Student-Centered Instruction

Student-Centered Instruction

How do you know if an activity fulfills the criteria for authentic or student-centered instruction? 

The primary purpose of student-centered instruction is to give the learner choices.  Students help decide what material they learn and how they will learn it.  They co-create an individualized curriculum with an educator that meets their interests and needs and fulfills the state graduation requirement (Sudderth, 2022).  When students are invested in their education and take the time to help design the schedule and choose the methods of instruction, they are more apt to be successful.   

What indicators reveal if an activity creates a more engaging learning environment among diverse students?

The four pillars on which education throughout life is based are learning to know, do, live together, and be (Schultz, 2019).  Learning to know should combine broad knowledge with chances to work in depth on small projects.  Learning to do is about acquiring skills and developing the ability to work on a team. Learning to live together is about building understanding and appreciation of others, working well together, solving conflicts, being respectful, and working toward understanding.  If an activity has one or more of these four pillars—it would be an engaging learning environment for any type of learner.  The key is to make sure students are challenged. 

Which of Marzano’s nine strategies for increasing rigor should an activity always incorporate? 

Marzano’s ‘generate and testing hypotheses’ for a gifted academic would significantly increase rigor.   For diverse learners, cultural differences, and language issues, I would offer ‘nonlinguistic representations’ as an avenue to increasing rigor for students.

References

Schultz, K. (2019). Module 8: Critiquing rigor and appropriateness part 1transcript: Critiquing resources and materials. American College of Education. Retrieved August 30, 2023, from https://ace.instructure.com/courses/1916004/external_tools/118428

Sudderth, A. (2022, January 5). What is student centered learning and why is it important? XQ. Retrieved August 30, 2023, from https://xqsuperschool.org/teaching-learning/what-is-student-centered-learning/