Abstract
Learner-centered classrooms encourage critical thinking and communication among students and between students and their instructor, and engage students as active learners rather than passive participants. However, students, faculty, and experts often have distinct definitions of learner-centeredness, and the paucity of research comparing perspectives of these different groups must be resolved. In the current study, our central research question was how do student, faculty, and expert observer perceptions of learner-centeredness within biology classrooms compare to one another? We sampled 1114 students from fifteen sections of a general biology course for non-majors, and complete responses from 490 students were analyzed. Five valid and reliable tools (two faculty; two student; and one expert observer) evaluated the learner-centeredness of each participating section. Perceptions of learner-centered instructors often aligned with those of expert observers, while student perceptions tended not to align with either group. Interestingly, students perceived learner-centered instructors as less learner-centered if they taught at non-traditional times and/or in large-enrollment sections, despite their focus on student learning. Perceptions of learner-centeredness in the biology classroom are complex and may be best captured with more than one instrument. Our findings encourage instructors to be cognizant that the approaches they employ in the classroom may not be interpreted as learner-centered, in the same manner, by students and external observers, particularly when additional course factors such as enrollment and scheduling may encourage negative perceptions of learner-centered practices.
Highlights
Active learning is broadly defined as engaged teaching approaches that encourage critical thinking and communication among students and between students and their instructor [1,2,3]
The alliance of the two student surveys administered in this study suggests that the R-Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ)-2F and Shortened Experiences of Teaching and Learning Questionnaire (SETLQ) can be used in conjunction with one another to capture
We found that expert and faculty perceptions mostly align based on cluster analysis; that expert and student perceptions align along the motive axis of the ordination; and that student and faculty perceptions generally do not agree, with the exception of the conceptual change subscale correlating with the learner-centered strategy end of axis one within the ordination
Summary
Active learning is broadly defined as engaged teaching approaches that encourage critical thinking and communication among students and between students and their instructor [1,2,3]. Active learning contributes to the learner-centeredness of a classroom, which can be characterized by the level of bilateral learning in a course, and whether students have a role in this process as active learners rather than passive participants [4]. While active classrooms tend to share goals of higher cognitive learning and separate the roles of instructors and students in a similar way, they can, on the ground, look very different, depending on the learner-centered practices administered in the classroom.
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