STUDENT- CENTRIC- LEARNING -
- THRUST FOR CREATIVE THINKING
ABSTRACT
The effective classroom features a multi-sensory approach, one that allows for individualized pacing that is student controlled. In the student centered classroom, the teacher is a coach and mentor, a support person who troubleshoots and problem-solves when students need such help. The students ask questions, the teacher addresses these questions as they arise. After direct instruction the students work with the materials at hand, beginning with knowledge, where the students become acquainted with the lessons' expectations and materials. This paper presents views and ideas related to student centric learning and the impetus it gives to creativity among the student fraternity with this pedagogy.
Keywords: student centred learning, teacher a coach and mentor
No doubt, teaching is an “ART”….A teaching can mould or inspire the society through students…This is possible only from teaching fraternity, wherever they are and what may subject be. From Takshashila to the present High Tech yuga, lot many changes and developments cropped up in the field of teaching and of course in learning….
The effective classroom features a multi-sensory approach, one that allows for individualized pacing that is student controlled. In the student centered classroom, the teacher is a coach and mentor, a support person who troubleshoots and problem-solves when students need such help. The students ask questions, the teacher addresses these questions as they arise. After direct instruction the students work with the materials at hand, beginning with knowledge, where the students become acquainted with the lessons' expectations and materials.
The teacher manages instructional time by floating amidst a classroom that is entirely individualized. Student centered classrooms generally create a more inquisitive environment on the part of the students. Students use peers for understanding, are permitted to leave their seats, locate peer help, and return to their seats.
It’s not only that each student is exposed to a unique curriculum, the pacing of that curriculum is also unique. Student centered classrooms place the responsibility onto the student to seek the necessary information as opposed to teacher centered classrooms where students passively receive and submissively interact with the lesson. My classroom competes against the existing paradigm in serve existing LSHS students. Many of my students struggle with altering their habit of sitting in the traditional didactic classroom.
Classroom standardization is the impetus for the teacher-centered classroom, a place where a teacher rules the classroom roost, using a prescribed approach to teach a generic curriculum to everyone in the classroom at the same time. Classroom standardization docks the teacher for having begun the class before the observer enters. Classroom standardization causes the observer to confuse student questions with complaints.
The student centered classroom forces students to be inquisitive. Curiosity is something educators strive for. Curiosity is the opposite of apathy. Within the student centered classroom apathy has no place. Student centered classrooms spark that innate inquisitive nature of human beings, ramping up classroom rigor. Thus, students seek clarification. This creates the struggle of learning. Working through the struggle is education. There is no rigor if there is no struggle. How prepared are students to struggle?
Preparing students for the real world might mean pushing them out of their comfort zones, making them expect more from themselves, grooming them to place value on what matters. Therefore, they might be willing to struggle through the learning curve in order to accomplish their goals. Meeting goals has value.
Not all teachers fit into the classroom standardization didactic paradigm. The teacher, who engages students, is dynamically forcing apathetic students to partake in activities and will alter the didactic paradigm from teacher centered to student centered classroom. Nevertheless, learning is enhanced when students are engaged in the learning process. Our challenge as teachers is to find creative ways to design dynamic learning environments that involve students in doing their own thinking about the lesson. Students practiced in the teacher centered classroom either welcome or reject their new role in the educational process. If the students struggle, if the students question, if the students ponder they are engaged.
Assessment of Student Centric learning In a student centered classroom, students are encouraged to participate actively in learning the material as it is presented rather than being passive and perhaps taking notes quietly.In the student centered classroom students are involved throughout the class time in activities that help them construct their understanding of the material that is presented.The instructor no longer delivers a vast amount of information, but uses a variety of hands-on activities to promote learning.
CREATIVE THINKING AND STUDENT CENTERED LEARNING
In student-centred learning, in terms of curriculum practice, the student has the choice in what they want to study and how they are going to apply their newfound knowledge. According to Ernie Stringer, “Student learning processes are greatly enhanced when they participate in deciding how they may demonstrate their competence in a body of knowledge or the performance of skills.” This pedagogical implication enables the student to establish his or her unique learning objectives. The teacher evaluates the learner by providing honest and timely feedback on individual progress. According to Barbara Nanney “The instructor facilitates the learner individually or in cooperative groups by posing problems, setting time limits, providing varying amounts of guidance, asking leading questions, choosing students to respond, or giving positive responses.” The beginning and ending of the discussion and change of the topic if necessary has to be decided by the teacher. Hence in the present context of increasing necessity for improving soft skills, this pedagogy is more suitable. The verbal and no verbal skills of the students have to be mended by the instructor. Building a rapport with students is an essential strategy that educators could utilize in order to gauge student growth in a student-centered classroom.
Project-based learning, problem-based learning, and inquiry-based learning all three closely relate to the information processing approach. They all fit well with technology-rich learning environments where the focus is not on the hardware and software, but on the learning experience. In each case, technology is used to facilitate learning. It may be a tool to organize ideas (such as Inspiration), search for current information (such as an online news source), or present ideas (such as PowerPoint presentations). However the focus of learning environment is the student's excitement about solving a problem or addressing an issue they find meaningful. Student feels the creative urge to figure out what he really wants to learn. Evolving approaches to teaching are also quite important to the discussion of relevance. Key developments here have been the introduction of new program options, such as part-time programmes, online study possibilities, and courses that allow students to acquire credit for current or prior professional experience, among others.
The said innovations seek to more effectively meet the needs of contemporary students, many more of which are balancing work and/or family obligations, returning to schooling after a break of some years, or pursuing lifelong learning interests and goals. In countries where the focus has long been on rote learning, emphasis has shifted in recent years to developing students' analytical and critical thinking skills, as well as a clearer understanding of how to learn. Along with curriculum and pedagogy, research has also been an important factor in the move toward relevance.
Technology can play an interesting and essential role in an institution's centralized approach to teaching and outcomes-based handling of student learning. For example, faculty may be required to use e-learning platforms such as Black Board or WebCT. This process painful though it may be for many individuals -typically forces teachers to think more reflectively about course design,delivery, and assessment. It can stimulate creative new ways to engage students and to incorporate highly contemporary materials, while sensitizing faculty to the range of new challenges and possibilities inherent in the application of educational technologies.
However, the reading capabilities of the students have drastically came down as they hardly read books and magazines and spend time lavishly on non and un-important areas. Here comes the major setback in their career . This is where the students lack confidence. When a student loses confidence, he is lacking creativity…When he lacks creative
thinking, he is no where ; and he may not fit in any frame..Hence the role of a teacher is paramount important to good old days. It’s thus a teacher should influence the student towards creative thinking and creative writing as well for his better future…
References
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