological principles, defining "learner-centered," and using technology to provide qualities of learner-centered teachers. The fourth section considers the implications of the learner-centered framework for the application of technology to support learners and learning, the assessment of technology in service to learners and learning, building learner-centered learning communities, expanding the notion of collaboration, and transforming the educational system. An author biography is included. (Contains 49 references.) (MES)

This paper argues that it is time to think differently about assessing the role of educational technology in the teaching and learning process. The first section addresses the question, "What is learning?" The second section examines the purpose of education. The third section discusses the knowledge base needed to apply educational technology appropriately to the teaching-learning process, including the learner-centered principles as a framework, the learner-centered psychological principles, defining "learner-centered," and using technology to provide qualities of learner-centered teachers. The fourth section considers the implications of the learner-centered framework for the application of technology to support learners and learning, the assessment of technology in service to learners and learning, building learner-centered learning communities, expanding the notion of collaboration, and transforming the educational system. An author biography is included. (Contains 49 references.) (MES)