Student-centred Learning - Teacher-centered Instructions

Teacher-centered Instructions

In teacher-centered instruction:

• Students work to achieve curricular objectives in order to become critical thinkers
• Students complete activities designed by the teacher to achieve academic success
• Students respond to positive expectations set by the teacher as they progress through activities
• Students are given extrinsic motivators like grades and rewards in which motivates children to internalize information and objectively demonstrates their understanding of concepts
• Student work is evaluated by the teacher

A teacher-centered approach to learning recognizes that children require achievable expectations and that students must have a solid foundation before learning a new concept. For example, in order to learn multiplication properly, a student must understand repeated addition and grouping. This process cannot be discovered by most students without the direction of a teacher. Freestone (2012) states that traditional teaching is based on one learning style, focuses on content and is driven by the teacher. In contrast student-centered learning has several learning styles, focuses on teamwork and is driven by the student's choice (Freestone, 2012). Teacher centered instruction involves one way communication where students passively listen to the teacher, who is viewed as the expert who imparts their knowledge on the subject matter. Learning is measured and evaluated via tests and exams. However evidence states that high marks on tests and exams do not effectively translate into student acquisition of the material (Kraft, 1978). Sample(2009) states that it is much easier for the student to hide ie. disengage in traditional learning because they are not required to actively participate.