Student-Centered and Constructivist Approaches to Instruction
Description
In the classroom, there are many challenges that involve student-centered instruction. The teacher in the classroom along with students are faced with these challenges that both can overcome.
Analysis
A challenge of student-centered instruction for teachers is students want to be rewarded for doing well. Some kind of recognition or small reward must be provided to groups that do well, so that group members can see that it is in their interest to help their groupmates learn (Slavin, 2014, p. 204). This becomes a challenge because not all group members participate in group activities. At times, some students do all or most of the work in cooperative learning groups while other students get recognition when they have not contributed to the work. So, this is a challenge for teachers and students because there may not be individual accountability. That is, success of the group must depend on the individual learning of all group members, not on a single group project (Slavin, 2014, p. 204).
To overcome these challenges, teachers should hold each student accountable for a portion of the group work. Teachers can assign different roles that each student has to do to get credit for the assignment. The teacher can group students using different cooperative learning methods like jigsaw. It is where each student gets a section to work on then come together to create a group product. Another method students can use to overcome challenges for student-centered instruction is using the method of group investigation. With that method students form their own groups and have subtopics. Each student in the group then have individual tasks they must complete to form the group report or activity.
Reflection
The constructivist view of learning is when students construct knowledge in their own minds. By giving students opportunities to discover and apply what they know to solve problems and learn ways to discover complex information. To become a better teacher, I will use this theory in my class every day. I like when students learn through discovery and when they are able to explain what they just did to solve the problem.
To me constructivism means students learn to discovery in cooperative learning groups with peers. I do not group students with mixed ability and my class though. Cooperative learning groups in my class are grouped homogeneously so the activities can be differentiated. I found that mixing the students by different ability leads to some students doing more of the work than others. In the future, I will incorporate activities that students have different roles to get credit for the assignment.
A positive aspect of student-centered learning is that students can discover how to do activities or problems their own ways. The teacher can still assist if the students need them too. This is good because if I see a student doing a problem wrong, I can intervene and correct them before the whole problem becomes wrong. I love to see my students interact with each other to solve problems by using skills that I have taught them.
If I see students not participating in group activities, I might handle the situation by removing them from the group and giving them another assignment in lieu of the group activity. Then the next time we do a group activity, I will have an activity in which students must be accountable for their portion of the final group activity.
References
Slavin, R. E. (2014). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (11th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
In the classroom, there are many challenges that involve student-centered instruction. The teacher in the classroom along with students are faced with these challenges that both can overcome.
Analysis
A challenge of student-centered instruction for teachers is students want to be rewarded for doing well. Some kind of recognition or small reward must be provided to groups that do well, so that group members can see that it is in their interest to help their groupmates learn (Slavin, 2014, p. 204). This becomes a challenge because not all group members participate in group activities. At times, some students do all or most of the work in cooperative learning groups while other students get recognition when they have not contributed to the work. So, this is a challenge for teachers and students because there may not be individual accountability. That is, success of the group must depend on the individual learning of all group members, not on a single group project (Slavin, 2014, p. 204).
To overcome these challenges, teachers should hold each student accountable for a portion of the group work. Teachers can assign different roles that each student has to do to get credit for the assignment. The teacher can group students using different cooperative learning methods like jigsaw. It is where each student gets a section to work on then come together to create a group product. Another method students can use to overcome challenges for student-centered instruction is using the method of group investigation. With that method students form their own groups and have subtopics. Each student in the group then have individual tasks they must complete to form the group report or activity.
Reflection
The constructivist view of learning is when students construct knowledge in their own minds. By giving students opportunities to discover and apply what they know to solve problems and learn ways to discover complex information. To become a better teacher, I will use this theory in my class every day. I like when students learn through discovery and when they are able to explain what they just did to solve the problem.
To me constructivism means students learn to discovery in cooperative learning groups with peers. I do not group students with mixed ability and my class though. Cooperative learning groups in my class are grouped homogeneously so the activities can be differentiated. I found that mixing the students by different ability leads to some students doing more of the work than others. In the future, I will incorporate activities that students have different roles to get credit for the assignment.
A positive aspect of student-centered learning is that students can discover how to do activities or problems their own ways. The teacher can still assist if the students need them too. This is good because if I see a student doing a problem wrong, I can intervene and correct them before the whole problem becomes wrong. I love to see my students interact with each other to solve problems by using skills that I have taught them.
If I see students not participating in group activities, I might handle the situation by removing them from the group and giving them another assignment in lieu of the group activity. Then the next time we do a group activity, I will have an activity in which students must be accountable for their portion of the final group activity.
References
Slavin, R. E. (2014). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (11th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
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