Tag: student perceptions

Student Perceptions of Learner-Centered Teaching

The learner-centered paradigm departs from traditional teaching models by focusing on students more than teachers and learning more than teaching. Thus, classes are more egalitarian; they emphasize critical thinking, active learning, and real-world assignments. Graduate students in learner-centered classrooms were surveyed about perceptions of their experiences in relation to the key dimensions of the learner-centered paradigm and noted that the approach contributed to their feeling respected as learners, developed their critical thinking skills, and encouraged their self-directedness. Based on these findings, post-secondary instructors are encouraged to experiment with learning-centered approaches to further explore this promising model.

The Intersection of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning with Online Course Design in Teacher Education

This study employed a web-based survey investigating graduate students’ perceptions of effectiveness of various learning activities in an online teacher education course designed to teach instructional strategies. Learner-centered evaluation allows for insights into the teaching and learning process, and learner satisfaction is particularly critical in determining quality in distance education. The findings would inform a redesign of the course with the goal to enhance learning, using students as evaluators. The students’ ratings and comments of course activities are discussed, and implications related to course redesign are examined.

When Rubrics Collide: One Writing Tutor’s Experience Negotiating Faculty and Institutional Assessments

This article recounts one undergraduate writing tutor’s experience helping a fellow peer navigate an institutional assessment rubric that seemed to contrast the assessment criteria provided by the student’s instructor. This article presents a reflection on that experience, framed by Hutchings, Huber, and Ciccone’s (2011) work on institutional assessment and the scholarship of teaching and learning.

A Student’s Experience and View on College Teaching and Learning

Through my college experience and my reflection on The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Reconsidered, I have come to recognize several ideas that have greatly impacted me, my views on learning, and my actual learning. My overall experience in college has been beneficial because of the teachers who approached teaching with a more conscious effort and taught me to approach learning and my role as learner in the same way. This essay highlights many of the aspects of the chapter, “Teachers and Learning,” that have been beneficial for me throughout my educational career, and a few notes on changes that may have helped.

Using Technology-Nested Instructional Strategies to Enhance Student Learning

Students today expect the use of technology in their classes, rather than have to listen to less-than-engaging lectures. College students are connected electronically and incessant technology consumers. As a result, they may prefer the infusion of technologies to help them learn and enjoy the process of learning, rather than having to listen exclusively to lectures. To investigate this, the authors solicited student perceptions to assess the importance of learning through technology-nested instructional strategies. Student perceptions give direction to and affirm the benefits of instructional strategies that increase student motivation to engage more actively in their learning. Based on quantitative and qualitative responses through action research in multiple courses, students perceive their learning as more engaging and enjoyable when technology-nested instructional strategies are infused into their classes.

Creative Writing Assignments in a Second Language Course: A Way to Engage Less Motivated Students

This article makes a case for using creative writing in a second language course. Creative writing increases students’ enthusiasm for writing skills development and supports students’ creativity, which is a fundamental aspect of education. In order to engage less motivated students, a series of creative writing assignments was implemented in a second language writing course. This study presents the rationale for the use of creative writing grounded in critical pedagogy and the context of instruction. Data collection focused on the content of students’ writing and their attitudes towards creative writing and critical pedagogy. The results show that all the participating students found the assignment both enjoyable and beneficial for the development of their writing ability. However, the students’ perceptions of critical pedagogy varied. The author argues for greater employment of creative writing in second language courses in the future.

An Engaging, Yet Failed Flip

The flipped classroom is growing significantly as a model of learning in higher education. However, there are ample problems with the research on flipped classrooms, including where success is often defined by student perceptions and a lack of consistent, empirical research supporting improved academic learning. This quasi-experimental study describes a semester-long comparison of two of the same courses taught by the same instructor utilizing a primarily didactic lecture approach and a flipped classroom approach. The experiment found results in which students in the didactic lecture class had significantly higher end-of-course scores than those in the flipped classroom; however, with regards to a document-based analytic essay question there was no statistically significant difference.

How Age, Gender, and Class Format Relate to Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions of Effective Course Assessments

Students’ perceptions of assessment used within the learning environment greatly influence their approach to learning. Therefore, this study aims to explore whether various student or course characteristics (age, gender, course format) impact perceptions regarding effectiveness of assessment type (e.g., exam, participation, presentation) and question format. As faculty develop their courses they may wish to consider these perceptions in order to better facilitate learning and to clearly articulate to their students the benefits of the assessment types that the students see as less effective.