Learner-centered Curriculum Research Articles

Proposal of Genre Analysis Tool for the Introduction Part of Academic Papers on Subject Matter Education and Its Exploratory Application: In case of Science Education Papers in Joural of Learner-Centered Curriculum and Instruction

Proposal of Genre Analysis Tool for the Introduction Part of Academic Papers on Subject Matter Education and Its Exploratory Application: In case of Science Education Papers in Joural of Learner-Centered Curriculum and Instruction

Problem-based science, a constructionist approach to science literacy in middle school

Abstract This paper describes a four-year observation using a model designed and tested in a middle school maker space, called problem-based science (PbS). PbS was used as the primary model for a middle school science curriculum adapted by the tools and mindsets of the maker movement. PbS is learning through inventing and problem solving — while using the latest in fabrication technology, like 3D printers and laser cutters, as well as more traditional making skills, like electronics, robotics, sewing and carpentry. PbS is based on Seymour Papert’s constructionism, set to a science curriculum taught full time in a makerspace or fablab. Bridging ideas in design thinking, maker education, and applied math and science, the term problem-based science was used to describe how learning would look, sound, and feel different in a makerspace, when a focus was on learner-centered curriculum. The design and testing of this curriculum took place as part of the 5th and 6th grade science courses offered at a private (non-public) school in California (USA) the fall of 2012, through the spring of 2016. Through daily formative assessment, as well as exit surveys, the patterns and benefits of learning in a self-directed learning space, designed for constructionism, were observed. This paper shares the highlights of those years. Video taped exit surveys conducted by the author, show that self-direction is both challenging and rewarding, students often felt trusted and respected, even if they did not always feel supported in a manner common in a more teacher directed classroom setting. Daily informal classroom observations revealed that using student driven, open-ended problem solving, rather than a 100% teacher led, step by step lab, lends to a more diverse pool of leadership practice in students and higher engagement in hard problems. Students typically seen as struggling in traditional classrooms, identified as experts and successful learners in this setting. Lastly, using PbS as a model for science literacy allows the youngest of learners to practice mindsets and habits typical of real scientists and inventors, fostering early identify formation in STEM fields.

A study on Developing an Learner-centered General Chinese Curriculum : Analysis of curricular and learner needs

A study on Developing an Learner-centered General Chinese Curriculum : Analysis of curricular and learner needs

Blended and Flipped: Exploring New Models for Effective Teaching and Learning

The rapid growth in the use of learning technologies, particularly the use of the web based technologies and communications have offered educators with many more opportunities to investigate the most suitable learning environments for their students’ learning. The purpose of the present study was to effective teaching and learning and their views on blended and flipped learning. At the heart of both blended learning and flipped learning is a learner-centered curriculum that changes the traditional roles of instructor and student. In the article, Flipped classrooms replace passive lecturing with active studentcentered learning that enhances critical thinking and application, including information retention. The blended learning option will become a sensible step on the path toward cutting delivery costs, while making graduate education available to increasingly debt-averse students.

Poor Implementation of Learner-Centered Practices: A Cautionary Tale

Many school systems are adopting new curricula in response to more rigorous standards that require higher-order thinking skills. This article presents implementation findings from a randomized, controlled trial of the Cognitive Tutor Geometry curriculum. We found a significant negative effect on student achievement despite the curriculum's focus on learner-centered learning strategies that have previously been found to improve students’ ability to meet high mathematics standards. Our research confirms prior research that finds learner-centered instructional practices are correlated with higher student achievement. However, our findings also suggest that learner-centered curricula can actually do more harm than good when implemented poorly. We found that the cognitive demands of the curriculum coupled with teachers’ poor implementation of learner-centered instructional practices seemed to limit students’ ability to engage with the mathematical ideas. Teachers struggled to implement the curriculum because they lacked prior experience with learner-centered teaching strategies, had limited exposure to the curriculum, and were not provided with job-embedded support from principals or instructional leaders within their school. They also worked with students who were reluctant to collaborate and had low prior math achievement. Findings from this study suggest that curriculum adopters should be careful to ensure strong implementation of cognitively demanding curricula. In particular, districts and school leaders should provide intensive job-embedded professional development and support to assist teachers in achieving high implementation.

The Relationship between the Accuracy of Self- and Peer-assessment of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners and Their Learning Styles

Within the last few decades, with the growing emphasis on learner-centered curriculum, self-assessment and peer-assessment have become of particular interest in educational assessment. This study aimed at examining the relationship between the accuracy of self- and peer-assessment on the paragraph writing performance of a sample of Iranian intermediate EFL students and their learning styles. To do so, 7 paragraphs during 7 sessions were written and then self- and peer-rated by 62 students from Touba Language Institute in Tehran. Kolb’s learning style inventory was used to determine the students’ learning styles including diverging, assimilating, converging, and accommodating. The results revealed a significant and positive relationship between the accuracy of self- and peer-assessment of the students and their learning styles. The findings indicated that the students with converging learning style were the most accurate raters of their own performance, while those with diverging style were the least accurate ones. Furthermore, the students with accommodating learning style were the most accurate raters of peer-performance, whereas those with assimilating style were the least accurate ones. The obtained results may offer EFL teachers and educators the opportunity to design alternative assessment methods addressing learners’ individual differences including learning styles.

Becoming interculturally competent: Theory to practice in international education

Education abroad students are generally expected to return home with enhanced intercultural competence; however, recent research reveals that many do not fully benefit from their stay in the host environment and experience little or no gains in intercultural sensitivity. What steps can be taken to help achieve the intercultural aims of international educational experience? This article centres on an elective, credit-bearing course that was inspired by my education abroad research. Intercultural Transitions: Making Sense of International Experience has been designed to enrich and extend the intercultural learning of undergraduates with recent or current international experience. This credit-bearing course draws on multiple theories: the Intercultural Development Continuum/the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity, Kolb's experiential learning model, poststructuralist notions of identity change, transformative adult education theory, and the intergroup contact hypothesis. This article describes the course and the lessons learned from multiple offerings. Content analyses of the qualitative data (e.g., reflective essays, Forum chats, open-ended surveys, interview transcripts) generally mirrored the results of the pre- and post-administrations of the Intercultural Development Inventor (IDI), a psychometric instrument that measures intercultural competence, suggesting that this form of intervention helps propel students to higher levels of intercultural competence. The results underscore the benefits of designing a research-driven, learner-centred curriculum to enhance interaction between local and international students, and scaffold deeper intellectual consolidation and integration of intercultural learning. While developed and offered in an Asian setting, similar courses could be implemented in other settings to enhance the intercultural competence of both local and international students.

Enacting a People-Centred Curriculum in ELT With Teenage Learners

In this paper we reflect on the extent to which the learner-centred curriculum in English language teaching includes teachers and learners. We briefly describe the top-down nature of curriculum development in Argentina, then describe and discuss personal and collaborative explorations based on our identities as teachers of English in secondary education with a people-centred approach in the classroom. Through this paper we wish to highlight pedagogies and teacher strategies which are enacted for and from the classroom and built around both teachers and learners. Recommendations for policy makers are included.

LEARNER CENTERED CURRICULUM IN THE EFL CLASSROOM IN INDONESIA

Learner Centered Curriculum in the teaching of English in the classroom setting needs attention from educational practitioners, especially teachers of English. This is because; good curriculum hopefully will give beneficial contribution to the quality of teaching of English in Indonesia which is assumed today very low. This paper discusses a variety of issues deal with curriculum. Those issues are identification of curriculum problem, curriculum design, characteristics of ideal curriculum, curriculum development in Indonesia, and learner centered curriculum.

Postmethod Era and Glocalized Language Curriculum Development: A Fresh Burden on Language Teachers

The disappearance of method from academic discussions and the rise of the postmethod debate emanating from both the postmodernist philosophy and a globalized world have stirred a fresh round of discussion in academic circles in the field of the second language (L2) teaching profession. As a result of postmethod pedagogy, the teacher comes to the center of language learning and teaching and his/her beliefs, experiences and knowledge are greatly valued. Although postmethodists favor teacher autonomy, they do not favor the one-way flow of information inherent in a top-down syllabus, and provide a theoretical basis for the re-emergence of a learner-centered process syllabus and the negotiated contributions to syllabus development by both teachers and learners. Finally, although postmethod pedagogy favors a glocalized learner-centered curriculum, it is highly teacher-dependent since this is the postmethod teacher who can fulfill postmethod promises.

Responding to Students’ Learning Preferences in Chemistry

This paper reports on a teacher’s and his students’ responsiveness to a new tetrahedral-oriented (Mahaffy in J Chem Educ 83(1):49–55, 2006) curriculum requiring more discursive classroom practices in the teaching of chemistry. In this instrumental case study, we identify the intentions of this learner-centered curriculum and a teacher’s development in response to this curriculum. We also explore the tensions this teacher experiences as students subsequently respond to his adjusted teaching. We use a Chemistry Teacher Inventory (Lewthwaite and Wiebe in Res Sci Educ 40(11):667-689, 2011; Lewthwaite and Wiebe in Can J Math Sci Technol Educ 12(1):36–61, 2012; Lewthwaite in Chem Educ Res Pract. doi:10.1039/C3RP00122A, 2014) to assist the teacher in monitoring how he teaches and how he would like to improve his teaching. We also use a student form of the instrument, the Chemistry Classroom Inventory and Classroom Observation Protocol (Lewthwaite and Wiebe 2011) to verify the teacher’s teaching and perception of student preferences for his teaching especially in terms of the discursive processes the curriculum encourages. By so doing, the teacher is able to use both sets of data as a foundation for critical reflection and work towards resolution of the incongruence in data arising from students’ preferred learning orientations and his teaching aspirations. Implications of this study in regards to the authority of students’ voice in triggering teachers’ pedagogical change and the adjustments in ‘teachering’ and ‘studenting’ required by such curricula are considered.

The Effect of Self, Peer and Teacher Correction on the Pronunciation Improvement of Iranian EFL Learners

The concept of self correction and peer correction in foreign language teaching has been an important consideration in the past decades due to the increased attention to learner centered curricula. The researchers have concluded that active engagement happens when the students have to think and correct themselves. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of teacher, self and peer correction on the pronunciation improvement of Iranian EFL learners in oral productions. To do this, 45 participants were selected from among 60 English language learning students by assigning a PET test and they were divided into three groups. Some picture series were given to the participants to make and then tell a story based on the scripts. In the self correction group every participant had to correct her pronunciation errors individually, in the peer correction group the participants in pairs corrected each others’ pronunciation errors and for the third group their errors were corrected by the teacher. This process continued for 15 sessions. A pre-test and post-test were administered. The results showed that the pronunciation of the self correction group improved more than the other two groups and peer correction group outperformed the teacher correction group.

Classroom Design and Student Engagement

Student engagement is fundamental to a learner-centered curriculum across the United States. This study examined behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects of student engagement as related to classroom design in 189 health science students in four different courses. Measures of student engagement in two sections of the same class were compared according to classroom space design: grouped tables or traditional rows. Results indicated that students in lecture-based classes showed higher cognitive engagement in classrooms organized in traditional rows, whereas students in group-focused classes showed higher cognitive engagement in classroom space organized around grouped tables. Results did not support the current belief that innovative seating improves student engagement across all contexts. The relationship between student engagement and classroom design must be considered along with class format and learning objectives.

Employment of a needs assessment survey to shape a novel web-based pediatric rheumatology curriculum for primary care providers

BackgroundPediatric rheumatology faces many challenges due to the shortage of board certified physicians in the field and the imbalance in their geographic distribution. This shortage has required primary care physicians and adult rheumatologists to assume the care of children with rheumatologic diseases, though these physicians report significant discomfort doing so. We are addressing this issue through the development of a novel web-based curriculum aimed at primary care physicians.MethodsWe pursued a needs assessment survey of Vanderbilt pediatric residency graduates (1981–2010) working in primary care. Our goals were to understand their perceptions of what the needs are and what educational interventions would be most effective.ResultsOf 152 surveys sent successfully via Survey Monkey, we received 28 responses (18.4%). Responses suggest there to be a discrepancy between physicians’ general assessment of their training and their self-reported ability to recognize specific diseases. Nearly 80% of respondents felt that additional education in pediatric rheumatology would improve their ability to co-manage children with the rheumatologist. Action plans for common rheumatologic complaints and potential emergencies were thought to be of potential benefit by a majority of respondents.ConclusionsWe will utilize our survey results to develop a learner centered curriculum to have the highest positive impact in assisting primary care providers in caring for children with rheumatologic diseases.

Learner-Centered Curriculum: A Step Towards English Speaking Skill Improvement of Non-English Teachers

AbstractThis article aims at sharing the results of a small scale research project focused on guiding non-English speaking teachers of a Colombian bilingual school to perform their tasks in English within a school environment, through the implementation of a learner– centered curriculum based on English speaking-oriented workshops. Through theimplementation of this curriculum, it was seemed that the teaching, incorporation and use of some expressions of the English language, such as: greetings and farewells, common classroom expressions,commands and vocabulary, relate d to the specific subjects or topics those teachers teach, in addition to other aspects closely related to those topics, such as pronunciation. This project was conducted at a Colombian bilingual school with a group of 11 teachers in different subjects. Informal conversations with the teachers, interviews, questionnaires and workshops were used to collect the information in this action research study. Findings revealed that through the use of speaking-oriented practice in the workshops, those teachers could reflect on their own foreign language learning process. They became confident and improved their speaking skills. They had the opportunity of working and enhancing their autonomous and cooperative learning skills.Key words: learner-centered curriculum, speaking-oriented workshops, autonomous learning, cooperative learning.

Enhancing Inquiry, Evidence-Based Reflection, and Integrative Learning with the Lifelong ePortfolio Process: The Implementation of Integrative ePortfolios at Stony Brook University

Reflection plays a critical role in moving learning to the next level of inquiry. Stony Brook University has adopted an approach to using ePortfolios within the curriculum that emphasizes reflection. Stony Brook University successfully piloted eportfolios in the Fall 2010 Semester and discovered their use facilitated the inquiry process for the students. Integrative ePortfolios have been used successfully over the past 3 years in colleges and programs such as Writing and Rhetoric, Engineering, Business, Leadership and Service, and Technology Systems Management. Within these programs, the process of inquiry takes center stage as educators embrace learner-centered course delivery and curriculum design in which the student is an active participant in the instruction. The learner-centered educator partners with the students, encouraging them to continue their quest for discovery while building knowledge connections to the next levels of learning. This inquiry process is the foundation for high impact learning practices such as 1st-year experiences, learning communities, capstone projects, internships, and service learning that research has shown to increase student engagement and retention. The main outcome for learner-centered instruction is to engage students in the inquiry process and integrate their learning in all areas of their lives. The inquiry process and integrative learning need to become a habit of thought and connection that ignites learning and the construction of knowledge throughout a lifetime. The Lifelong ePortfolio Process is becoming a recognized method to facilitate inquiry, evidence-based reflection, and integrative learning. This process helps the student to connect learning with knowledge and develop the habit of lifelong learning.

역량기반 교육과정 개발을 위한 간호역량 모델링에 대한 고찰

Purpose: Competency-based curriculum has attracted many nursing institutions` attention, pursuing the enhancement of competency and the quality of education. The goal of this study was to not merely scrutinize the nomenclature of competency and competency model as a concept of pedagogy as well as nursing science, but also form a well understanding of development process for nursing competency-based curriculum and nursing competency modeling. Methods: A comprehensive review on related literatures was conducted in each section of 1) competency-based curriculum, 2) competency and competency model, and 3) contents of competency. Results: The nomenclature of competency including nursing competencies, competency modeling and competency-based curriculum were clarified and summarized. Through analyzing and reviewing former studies related to competency, desirable nursing competency modeling and nursing competency-based curriculum were proposed and described. Conclusion: Learner-centered curriculum should be established based on nursing education that emphasizes intellectual skills acquisition and the enhancement of future-oriented professionalism. Competency modeling should reflect the fact that teaching-learning strategies should focus on the integration of nursing theories and clinical practices. Nursing competency modeling is essential in order to develop a genuine competency-based curriculum while in-depth practical research should be followed so that nursing theories and clinical practices work together in a coordinated fashion.

Curriculum Designed for an Equitable Pedagogy

Rather than viewing curriculum as linear, a post-modern, learner-centered curriculum design is a spiral or recursive curriculum. Post-modernism provides a much less stable foundation upon which to build a model of student learning, a model that recognizes and even celebrates individual difference and one that is supported by research on how people learn. We propose one such curricular approach through an examination of a Bachelor of Integrative Studies program.

Using Formative Evaluation in the Development of Learner-centered Materials

In this article we report on an 8-year process that included three successive iterations of the following cycle: (a) development of instructional technology, (b) formative evaluation, and (c) modification of the technology. From the first formative evaluation to the last, our students told us that they found heavily contextualized language difficult to learn and frequently requested more decontextualized language for textbook presentations and for practice. With the aid of formative evaluation data (e.g., performance data based on think aloud protocols, attitudinal data, retrospective interviews, and course surveys), we tried to strike a balance between what students said they wanted (i.e., more decontextualized language input and practice) and what we as language teachers and curriculum developers believed that they needed (i.e., more contextualized language input and practice). Three theoretical constructs proved particularly relevant in helping us interpret the data: activity theory (Lantolf & Appel, 1994; Lantolf, 2000); the naïve lexical hypothesis (Bland, Noblitt, Armington, & Gay, 1990); and the lexical approach (Lewis, 1993), also known as the lexical syllabus (Willis, 1990). We argue that when formative evaluation becomes a central part of the development of instructional technology, the results are a more learner-centered curriculum with more user-friendly technology.

Peer Teaching and Learner-Generated Materials: Introducing Students to New Roles

Peer Teaching and Learner-Generated Materials: Introducing Students to New Roles