Student centric web - Red Centrada en el Estudiante

a passion for teaching

How to make your teaching more focused on your learners

Student-centric teaching with a

learning platform

About the author

Morten Fahlvik is from Bergen, Norway, where he works as an Educational Researcher.

Trained as a teacher, Morten has taught in primary schools, been a teacher trainer and

investigated the pedagogical use of ICT at the Centre for New Media at Bergen University

College.

In many ways, it can be redundant to talk about student-centric teaching – all teaching should be centred around learners. But most educational research indicates that the teacher’s voice still plays an overly dominant role in teaching. Instead, as teachers we must do more to activate our students in the learning process. Student-centric teaching is one way to achieve this.

What is student-centric teaching?There is no simple answer to this question and

no single definition of student-centric teaching.

However, most people agree that student-centric

teaching is connected with teaching practice

that accommodates the needs of each individual

student. This includes teaching principles such as

differentiated, individualised and personalised

teaching. While these principles vary, they all

share a common trait:

the teaching is based firmly on the students

and their skills.

Focus on learningThere is seldom doubt in the classroom as to

whether or not students have been taught. What

is difficult, however, is to determine how much

students have actually learned. As a result, student-

centric teaching increasingly emphasises what

students learn over what teachers teach.

The goal of student-centric teaching is to give

students the opportunity to develop their cognitive

skills in a well-functioning learning environment,

instead of being spoon-fed knowledge, until they

become independent enough to act as their own

teachers and take control of their own learning.

A deliberate effort is required to raise students

to this level. Teachers, school principals, fellow

students and parents must all contribute and take

on new roles. For the teacher, this new role is to

ensure all students participate actively in the

learning environment and to monitor the students’

cognitive development. The question is: How can

you organise your teaching and assessment in

order to help your students become independent

and capable of developing their cognitive skills?

There is, of course, no ‘miracle cure’. The list of

student-centric teaching strategies is endless. So

this whitepaper outlines three strategies that

are relatively easy to implement and can lead to

successful student-centric teaching in a number of

teaching scenarios.

Student-centric teaching

Contents

4 Strategy 1Creating a culture of student-centred

assessment and self-assessment

6 Teaching scenarioStudent-centric writing lessons

8 Strategy 2Understanding by Design and

backwards planning

10 Teaching scenarioBackwards planning and self-

assessment in chemistry classes

12 Strategy 3Flipped learning

14 Teaching scenarioLearning the guitar in a flipped

environment

16 ConclusionChoosing your own path to student-

centric teaching

16 References and further reading

Learn three strategies for

implementing student-centric

teaching in your classes

See examples of how these

strategies are being put into

practice by real teachers

Find a list of other literature

and resources to provide

inspiration for further work

In this whitepaper,

you will:

As focus increases on the quality of feedback from

teachers to students, many schools are working

to establish good formative assessment cultures.

Nevertheless, research reveals that students only

assimilate a small proportion of the feedback they

receive. The strategy described here enables you to

shift focus from the feedback you give to how well

your students actually take on board your feedback.

In practice, you can achieve this by encouraging

your students to devote more time and energy

to reflecting on their own work. Reflection is

fundamentally self-assessment and in order for your

students to assess themselves, it is essential that

they understand the goals and success criteria of

their learning. Therefore, good assessment practice

requires that you help your students understand:

- How far their learning has progressed

- The actual goal of each lesson

- What they must do to close the gap between

their own skills and the goals they are to reach

These are not new ideas. In 1989, Royce Sadler

wrote an article titled Formative assessment and

the design of instructional systems, in which he

Strategy 1Creating a culture of student-centred assessment and self-assessment

S t u d e n t - c e n t r i c t e a c h i n g w i t h a l e a r n i n g p l a t f o r m 5

not only describes these three conditions, but also

concludes that students must be trained to be able to

assess their own skills and progress. In other words,

students must become ‘assessment capable’ and

independent of their teachers.

The transition from exclusively teacher-generated

feedback to self-regulated students is not something

that occurs spontaneously. It is a process that demands

thorough and targeted work, and it is crucial that

students gain experience of assessing themselves and

receive help when developing good strategies for self-

assessment.

The following scenario shows how

one teacher has achieved this. »

...students must

become ‘assessment

capable’ and

independent of their

teachers.

6

David Walton teaches English to 10 and 11-year-old students at Kibworth Primary School in

Leicestershire, England. The classroom has only one computer (with internet access), which the

teacher and students share. Nevertheless, David has developed a teaching practice that utilises

the opportunities given by itslearning, the school’s online learning platform. The scenario

described here illustrates how David and his students work to develop persuasive writing skills.

Student-centric writing lesson with David Walton

David starts the teaching process by

introducing the concept of persuasive writing

and its distinguishing features. The students

are introduced to the goal of the learning:

they are to write a letter encouraging readers

to donate money to a school in Gambia.

David and his students then examine

a selection of persuasive texts. During

breakout sessions, the students discuss which

elements in the texts are facts, opinions and

arguments. David then gives the students

two assignments that they are to begin in the

classroom and then complete at home.

Assignment 1:

David has posted a short persuasive text

in an itslearning discussion forum. In the

comments field of the forum, the students

must explain what they consider to be the

main points of the text, and make suggestions

for what the next paragraph could contain.

By using an online discussion forum, David

ensures that the comments left by the

students are visible to the rest of the class,

which essentially creates a group discussion

online.

Lesson 1:

Defining the goals and laying the groundwork

Assignment 2:

In their writing books, the students must

write the opening paragraph of their

fundraising letter for the school in Gambia.

Strategy 1/ teaching scenario


Lesson 2:

Giving feedback to others At the start of the next lesson, David briefly recaps

the previous lesson and reminds the students of the

overall goal of the class. Then, in order to ensure that all

students receive feedback on assignment 2, David uses

a method he calls: What Went Well & Even Better If.

When David mentions these familiar practises, his

students quickly take out their writing books and

swap with another student. They then assess their

fellow student’s text, giving written feedback on what

went well, as well as what could be done to make the

text better. As they do this, David walks around the

classroom, reading the students’ writing and assisting

individual students when necessary.

The class continues with a short summary about what

constitutes good feedback and some students read aloud

the feedback they have given. This helps the students

learn how to give constructive feedback and forms an

excellent basis for learning to assess oneself.

David then projects the itslearning

discussion forum (assignment

1) onto an overhead screen.

He reads some of the comments aloud and asks the

students to comment on some of the statements in the

forum. In David’s experience, some students prefer

to make comments orally in class, while others are

more comfortable making their contributions to class

discussions in writing. Combining the two different

forms in this way allows more students to play an

active role in the conversation. The students take notes

on mini-whiteboards and use these notes in the group

conversations that follow.

Over the previous two classes, the students have been

introduced to the overall goal, seen examples of good

persuasive writing and given feedback to and received

feedback from their peers. They are now ready to

finish writing their persuasive text (assignment 2). The

students do this in class and David helps individual

students when necessary.

David’s classes

include a mix of

whole group work,

work in small groups

and individual

instruction.

What Went Well & Even Better If.

8

An important prerequisite for learning is that students

themselves believe that they can reach the goals that have

been set for them. One of the key tasks for teachers, therefore,

is to ensure that students understand both the content of the

teaching and its goals.

The American educational experts Grant Wiggins and Jay

McTighe have developed a framework and methodology for

planning that provides teachers with a systematic approach

to helping students understand the content and goals of

teaching. The concept is called Understanding by Design

(UbD) and, according to McTighe, there are two primary

intentions embedded in the title:

Strategy 2

- Focus on understanding (including assessment for

learning and the ability of students to demonstrate

and apply what they have learned)

- Design of appropriate teaching processes based

firmly on teaching goals

Understanding by Design and

backwards planning


UbD emphasises the

teacher’s role as the designer

of student learning. It helps

you clarify the learning objectives,

document student understanding and

develop efficient and engaging learning

activities. For many teachers, time limitations often

create a conflict between a content-rich curriculum and

established pedagogical values such as critical thinking,

creativity and the ability to cooperate with others.

This method gives you a three-step way of prioritising

activities during your planning.

Assessment is a crucial component in UbD, but it is

important to emphasise that UbD is a framework for

planning and not a teaching method. Wiggins himself

makes the point that even poor teachers can have a

good plan. As such, a good plan will not make you a

better teacher, but it will lay the foundation for better

teaching.

Backward design{ Planning } Step 1:

Identify desired results

What knowledge, skills

and understanding

should students have

after the teaching process

is finished?

Step 2:Determine acceptable evidence

What kind of evidence

of learning is needed to

understand if students

have achieved the

desired results?

Step 3:Plan learning experiences and instruction

Which learning activities

should students try? What

content should they use?

How much time should

they spend?

Teaching Timeline

The following scenario shows how one teacher uses UbD and backwards planning to ensure students are capable of applying the knowledge and skills

they acquire. »

10


Frøydis’ assessment rubric for this lesson describes three levels of achievement

Step 1:

Preparing rubrics to make students aware of the goalFrøydis begins by preparing

assessment criteria based on the

learning objectives/standards of the

course. These assessment rubrics are

prepared in itslearning, the school’s

online learning platform, and will

be used throughout the teaching to

ensure students are always aware

of what is expected of them. For

example, one lesson plan states:

“The goal of this lesson is for students

to be able to explain the concepts of

entropy and enthalpy and use them

to determine whether a reaction is

spontaneous.”

Low-level Mid-level High-level

Explain what

endothermic and

exothermic reactions

are. Use bond energy

to calculate and

determine whether

the reaction is

endothermic or

exothermic.

Explain entropy and

enthalpy. Know the

requirements for

spontaneous reactions.

( rH-TrS<0)

Be able to discuss rH,

T and rS to determine

whether a reaction is

spontaneous or not.

Backwards planning and self-assessment in chemistry lessons with Frøydis Hamre Frøydis Hamre’s chemistry lessons

at Nordahl Grieg High School in

Bergen, Norway, are distinguished

by a strong student-centric focus.

The approach ensures students are

capable of applying the knowledge

and skills they acquire and helps train

students to assess themselves. Frøydis

bases her teaching on the principle

of backwards planning and prepares

assignments and learning activities

that will lead her students to the

stated goal.


2 3 4

As well as providing students with

insight into what is expected of

them, the rubrics form the basis for

Frøydis’ feedback on the answers

her students submit. As students

are aware of each level, the rubrics

also show them what they have

achieved and what they need to

do to reach a higher level. These

rubrics are always available for the

students to read on itslearning.

Preparing good assessment rubrics

is challenging. They must not limit

the students’ learning and curiosity

or impair their willingness to take

chances and make mistakes. The

rubric should, therefore, focus on

making students ask themselves

three questions: How well am I

doing right now? Am I on the right

track? What do I need to do to be

better?

Of course, rubrics are not the only

way that Frøydis provides feedback.

She also gives her students

continuous feedback on what they

do in class and on the exercises they

complete.

Step 2:

Practice tests and model answersIn order to help her students gain insight into the

different ways of formulating good answers and

solutions, Frøydis makes a variety of previous tests (and

their answer sheets) available on itslearning. Looking

through these tests is not mandatory, but many

students still do. In fact, many students actually take

the practise tests – either alone or in groups – before

they review the answers.

Step 3: Final evaluation with self-assessmentFrøydis’ teaching units end with a final test. However,

she had previously noted that most of her students

were only interested in the final grade and rarely read

her feedback. As the ability to reflect is crucial to self-

regulated teaching, Frøydis introduced an assessment

practice that requires her students to reflect on their

own performance and learning before they get their

grade. Briefly put, this practice is as follows:

Students receive their grades on the test.

1Frøydis reads through

each student’s test

answers and makes

notes about their

performance.

She returns the

students’ answers

(without grades or

comments) along with

a list of suggested

solutions for each

question.

The students assess

their own answers

by comparing them

to the suggested

solutions.

The students complete

a survey in itslearning

expressing how they

think they performed

and how much they

understand about the

topic.

Students reflect

on their own

performance and

learning before they

get their grade.

12

Flipped learning is commonly described as a scenario

in which students do their homework at school and

their schoolwork at home. However, flipped learning is

actually more complex and has strong student-centric

properties.

The Flipped Learning Network, an association of

teachers with experience in flipped learning, gives this

definition of the concept:

“Flipped learning is a pedagogical approach in which

direct instruction moves from the group learning space

to the individual learning space, and the resulting

group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive

learning environment where the educator guides

students as they apply concepts and engage creatively

in the subject matter.”

... there is much more

to flipped learning

than simply posting

learning materials

on the internet.

Strategy 3/ FLiPPeD Learning

It is important to note that the Flipped Learning

Network differentiates between the concepts of the

‘flipped classroom’ and ‘flipped learning’. Teaching in a

flipped classroom may lead to flipped learning, but this

is not inevitable. Many teachers have already flipped

their classrooms, so that their students read texts, watch

supplementary videos or solve assignments outside the

classroom environment. However, in order to be able

to describe your teaching as flipped learning, you must

incorporate the following four pillars:

1. Flexible learning settings (both time and space)

2. Learning culture with a student-centric focus

3. Content targeted at the goal(s) of the teaching

4. A professional teacher


In other words, there is much more to flipped

learning than simply posting learning materials

on the internet.

The teacher’s role in flipped

learning

The principal intention of flipped learning is to

make better use of classroom time by moving

parts of the instruction out of the classroom.

The teacher’s task, therefore, is to utilise the

opportunities and properties inherent in the

combination of the physical and online learning

arenas. You must carefully plan what students are

to do at home, and take into account how much

time students are to spend on their homework.

You must also assess the scope and difficulty of the

homework, and define ways to help students if they

reach an impasse.

How students control their own learning

Flipped learning enables students to review the teaching

material several times in order to fully understand the

concept. This enables them to learn at their own pace,

helping them become more self-regulated, which gives

them the time they need to find their own solutions

when they encounter difficulties in an assignment and

improves motivation.

The following scenario describes how one teacher

applies this in order to provide individualised teaching to a large group of students with

vastly differing abilities. »

14

Before teaching:

Establishing the learning objectivesThe music syllabus for students aged 12 and 13 in

Norway includes guitar lessons. At the beginning of

each unit, Kjell Rune clarifies the goals for his students

and gives them clear criteria for how to attain them.

This is done by creating an assessment rubric in

itslearning, the school’s online learning platform, that

contains the goals for the unit and assessment criteria.

The rubric clearly shows the students the learning

objectives, as well as brief descriptions of four

attainment levels: novice, beginner, expert and

advanced. All students work with the same goals and

apply the same assessment criteria.

Getting ready:

Preparing materials for use in and outside of the classroom Kjell Rune’s students have access to a wealth of

different assignments and teaching aids, including

video clips of Kjell Rune demonstrating specific

techniques, in a resource bank set up in itslearning.

There are many songs for the students to work with

in itslearning. Alongside each song title is a list of the

chords required, so that students can immediately see

which song they may be able to play. They can also

use iPads to access an app that displays guitar chords

and gives automatic feedback on how they are playing

them. The students can use these materials whenever

they wish. This enables them to work at their own pace

and focus on the details they need to practice.


Flipped learning in guitar lessons with Kjell Rune Fjellheim Kjell Rune Fjellheim teaches music at Kannik Lower Secondary School

in Stavanger, Norway, and his groups generally include students with

very different knowledge and skills. This is a challenge that teachers

face in every subject and flipped learning has enabled Kjell Rune to

overcome it.


During classes:

Creating the balance between group and individual workAs the music curriculum is broad and there is little

time, Kjell Rune thinks carefully about which elements

to cover during collective classroom instruction. His

goal is to keep this to a minimum as some students can

already play the guitar very well and basic communal

teaching would be a waste of their time. Instead, he

gives students access to the teaching resources in

itslearning so they practise in class or at home.

Kjell Rune starts each lesson by giving brief instructions

regarding goals and showing students where to find

teaching materials and practice assignments. The

students then collect

iPads and guitars

supplied by the school and

start practising. Kjell Rune

circulates round the classroom,

helping individual students as required.

Kjell Rune gives the students a host of choices, but he

also makes sure that students don’t misuse the freedom

of choice by selecting overly simple songs. He works

with individual students during class time to ensure

they are working at the right level to maintain their

incentive to learn.


Conclusion Choosing your own path to student-centric teachingThis whitepaper highlights three teaching strategies that

you can use to increase the level of student-centricity in

your teaching. But there are many more strategies that

you can use – including Growth Mindset, Gamification,

Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction and Learning

through Collaboration – and there are many paths you can

take towards more student-centric teaching. The key is to

have a broad range of strategies at your disposal, so you can

continuously assess your own teaching, check whether the

strategies you have chosen are having the desired impact,

and make adjustments to your teaching as needed.

I wish you great success in involving your students in your

teaching practice!

18

References and further reading

Flipped Learning Network (2014): Definition of

Flipped Learning, http://flippedlearning.org/cms/

lib07/VA01923112/Centricity/Domain/46/FLIP_

handout_FNL_Web.pdf

Flipped Learning Network (2014): Literature Review

on the Flipped Learning Model, http://flippedlearning.

org/cms/lib07/VA01923112/Centricity/Domain/41/

LitReview_FlippedLearning.pdf


itslearning (2012): Making assessment for learning

work, http://www.itslearning.eu/whitepaper-

assessment-for-learning

itslearning (2012): Blended learning, http://www.

itslearning.eu/whitepaper-blended-learning-and-

learningplatforms

itslearning (2013): Blended classroom, http://www.

itslearning.eu/whitepaper-the-blended-classroom

itslearning (2014): Inspiring music students by using

GarageBand on iPads, http://www.itslearning.eu/

garageband-on-ipads

itslearning (2014): Flipping the classroom at

Sandgotna school, http://www.itslearning.eu/

flipping-the-classroom-at-sandgotna-school

Elisabeth Engum (2012): http://www.itslearning.eu/

the-flipped-classroom

Jay McTighe & Grant Wiggins (2012): Understanding

by Design Framework, http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/

pdf/siteASCD/publications/UbD_WhitePaper0312.

pdf

Hawker Brownlow Education (2013): What is

Understanding by Design? Author Jay McTighe

explains. (7 min video), https://www.youtube.

com/watch?v=d8F1SnWaIfE&feature=player_

embedded#at=258

AVENUESdotORG (2013): Grant Wiggins –

Understanding by Design (1 of 2) (11 min video),

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4isSHf3SBuQ

AVENUESdotORG (2013): Grant Wiggins – Video:

Understanding by Design (2 of 2) (14 min video),

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgNODvvsgxM

Sadler, D.R. (1989). Formative assessment and

the design of instructional systems. Instructional

Science, 18, 119–144.

(Available online at: http://link.springer.com/

article/10.1007/BF00117714)

Head office:

itslearning AS, P.O. Box 2686,

5836 Bergen, Norway +47 5523 6070

www.itslearning.eu | [email protected]

Designed for teachers and how they want to teach,

itslearning is a cloud-based learning platform that

connects teachers, students, parents and school

leaders – both in and outside the classroom. It gives

teachers countless ways to create engaging lessons

and resources, makes sharing materials easy, and

automates routine tasks so teachers have more time to

focus on their students.

A cloud-based platform that’s easy to set up and

maintain, itslearning is used by millions of teachers,

students, administration staff and parents around the

world. It can be found at all levels of education, from

primary schools to universities, helping teachers make

education more inspiring and valuable for today’s

students.

At itslearning, we pride ourselves on understanding

the needs of education. More than 20% of our staff

have worked as teachers and we can often be found in

the classroom, learning from teachers.

We provide a full range of services to educational

institutions, from simple training sessions to full-scale

implementation projects. Established in 1999, we are

headquartered in Bergen, Norway, and have offices in

London, Birmingham, Berlin, Paris, Mulhouse, Malmö,

Enschede, Helsinki, Boston and Atlanta.

Helping teachers

create individual learning paths for students

a passion for teaching

www.facebook.com/itslearning

twitter.com/itslearning

www.youtube.com/user/itslearning

www.itslearning.eu

mailto:[email protected]

Student centric web - Red Centrada en el Estudiante

Education

Transcript of Student centric web - Red Centrada en el Estudiante