Learner-centered Practices Research Articles

Lecturer Beliefs and Pedagogy: A Correlational Study of Poetry Instruction in Malaysian TESL Programs

The Malaysian English Language Curriculum emphasizes the acquisition of essential language skills, including effective communication, critical thinking, and literary appreciation, particularly in the domain of poetry. Despite these objectives, poetry is frequently perceived as a challenging genre for second language learners, a perception further exacerbated by an exam-driven education system and teacher-centered instructional approaches that inhibit independent interpretation and creativity. This study explores the intersection of teaching strategies and lecturer beliefs within a Bachelor of Education in Teaching English as a Second Language (B.Ed TESL) program, particularly in relation to poetry instruction. The research aims to identify effective pedagogical approaches that engage students with poetry in a meaningful manner, fostering not only examination success but also a deeper, more personal connection with the texts. Through a comprehensive literature review and quantitative analysis involving 361 TESL students, the study uncovers significant barriers to poetry comprehension, including complex language, unfamiliar vocabulary, and cultural distance. The findings underscore the necessity for student-centered teaching methods that align with 21st-century learning objectives, offering new insights into how poetry can be taught to enhance creativity, critical thinking, and emotional engagement. The results hold broader implications for TESL education in Malaysia, suggesting that a transition towards more inclusive, diverse, and learner-centered practices can improve students' receptiveness to poetry and overall language acquisition.

Exploring High School Economics Teachers’ Curriculum Implementation Practices: A Case of the Northern Cape Province of South Africa

This empirical study explored high school Economics teachers’ curriculum implementation practices in South Africa. The research focused on a sample of three Economics teachers purposefully selected from three schools in the Northern Cape province. Drawing on the theoretical framework of Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) and adopting a qualitative approach, the study employed a case study design.To get insight on the Economics teachers’ curriculum practices, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis were used to generate data from the selected high school Economics teachers. Braun and Clarke’s six steps of thematic analysis were followed in analysing the triangulated data. The study findings indicate that some Economics teachers’ practices on instructional planning, selection of resources, feedback, and reflective practices promoted meaningful learning. The study concludes that although there are pockets of effective curriculum implementation practices by Economics teachers, there is a need to continue with in-service teacher training to enhance the teachers’ curriculum implementation practices. The study recommends that Economics teachers should form Professional Learning Communities where they learn and share good practices to provide teachers with continuous in-service training on how to plan lessons that cater for diverse learners’ needs. This study contributes to the scholarship by providing insights into how teachers’ curriculum practices can be enhanced both at pre-service and in-service levels to improve teacher effectiveness and efficiency. Furthermore, the study forms the basis on which further research on Economics teachers’ curriculum implementation practices on a more representative scale can be conducted. Keywords: Economics Education, Curriculum Implementation, Learner-centred Practices, Mediated Learning Experience

Designing the 'new normal': Key insights from the pandemic for transforming online learning going forward

The deep disruption to education caused by the move to online learning during COVID-19 was unprecedented. While most educational stakeholders adapt to the transition back to a “new normal”, it seems an obvious time for constructivist reflection on the lessons learned. The aim of this longitudinal inquiry was to examine the experiences of higher education learners in Chile during the pandemic for potential insights to be gained. The focus was on students in multi-disciplinarian fields and the changes to their perspectives, practices, and identities. Working within the qualitative paradigm, data was gathered using interviews (<i>n=22</i>), surveys (<i>n=1,054</i>, n=1,137, n=205) and field notes. Learners’ experiences were mapped against contemporary e-learning theory and 21<sup>st</sup> century learner identity goals. Through this lens, pedagogical practices, course designs, and uses of technology reflected in online spaces were found to influence learners and their learning in complex ways. Two key themes emerged in the analysis: (1) exposure to conventional pedagogy, information transfer and assessment-driven designs and technology challenges online, left students discouraged with their learning progress and disparaging of their future workplace preparedness and (2) students who experienced learner-centered practices online, supported by contemporary learning theory and community-building course designs and technologies, underwent transformative changes to their learning and identities and feeling confidently qualified for their post study careers. In view of the increasing role e-learning will play in this century, we believe further empirical research of this kind into a myriad of global, digital learning contexts, could help transform online learning and learners in our new post pandemic reality.

A Social Network Analysis of Engineering Faculty Connections: Their Impact on Faculty Student-Centered Attitudes and Practices

Connections among faculty who might be potential resources for diffusion of learner-centered practices across STEM departments were examined at a major research university. Specifically, the research assessed the impact of these connections on learner-centered beliefs among faculty and the implementation of learner-centered practices across the network. Participants were recruited from Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics departments, and from departments in the College of Engineering. A snowball sampling procedure began with 21 randomly selected faculty from each department engaged in the STEM instruction of engineering students. These faculties then identified the colleagues they utilize as resources for improving their instruction. Characteristics of faculty connectedness in the network consisted of number of connections and depth of connections for both individual faculty and within and across departments. Outcome measures consisted of a survey of learner-centered attitudes and classroom observations of faculty instructional practices. The results show that faculty exhibiting more learner-centered behaviors had deeper and more extensive social networks than their peers who were more instructor-centered. The results are discussed in terms of the need for intra- and inter-departmental faculty professional development experiences that build and support collaborative organizations of faculty working together to transform early engineering experiences.

Insights into pedagogical renewal: examining international pre-service teachers’ changing conceptions of learner-centred education

ABSTRACT This article explores pedagogical renewal through an analysis of vignettes from four international pre-service teachers in an initial teacher education programme at an Australian university where learner-centred practices are prioritised. To understand their pedagogical journeys during their course, data was collected through a series of questions and graphic elicitation activities at the start and endpoint of their studies. From this data, vignettes were created to illustrate changes and continuities of participants’ understandings of teaching and learning, and to gain insights into how these conceptions evolved in distinct ways throughout the course. Pedagogical renewal involves learning new skills and knowledge, understanding how new knowledge is linked to practice, and recognising how underlying beliefs influence the selection, enactment, and reflection of pedagogical approaches. These factors point to the importance of individual agency in this process.

Instructional Practices Affecting Learner Engagement in Blended Learning Environments

Learners have to engage in academically purposeful instructional endeavors to be successful in school. Latest research indicates that the learners of today are not as interested in educational deeds as they need to be. Educational stakeholders should look for means to address this tendency to have a positive influence on educational results. This study explores the instructional practices that play a role in behavioral engagement (also known as involvement) of learners in schoolwork in the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) program – an information technology certificate program. Behavioral engagement in this context refers to learners’ active learning and collaboration with peers. A two-level hierarchical linear modeling was established to predict behavioral engagement from instructional practices while controlling for certain learner level (expectancy and value motivation, gender, and age) and teacher level (teaching and networking experience) variables. Learners who attended the CCNA program in the United States, totaling 773 high school and community college students, were matched specifically with 149 teachers who taught them. Student and instructor surveys were conducted online to gather data. The results show that the level of learner involvement in the program was poor, equivalent to the national student engagement survey of the period. However, if their teachers used collaborative and learner-centered practices, learners were more involved in schoolwork behaviorally. Learners were also very involved in the program if they placed a high value on the program. Female learners were not as active as male learners. In addition to the two instructional practices implied in this study, another major takeaway is that learners should be advised as early as possible about the detrimental impact of poor motivation in the program.

Development of the Departmental Climate around Teaching (DCaT) survey: neither psychological collective climate nor departmental collective climate predicts STEM faculty\u2019s instructional practices

BackgroundInvestigations into drivers and barriers to the uptake of learner-centered instructional practices in STEM courses have identified the climate within a department as a potential influential factor. However, few studies have explored the relationship between adoption of learner-centered instructional practices and departmental climate around teaching. Moreover, surveys that have been designed to measure climate around teaching have been focused on measuring individual faculty member’s description of their colleagues’ perceptions of the climate within their department (psychological collective climate) and ignored whether there was a consensus among respondents within the same department on these descriptions. This latter measure (departmental collective climate) is best aligned with the definition of organizational climate. There is thus a need to explore whether departmental climate measured at the individual or collective level relate to the use of learner-centered instructional practices.ResultsThis study demonstrates that the Departmental Climate around Teaching (DCaT) survey provides valid and reliable data that can be used to measure psychological collective climate within a STEM department. Analysis of the 166 faculty members who responded to the survey indicated that (1) four different types of psychological collective climate existed among our population and (2) multiple types could be present within the same STEM department. Moreover, it showed that measuring departmental collective climate is challenging as few constructs measured by the DCaT survey reached high level of consensus within faculty members from the same department. Finally, the analysis found no relationship between psychological collective climate and the level of use of learner-centered instructional practices.ConclusionsResults from the validation studies conducted on the DCaT survey that most elements that define a climate (e.g., policies, practices, expectations) are lacking when it comes to teaching. These findings could explain the challenges experienced in this study in measuring departmental collective climate. Without these climate elements, faculty members are left to work autonomously with little expectations for growth in their instructional practices. Establishing policies, practices, and expectations with respect to teaching is thus an essential step toward instructional change at a departmental level.

Comprehension of experienced English language teachers’ professional identity and related metacognitive thinking procedures

ABSTRACT In order to comprehend the attributes of expert teachers, the current study investigated professional identity (PI) and related metacognitive thinking procedures of experienced Korean teachers of English through a questionnaire survey and interviews. The teachers’ PIs contained pedagogic meanings that highly regarded teachers’ having language knowledge and skills, realising learner-centred practices, teaching communication skills for practicality, and developing professionalism. They relatively less valued practising teacher-led, test-preparation lessons but also using challenging tasks and creative materials and combining content, materials, and activities, which reflects their unestablished meanings of learner-centredness. Some of the interviewed teachers revealed their active performance of metacognitive monitoring and regulations of different meanings (cognitions), emotions, and actions over their pedagogical problem-solving processes for overcoming teacher-led, test-preparation lessons. Thus, experimenting with negotiated pedagogies and modifying their pedagogic meanings by learning from this, they tried to balance identity-congruent actions and verification, and reshaped their PI and related metacognitive thinking procedures; others’ pedagogic experimentations and related experiences were rejected by contextual rigidities. Comprehension of the PI and related metacognitive thinking procedures of experienced teachers provided several implications for teacher education.

Evaluating a novel faculty development program in teaching at a research-intensive university

ABSTRACT Early-career faculty (ECF) are faced with maintaining excellence in teaching and research for tenure. However, many enter academia with little or no teaching experience. Madison Teaching and Learning Excellence, a year-long professional development program, was designed to mitigate these pressures and help faculty become fast, efficient, and effective teachers. The authors evaluated this program on participants’ use of learner-centered course designs and classroom practices compared with non-participants and also measured challenges encountered by ECF. Participants’ gains in effective course design were positive, stable, and transferable to other courses. Participants reported feeling more prepared for tenure review and possessed a heightened self-awareness and assessment of their teaching. Although participants scored moderately high on measures of learner-centered practices, their scores were similar to non-participants. The authors hope their evaluation will inform faculty development programs; they summarize challenges they encountered to spur development of better evaluation tools that balance practitioners’ needs and available resources.

Exploring the Use of Learner-Centered Instruction with English Language Learners in Social Studies Classrooms

Despite English Language Learner (ELL) supplemental instruction on Saturdays and evenings and professional development for teachers, learner-centered instructional strategies in social studies are currently ineffective in meeting the learning needs of the ELL population in an urban school in the northeastern United States. The instructional approaches being used to deliver curriculum have a marginal effect on learning for ELL students, and the local school board supports the importance of exploring this problem. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to explore the learner-centered instructional practices used at the study site and how teachers are using Weimer’s framework to engage ELLs in social studies. Guided by Weimer’s learner-centered instruction theory, the research questions focused on exploring how teachers use Weimer’s learner-centered instructional strategies and how teachers plan their instruction for ELLs and social studies using Weimer’s framework. As a case study, this qualitative research involved gathering data during 1 academic year through observations and interviews of 10 teacher participants. Research data collected through observations and interviews were coded into an Excel document to assign and filter codes. A 3-day professional development opportunity and monthly follow-up sessions were the results of the analysis of data collected from interviews and classroom observations of 10 ELL social studies teachers in Grades 9-12. The results of this study may lead to positive social change if social studies teachers modify their learner-centered instructional approaches to increase students’ motivation and satisfaction in learning.

Using learner-centred feedback design to promote students’ engagement with feedback

ABSTRACT Students’ engagement with feedback is a major determinant of feedback effectiveness. There is evidence, however, that not all students engage with feedback well because the transmission, teacher-centred approach overlooks students’ role in feedback processes. This study explores how learner-centred feedback processes could be designed to enhance students’ engagement. Embedded in two-stage assignments, the first step of the design involved peer feedback on a mid-term assignment. The second step included students producing an audio file to self-assess performance, followed by their teacher’s audio response to their self-assessment prior to the submission of a related, final assignment. Data analysis on an open-ended survey, interviews with 35 taught postgraduates and selected feedback vignettes indicated that this learner-centred design could promote students’ engagement by increasing their feedback responsibility, evaluative judgement and psychological safety. The significance of this article lies in discussing learner-centred feedback design principles and the wider application of the learner-centred practice.

Early-career faculty practice learner-centered teaching up to 9 years after postdoctoral professional development.

The goal of STEM professional development for teaching is that participants continue to practice what they learn in the long term. However, we do not know if the outcomes are achieved and ultimately persist. We tracked postdoctoral participants from the Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching (FIRST) IV program into their current positions as early-career biology faculty. We assessed their teaching approaches, practices, and student perceptions of the learning environment over 6 to 9 years after finishing the program. Simultaneously, we evaluated paired faculty in the same departments. We found that professional development outcomes persisted over time and across a career transition. FIRST IV faculty maintained their learner-centered practices and were more learner-centered than their peers. Last, we found that teaching approaches were correlated with teaching practices in all faculty participants. These results provide evidence for the success of the FIRST IV program and the long-term persistence of professional development outcomes.

Moving outside the comfort zone: teacher’s experiences of development in a police academy context

ABSTRACT This paper examines police educators’ descriptions of development, building on an area of research investigating teachers’ perspectives of their practice. The aim of this study was to describe the variation in police educators’ teaching development experiences, with these results being used to inform development towards learner-centred practice. The research method of phenomenography informed the data collection and analysis process. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with police educators across five Australian police academies. Comparative analysis of the transcripts led to the construction of three qualitatively different categories representing variation from less to more complete experiences. The results demonstrated a teacher-centred experience focused on content knowledge, a transitional experience concerned with engaging students and a learner-centred experience with a strong focus on determining what works for students’ learning. When compared with a sample of development experiences from the broader educational field, the results contributed new insights into how teachers deal with comfort when becoming more learner-centred.

UNDERSTANDING CRITICAL THINKING AS A COGNITIVE APPROACH TO PRODUCTIVE LEARNING AND RESEARCH PARADIGM IN ELT / EAP CLASSROOM

Critical thinking skills in 21 st Century (CTs) is a global movement and policy making to study the effective factors that make the educational system efficient. The latter is still built around a debate of methodology and application in Congolese educational frame‐ work. In fact, ELT and EAP teachers have been found not to have enough skills in creativity in innovating their lessons when attempting to guide learners in English Language Learning. On the one hand, some teachers, novice and practitioners quit the teaching career since they find it mostly difficult and others resist to participate in the curriculum development. On the other hand, students who have been involved in Academic English Language Classroom learning for 5 Years end up by not sensibly developing their communicative competence. Consequently the teachers tend to accuse the learners of inability to perform in satisfactory way. This attitude is due to teachers’ automatic application of traditional methods, such as, grammar translation, audio-lingual method, total physical response, counseling learning, communicative methods, and others. A large number of researchers have been writing in this area such as the case of Parham Aarabi (2011) with Art of Lecturing, Ruth Pickford (2004) with primary role of lecturer, Keerthi Gopinath (2014) teaching as a teacher controlled and information centered approach yet not enough attention has been given to critical thinking skills etc, this article has enriched the debate by strongly appealing to ELT and EAP teachers, learners and trainee teachers and teachers and applied linguists to a paradigm shift from inactive to productive learning with Critical thinking as a cognitive approach which enables learning to be more enjoyable, productive and working towards the ultimate academic goals of participative and productive curriculum development. Since DRC educational system is built upon lecturing method whereby the teacher’s task is simplified as self-centered and dominating approach, this in turn will not be conducive to an enjoyable learning environment. The present paper raises the question of critical thinking skills connect with productive learning. To meet this question, the study has applied qualitative method grounded in classroom observation, interviews, learning theory criticism. As a result, Critical Thinking Skills have been viewed as a flexible framework that acts as practical tool for planning and developing progressive appropriate classroom materials that encourage effective and active learning, and thus enhance more active learning. Therefore, they help students to become more productive in Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing Skills as well as developing learning ability, professionalism, work ethics, team work, collaborative learning, and applying technology, problem-solving and promote students’ leadership. In doing so, furthermore, teachers may design courses that will take students from one cognitive level to the next and develop their critical thinking skills in which more emphasis is placed on learner-centered practices showing sensitivity to individual differences among students, including both teacher’s and student’s role-play engagement in lesson comprehension and use towards problem-solving, in-depth analysis, creativity and decision-making. Article visualizations:

Learning from teaching: pre-service primary teachers’ perceived learning from engaging in formal Lesson Study

While there is abundant research reporting the impact of Lesson Study as a professional development framework for qualified teachers, its potential within initial teacher education remains relatively unexplored. We present a particular model of formal Lesson Study which has been experienced annually for a decade by Irish pre-service primary teachers. This study examines the perceived effects on learning of this Lesson Study model on a large sample of pre-service primary teachers (N = 225) who worked in 45 different lesson study groups over a 10 year period (2008–2017). Data analysis reveals that participants’ perceptions of learning fell within two distinct themes namely ‘An awakening regarding teacher content knowledge’ and ‘Cornerstones of learner-centred practice’, each of which consisted of rich inter-connected sub-themes. As a result of engaging in Lesson Study, participants report an increased awareness of the importance of deep content knowledge in addition to adopting a learner-centred approach to their practice. Participants also believed that Lesson Study enhanced their professional knowledge and skills in the curricular area of focus (mathematics, in this case). While this study focuses on self-report data, these opinions are fundamental given research which proposes that interventions will fail if participants judge them to be ineffective.

From learner-centred to learning-centred: Becoming a ‘hybrid’ practitioner

This study examined the educational life histories of five Mexican EFL teachers, and specifically how “learner-centred” they felt their beliefs and practices were at different points in time. The methods used included semi-structured interviews and a written timeline activity. All five teachers began with mainly teacher-centred beliefs and practices, but eventually became more convinced by more learner-centred approaches. However, they struggled to fully put these beliefs into practice due to contextual constraints in their working contexts. This led them to adopt a “hybrid” combination of teacher- and learner-centred practices. The study casts further doubt on the notion of learner-centred education as a “best practice” of education, and stresses the need for contextually appropriate pedagogies to be promoted at policy level.

Student resistance in a literary translation classroom: a study within an instructional conversion experience from a transmissionist approach to a transformationist one

ABSTRACTWhile enacting innovative learner-centered practices has been reported to instigate, at least initially, student negative responses in diverse contexts, studies in translation education adhering to teaching approaches informed by social-constructivism have paid no great attention to student resistance, as one potential threatening factor, in response to the newly employed approaches. This study aims at addressing this under-researched but important aspect in the design, development, and implementation process. In a course redesign plan aimed at advancing towards a learner-centered approach in the course literary translation, we found student resistance as one major threat to the plan’s ultimate success. Although attempts were made to anticipate student resistance and enact several prevention strategies, by mid-semester we found the majority of the students still resistant. An investigation into student resistance types and sources revealed that the majority of the students did not perceive the problem as being instructor-owned. Data collected through the questionnaire on students’ characteristics alongside follow-up interviews highlighted students’ lack of motivation as one important variable worth investigating in the first place. Results from the analysis of motivational factors better justified student resistance. Implications were discussed in the light of the relevant literature for our pedagogical purposes in the upcoming semester.

Teachers’ beliefs and educational reform in India: from ‘learner-centred’ to ‘learning-centred’ education

ABSTRACTThe challenges faced by learner-centred education (LCE) reforms in developing countries may be partly explained by their failure to engage with the culturally shaped beliefs in which teachers’ practice is rooted. Drawing from a mixed methods study of 60 government primary teachers in India, this research points to cultural tensions faced by LCE reforms in India. Although India’s own Constitutional values and pedagogical reform movements support LCE’s ideals, many teachers’ beliefs are shaped by dominant ideologies that contradict LCE’s assumptions. Imposing a predetermined, ‘Western’ model of LCE practice will inevitably face challenges if not supported by teachers’ underlying beliefs – and in fact contradicts LCE’s own ideals of empowering teacher agency. Instead, the paper argues for pedagogical reforms to focus less on a predesigned model of learner-centred practice and more on its underlying beliefs: by seeking to instil culturally relevant learning-centred beliefs, and involving teachers themselves in determining what learning-centred practice might look like within their context.

Factors influencing the in-service programmes: Case study of teachers with learner-centred strategies in Blue Watersi setting

Key policies on teacher development emphasise the necessity of a teaching force that is competent to apply learner-centred practices. Barriers to learning, like poverty, present huge classroom challenges and have implications for in-service programmes intended to develop learner-centred practices. This study endeavoured to determine factors that influenced the effective implementation of in-service programmes to assist teachers with learner-centred teaching in the Blue Waters area of the Western Cape. It was anticipated that identifying these factors would assist teachers in poverty-stricken schools in an area like Blue Waters to effectively deal with poverty-related challenges of individual learners. A qualitative case study approach was applied with convenience and purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews and a document study were used as tools to collect data. The participants of this study consisted of one principal, one social worker, and one district officer from the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). Qualitative data was analysed through thematic analysis. The competencies of teachers, Department of Education (DoE) and Department of Basic Education (DBE) policy intentions, socio-economic issues, and the types of in-service development programmes were revealed as factors inhibiting the In-Service Development Programmes at schools. This study recommended that the application of this strategy needed the holistic development of teaching skills at schools in Blue Waters. Keywords: barriers to learning; in-service programmes; learner-centred strategies

Culture teaching methods in foreign language education: pre-service teachers’ reported beliefs and practices

ABSTRACTCulture teaching in a foreign language (FL) classroom involves linguistic and cultural knowledge about the target culture as well as pedagogical skills of integrating these into classroom practice. In general, more attention should be paid to culture teaching methods in FL teacher education in order to move from the traditional, teacher-centred approach towards a new dynamic and learner-centred practice. The main focus of this study is on Finnish pre-service FL teachers’ reflections and initial experiences in culture teaching during their one-year teacher education programme at a Finnish university. In 2012–2015, the data was collected through three questionnaires (N = 65) and interviews (N = 10) during consecutive one-year teacher education programmes. In the qualitative and quantitative analysis, we focused on trainees’ reflections on cultural content, methods, and initial culture teaching experiences. The main stumbling blocks in culture teaching emerging from this study were: the integration of culture into the lessons, the use of the target language, and the use of personal cultural experiences in a pedagogically meaningful way. Based on the results of our study, we suggest that more reflection and work on culture teaching is required to meet the needs of teacher trainees. The results indicate that some development in Finnish pre-service FL teachers’ perception on culture could be observed, e.g. they wanted to promote interaction and share their personal cultural experiences with their students. Furthermore, recommendations for teacher educators regarding how to teach culture teaching, and how trainees could learn to integrate it into lessons are given.