Student-centred Learning - Application To Higher-Education

Application To Higher-Education

The student-centered learning environment has been shown to be effective in higher education.

A certain university sought to promote student-centred learning across the entire university by employing the following methods:

• Analysis of good practice by award-winning teachers, in all faculties, to show that, they made use of active forms of student learning.
• Subsequent use the analysis to promote wider use of good practice.
• A compulsory teacher training course for new junior teachers, which encouraged student-centred learning.
• Projects funded through teaching development grants, of which 16 were concerned with the introduction of active learning experiences.
• A programme-level quality enhancement initiative which utilised a student survey to identify strengths and potential areas for improvement.
• Development of a model of a broadly based teaching and learning environment influencing the development of generic capabilities, to provide evidence of the need for an interactive learning environment.
• The introduction of programme reviews as a quality assurance measure (Kember, 2009).

The success of this initiative was evaluated by surveying the students. After two years the mean ratings indicating the students' perception of the quality of the teaching and learning environment at the university all rose significantly (Kember, 2009).

The success of the initiative at the university in this study indicates that by adapting a more student-oriented approach to education, the students will enjoy a more positive learning experience which will likely help them develop greater passion for learning and lead to more success in their learning endeavours. As well, this approach involves students in their overall education, creating a proactive involvement in learning.