Student-centered Instructional Practices Research Articles

How Distributed Leadership Affects Social and Emotional Competence in Adolescents: The Chain Mediating Role of Student-Centered Instructional Practices and Teacher Self-Efficacy.

The social and emotional competence of adolescents serves as the cornerstone for their success and future development. This study aims to explore the impact of distributed leadership on the social and emotional competence of adolescents, examining the mediating roles of student-centered teaching practices and teacher self-efficacy. Utilizing survey data from 7246 Chinese adolescents in the SESS project, the study employs a multi-level structural equation modeling approach for data analysis. The results indicate that distributed leadership positively predicts the social and emotional competence of adolescents. Furthermore, distributed leadership exerts indirect effects on adolescents' social and emotional competence through the independent mediating roles of student-centered teaching practices and teacher self-efficacy, as well as a sequential mediation process involving student-centered teaching practices leading to teacher self-efficacy. This study elucidates how distributed leadership facilitates the development of adolescents' social and emotional competence, confirming the supportive factors influencing these crucial capacities. Simultaneously, it provides valuable insights into the daily practices of teachers, principals, and administrators.

“Protected Teaching Spaces”: Opportunities and Constraints When Teaching for the edTPA

Preservice teacher performance assessments, such as the edTPA, are one of the accountability policies from states and local authorities designed to ensure the quality of beginning teachers and standardize teacher education. We studied experiences of 65 preservice teachers regarding the effect of the edTPA on their learning in field-placement classrooms. These cases revealed that the edTPA created “protected teaching spaces” for participants to experiment with student-centered instructional practices supported in university courses and codified in edTPA rubrics. This was especially impactful for novices who previously had limited opportunities to try out equitable reform-oriented instruction in their placements. In these cases, the edTPA also helped mitigate inequities in learning to teach, an unintended outcome that is important for policymakers to consider when deciding on credentialing requirements.

Supporting STEM Faculty of Large Enrollment Undergraduate Courses: A Mixed Methods Study of Impact

A plethora of literature exists identifying the importance of engaging students in learning within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) undergraduate courses, making professional development (PD) for faculty teaching these courses vital. Yet few studies of PD programs focus on STEM faculty, incorporate direct measures of faculty practice, and seek to understand the student experience in courses taught by these faculty. In this study, I examine the impact of a program for faculty teaching large enrollment STEM courses on their perceptions, instructional practices, and student perceptions of learning. The program included a week-long course design institute (35 hrs) and a year-long STEM Faculty Learning Community (STEM-FLC) that met monthly (14 hrs). Data included faculty surveys, course syllabi, observations of teaching, and Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs). Results suggest the program helped instructors create more learning-focused courses and implement student-centered instructional practices to differing degrees. Despite the STEM-FLC, faculty still perceived barriers to implementing their course design. Students’ perceptions of course instruction and self-reported learning in these courses highlighted the importance of in-class activities. Finally, when the course design and instructional practice were aligned, students had more positive perceptions and reported higher learning gains compared to students in courses with misalignments in design and practice. Based on the findings of the study and connection with PD literature, I provide a set of essential PD features that may enable STEM faculty to make meaningful and lasting changes to practice.

Exploring Factors associated with the implementation of student-centered instructional practices in U.S. classrooms

This study explored school- and teacher-level factors associated with a higher probability of teachers’ implementation of student-centered instructional practices. These practices include adaptive instruction and active teaching strategies that support learning enhanced by information communication technology (ICT), collaborative small-group learning, and project-based learning. We used data from the U.S. sample in the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013, which consisted of 1112 teachers from 89 public schools. Results showed that teacher participating in professional development (PD) in ICT and approaches to individualized learning, receiving student feedback, and student assessments were related to a higher level of implementing student-centered instruction.

Transforming education with community-developed teaching materials: evidence from direct observations of STEM college classrooms

BackgroundThe Classroom Observation Project employs direct observations of geoscience teaching across the USA using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) to quantify the use of reformed teaching practices. We report on 345 RTOP observations used to evaluate the extent of teaching reform when curricular materials developed as part of the InTeGrate Project (ITG) were used. The InTeGrate Project has published 40 modules of curricular materials that teach geoscience in the context of societal issues and support instructors through guided use of student-centered instructional practices. All ITG materials were developed by teams of instructors, follow a consistent structure, and were evaluated against a project rubric.ResultsRTOP scores for classes observed when ITG materials were used (ITG; n = 50, M = 54.0) are significantly higher than RTOP scores for classes observed when ITG materials were not used (non-ITG; n = 295; M = 39.8; p < .0001). ITG observations all have RTOP scores in the student-centered (≥ 50) or transitional (31–49) instructional categories, and none in the teacher-centered instructional category (≤ 30), demonstrating that ITG materials support more student-centered teaching in class sessions where they are used. In 33 paired observations of the same instructor teaching with and without ITG materials, mean RTOP scores when teaching with ITG are greater than mean RTOP scores when teaching without ITG (M = 54 and M = 47.1, respectively).ConclusionsRTOP observations reveal that more student-centered instructional practices occur in class sessions in which ITG materials are used. There is a small range of RTOP scores when individual ITG activities are used by multiple instructors, suggesting that using ITG materials results in a consistent quality of instruction. The complete absence of teacher-centered instruction when using ITG materials means the materials are a useful resource for practicing reformed teaching methods. The model of the ITG Project in the creation and broad dissemination of ready-made curricula for use in large numbers of classrooms can be replicated to transform teaching and learning in other disciplinary communities.

Design Features of an Effective and Theoretically Grounded Training Program for Undergraduate Teaching Assistants in the Life Sciences

Research over the last decade has indicated that active learning and student-centered instruction lead to better learning outcomes in undergraduate biology courses than traditional methods such as lecturing. This shift in pedagogical approach has been applied to both high-enrollment lecture-based courses as well as smaller laboratory courses. In these laboratory courses, the primary instructor is often a graduate or undergraduate student teaching assistant. Such novice instructors often lack the pedagogical knowledge and experience to implement student-centered instructional practices such as inquiry effectively. Therefore, to fully realize the benefits of inquiry-based laboratories for undergraduate students, the instructors of these courses require support.&#x0D; In this paper, we present a design case for a theoretically and contextually grounded professional development program that provides pedagogical support for undergraduate teaching assistants of a college biology laboratory course. Four undergraduate teaching assistants participated in our 12-week program. These participants were assigned weekly readings, turned in periodic reflective writings, and met with an experienced teaching mentor (Thompson) on a monthly basis. As designers, we grounded our design in the current literature but also built-in flexibility to be responsive to participants’ needs throughout the experience. Participants found it challenging to reflect on pedagogical strategies early in their experience, but found the additional support provided by the program very useful as they developed. Finally, we discuss the participant feedback that is being incorporated into future designs of professional development programming.

Affective Factors and Instructional Practices in Mathematics Among Elementary School Teachers

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to explore the relationships between mathematical beliefs, mathematical attitudes, mathematics anxiety and instructional practices in mathematics of the elementary school teachers in Guiuan districts. This study included 143 elementary school teachers handling mathematics classes. The Pearson-Product Moment Coefficient was the statistical tool used to examine the relationships between variables. Results indicated a statistically significant positive relationship between mathematical beliefs and instructional practices in mathematics, significant positive relationship between mathematical attitudes and instructional practices in mathematics, and significant negative relationship between mathematics anxiety and instructional practices in mathematics. The teachers-respondents hold a constructivist belief about mathematics, have a positive attitude towards mathematics, experience neutral level of mathematics anxiety, and utilizes student-centered instructional practices in mathematics. Their instructional practices in mathematics is significantly affected by their mathematical beliefs, mathematical attitudes and mathematics anxiety. This study suggests that in curriculum implementation, affective factors like beliefs, attitudes, and anxiety must be given importance just like content knowledge. This study further suggests that teacher educators should strive to minimize mathematics anxiety among prospective teachers more than just teaching mathematical pedagogies and content knowledge as this will eventually lead to the development of effective student-centered instructional practices in mathematics.

Clinging to the Edge of Chaos: The Emergence of Practice in the First Year of Teaching

Background/ContextNew teachers must cope with various instructional, personal and organizational challenges, an experience that often leads to difficulties enacting innovative, student-centered instructional practices learned in their preservice programs and contributes to high rates of teacher attrition.PurposeDrawing on complexity theory, this review of empirical research takes an organizational or “systems” perspective on the experiences of first-year teachers as they transition from preservice education to the teaching profession. In so doing, we aim to shift away from constructions of the teacher as an autonomous actor and instead build a more complex, nuanced, and layered understanding of the multidimensional influences that work together to shape the practices of novice teachers.Research DesignWe conducted a metasynthesis of 46 studies that met the following criteria: (a) were focused on first-year teachers, (b) offered sufficient description of participants’ professional practices, (c) featured participants who attended a university-based preparation program, and (d) were conducted since 1990. We first recorded each study's methods, findings, and descriptions of first-year teacher practices. As a second level of analysis, we used a complexity lens to identify the systems comprising first-year teacher practices, noting how those systems and their component or elements interacted to shape first-year teaching.Findings/ResultsWe found that common patterns of interactions between and among systems of first-year teaching—including the teacher herself, the classroom, the school, and the larger district, state, and federal environments—tend to reinforce traditional, teacher-centered practices. Yet, in some studies, conditions surfaced that enabled participants’ to enact student-centered and equity-minded teaching practices learned in their preservice programs.Conclusions/RecommendationsAuthors suggest that taking a complex systems view of beginning teaching, rather than singularly focusing on the teacher's actions out of context, can reveal opportunities for fostering more supportive, enabling conditions for new teachers to enact innovative practices that many preservice programs promote and experience a smoother transition into teaching.

How Student Centered is the Computer Science Classroom? A Survey of College Faculty

Student-centered instructional practices structure a class so that students interact with each other, engage deeply with the content, and receive formative feedback. These evidence-based practices benefit all students but are particularly effective with underrepresented learners, including women and members of other minority groups. To what extent have computer science (CS) faculty embraced these strategies? We surveyed over 700 U.S. faculty to find out. Results suggest that female faculty, associate professors, and those teaching courses with enrollment above 80 students are more likely to use these student-centered practices. Across all responses, 20% of faculty use student--student interaction on a regular basis during class. In contrast, 38% of faculty rely on lectures for content delivery. Results were also compared with published data for other academic disciplines. CS faculty are less likely to use these practices compared to their non-STEM colleagues but more likely to use these practices compared to other STEM discipline faculty. Overall, CS faculty have adopted student-centered practices to some degree, but our community should strive for higher adoption rates to help as many students as possible learn and remain in computer science.

Teachers’ Uses of a Learning Trajectory in Student-Centered Instructional Practices

The growing national attention to students’ learning trajectories (LTs) renews the opportunity to explore the ways that teachers may use students’ thinking in their instruction. In this article, we examine teachers’ learning of two frameworks, one for students’ thinking in a particular domain and one for broad student-centered instructional practices, in the context of an elementary grades mathematics professional development setting. As a part of a retrospective analysis of a design experiment, we analyzed 19 lessons of teachers who participated in 60 hr of professional development designed to support their learning of one LT and one framework about student-centered instructional practices. Our findings describe the ways in which teachers brought together these frameworks to enact instructional practices that elicit and use students’ mathematical thinking in classroom instruction. We conclude by arguing that LTs can serve as a referent for student-centered instructional practices, bridging guidelines for student-centered instruction with domain-specific understandings of students’ thinking for teachers.

How Does Ongoing Task-Focused Mathematics Professional Development Influence Elementary School Teachers’ Knowledge, Beliefs and Enacted Pedagogies?

This study examined how a task-focused, year-long mathematics professional development program influenced elementary school teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and practices. Participants completed 84 h of professional development over 13 months that were focused on exploring, modifying and implementing cognitively-demanding mathematical tasks. Using a multi-methods approach, teacher-participants completed pre- and post-measures of mathematical knowledge for teaching, teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning mathematics, and teachers’ self-reports of enacted instructional practices. Further, three teacher-participants were randomly selected to be observed 3 times over the course of the school year. Data analyses indicated that the professional development had a statistically significant positive impact on participants’ mathematical knowledge for teaching, use of student-centered instructional practices, and beliefs towards mathematics as a subject area. Further, the observed teachers enacted some high-level mathematical tasks and questions, but these were more visible at the end of the study compared to the beginning of the study. Implications for future work are also shared.

Pipeline to Preparation to Advancement: Graduates’ Experiences In, Through, and Beyond Leadership Preparation

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to describe the nature of preparation among a nonpurposeful sample of 17 leadership preparation programs and to investigate the relationship of their participants’ characteristics, program experiences, leadership learning, and initial career outcomes. The study was guided by prior research on innovative programs (Darling Hammond, Meyerson, La Pointe, &amp; Orr, 2009; Leithwood, Jantzi, Coffin, &amp; Wilson, 1996). Data Collection and Analysis: Faculty members from 13 institutions (two with multiple programs) surveyed their graduates between 2004 and 2007 using a common survey instrument developed by the University Continuing Education Association Learning and Teaching in Educational Leadership Special Interest Group Taskforce on Evaluating Leadership Preparation Programs. Of these, 471 had completed their program from 0 to three years prior; their responses were aggregated by program and analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlational analyses. Findings: The results show that programs had many recommended innovative program features, varied somewhat on content focus, challenge, coherence, use of active student-centered instructional practices, and internship length and quality. These were positively associated with the extent of graduates’ learning in five areas of leadership, their satisfaction with the program, and their beliefs about the principalship. Conclusions: The results confirm prior research that how aspiring school leaders are prepared influences what they learn and their career intentions. The results validate the survey measures in discriminating among programs, and identifying areas for improvement.

A Dialogic Pedagogy: Looking to Mikhail Bakhtin for Alternatives to Standards Period Teaching Practices

Instructional practices in American schools have become increasingly standardized over the last quarter century. This increase in standardization has resulted in a decrease in opportunities for teachers to engage in student-centered instructional practices. This article discusses how the theories of Mikhail Bakhtin can serve as the foundation for educators who are seeking alternatives to standards period teaching practices. A Bakhtinian view of language can be the basis for the creation of a dialogic pedagogy, which can help teachers and students navigate the complexities of teaching and learning in the secondary English classroom. More importantly, perhaps, Bakhtin’s theories can serve as a framework on which educators might build their arguments supporting the implementation of alternatives to standards period skill and drill instructional activities.

Comparing the Impact of Accountability Examinations on Mississippi and Tennessee Social Studies Teachers' Instructional Practices

This study compared the impact of state accountability examinations on social studies teachers' instructional practices. Data were obtained from a survey instrument given to a representative sample of Mississippi teachers who teach the same content tested on their state's high-stakes high school graduation examination and a representative sample of Tennessee teachers who teach the same content tested on their state's relatively lower stakes End-Of-Course examination. An analysis found teachers in both states using a combination of teacher-centered and student-centered instructional practices. But Mississippi teachers' use of instructional practices was most influenced by examination-related factors, whereas Tennessee teachers' use of instructional practices was most influenced by personal-related factors. I use the entire academic year preparing my students for the United States history subject area exam. My choice of instructional delivery and materials is completely dependent on preparation for this test. Therefore, I do not use current events, long-term projects, or creative group/corporate work because this is not tested and the delivery format is not used. All my tests reflect the testing format of the subject area tests—multiple-choice and open-ended questions. This delivery and curriculum format is not used in my other classes (United States Government and Economics). In these nontested classes, I do use a variety of instructional methods and curriculum resources. While I agree with the principle of student/teacher/administrator accountability, … by making the goal of my United States history course the ability to pass the state test, I'm afraid that all meaningfulness and relevancy to history is being lost on my students. As a result, they have a better factual base but a worse conceptual understanding of the subject and what it is good for. A Mississippi high school United States history teacher I try to teach in a manner that will prepare students for college. For me, that's the bottom line. I am sick and tried of hearing about educational accountability and things such as learning expectations, performance indicators, Gateway Tests, and for my course [United States History], the End-of-Course Test. Even though the End-of-Course Test isn't really a high-stakes test such as the Gateway Test because high school graduation doesn't ride on the results of this test, still, the result of this test affect the content I teach, the way I teach, and grade I give students in this course. There is too much game playing in teaching today! There are too many people trying to tell me how to teach; I know how. — A Tennessee high school United States history teacher

Technology as a Catalyst for Change

This paper presents an analysis of results from an evaluation of The Centers for Quality Teaching and Learning, a professional development program placing technology in the context of student-centered instructional practices. This analysis focuses on the relationship between the professional development and teachers’ use of technology in their classroom and their general instructional practices. The results from this study indicate teachers increased their use of technology in ways viewed as more constructivist, regardless of their broader instructional practices. One possible explanation may be the instructional context of the professional development that teachers experience.

The Impact of Content-Driven State Education Reform on Instruction

This study analyzes survey-based information on state policies and school practices together to explore the impact of content-driven state education reform on instruction in middle grade mathematics. Content-driven reform focuses on developing challenging curriculum frameworks and linking student assessments and textbook selection to the frameworks. At the same time, student-centered instructional practices with a strong emphasis on higher-order thinking skills are considered positive signs of the policy implementation. The study finds that content-driven state policies have great influences on instruction at the school level, and are associated with desired instructional practices at the classroom level. Further, the cases of California and Minnesota indicate that content-driven reform brings about greater impact on instruction than does outcome-based reform. But current state curriculum frameworks remain to be well aligned with instructional materials as well as with student assessments for a more coherent instructional guidance system.