Teacher-centered and Student-centered Instruction

This week, we will be exploring and applying the ideas of teacher-centered and student-centered instruction in the classroom. To do so, I will be using the topic of radioactivity, which is taught in high school chemistry classes as part of the exploration of atomic properties.

Teacher-centered instruction methods are based on the teacher providing knowledge to students, and helping them retain it. Lectures are the hallmark of teacher-centricity. Student-centered instruction instead places the teacher in a facilitators role, and the student is put in an active position in the learning process. This can take many forms, including cooperative learning, project based learning, and immersive experiences ("Teaching Methods," n.d.).

Part 1

To begin the exploration of radioactivity, students should have recently developed a strong understanding of atomic structure. We will begin the transition to learning about radioactivity with a lesson based on the Madeline Hunter Direct Instruction Model. The model is meant to provide some useful pieces of effective instruction, but is not a formulaic prescription, so some of the classic seven steps are not covered in full yet, but will continue to be developed throughout the lesson ("The Madeline Hunter Model...," n.d.).

This lesson represents teacher-centered instruction, because the teacher is the source of the new knowledge, and students are relatively passive in the learning process ("Teaching Methods," n.d.). Because the whole class is moving through each step together, there is not much room for differentiation between students. This technique is largely supported by the behaviorist theory of learning, as the teacher is modeling an appropriate behavior, asking students to reproduce that behavior, and providing feedback to reinforce the behavior ("Instruction...," 2020). In the behaviorist learning theory, students are seen as passive participants receiving knowledge from the teacher, which further aligns this strategy with the theory ("What is Behavioral Learning Theory?," 2020). By providing a good model and positive reinforcement, this strategy can be effective for teaching lower order skills in the classroom ("Instruction...," 2020), and through the rest of these activities, we will build to more meaningful understanding.

Part 2

The goal of the next activity is to tie back to the meaning we started to create in the first lesson- discovering how radiation affects human health, and specifically, that the amount of radiation exposure is the most important factor in determining health outcomes. Towards that end, students will be given the following prompt for an independent research project:

This activity is based on the strategy of "guided discovery," where students discover a scientific rule or principle rather than having it be explicitly stated. This can be a very effective method for internalizing scientific principles, but requires sufficient guidance to help students in the right direction ("Instruction...", 2020). By providing guiding questions, I can be relatively certain they will at least hit upon the answer I want them to find- that the dose of radiation is very important.

This activity is an example of student-centered teaching, because the focus is on the student's mental process of discovery rather than on the teacher as a source of information ("Instruction...", 2020). It also supports the cognitive theory of learning, by guiding the student through the processes of deciphering relevant information, tying in prior knowledge, and organizing that information into a new rule (Clark & Harrelson, 2002).

Part 3

For the next activity, students will be working on the idea of half lives. To teach this concept, we will start with the flipped classroom model of having students review the following video as homework. The video gives a brief overview of half lives, which will be explored further in class, and allows students to watch and absorb the information at their own pace.

In class, students will be broken into lab groups and receive a set of instructions. This lab is adapted from Faucher (n.d.), and uses M&Ms to represent decaying atoms. Students are given 40 M&Ms in a bag, and asked to shake them up. When they dump them out, all the M&Ms with the M not showing are considered to have decayed, and the rest are still radioactive. Students will be asked to plot the number of decayed "atoms" on a half life chart, and repeat the process until no radioactive M&Ms remain.

This lab reflects a teacher-centered approach because the explicit instructions and expectations for the lab don't require the student to actively engage. In addition, motivation is still extrinsic (the grade from the lab is likely the motivating factor for most students) rather than building intrinsic motivation based on curiosity and inquiry, which is another common aspect of teacher-centered instruction (Garrett, 2008). It largely reflects the behaviorist model of learning because students are reproducing a process they saw in the video, rather than having autonomy in the process ("Instruction..., 2020"). 

However, as students are working together, there is potential to support more social constructivism. If each student in the group were assigned a role, such as having one student read the instructions, one take notes, and one sorting the M&Ms, this would create more positive interdependence and individual accountability in the group. By asking students to reflect on the exercise and what it implies about real materials, that could help construct meaning through discussion ("Five Basic Elements...," 2017).

Part 4

For the last piece of the radiation unit, I will ask students to discuss the positive and negative applications of radioactivity in society. They may be assigned a few pieces of reading that examine different issues and take different positions, or given prompts to conduct their own research. After the discussion, they will reflect individually through journaling.

This activity is designed to incorporate several theories and philosophies of learning. First, it reflects the humanist theory of learning, as it emphasizes emotion, open communication between students, and learning from others (Thompson, 2020). It also supports the social constructivist theory as students create meaning and find relevance in the coursework ("Constructivism and Social Constructivism," n.d.). It exemplifies the existentialist philosophy by asking students to decide for themselves what is right and wrong, and how their learning has moral implications. Finally, it touches upon social reconstructionism by engaging students in a real-world debate, a modern moral and political dilemma (Lynch, 2016). This is certainly an example of student-centered instruction, as students are guiding the conversation and following their own interests ("Teaching Methods," n.d.) 

With all these various components, we've used several learning theories to construct a unit that balances the student-centered and teaching-centered approaches. Thanks for checking it out!

References

Clark, R. & Harrelson, G. L. (2002). Designing Instruction That Supports Cognitive Learning Processes. Journal of athletic training, 37 (4 Suppl), S152-S159.

Constructivism and Social Constructivism. (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2020, from http://www.ucdoer.ie/index.php/Education_Theory/Constructivism_and_Social_Constructivism

Faucher. (n.d.). Half Life of a "Radioactive Isotope" Sample of M&M "Atoms". Retrieved September 25, 2020, from https://www.nausetschools.org/cms/lib/MA02212418/Centricity/Domain/198/half%20life%20M%20and%20M%20lab.pdf

Five Basic Elements of Cooperative Learning. (2017, August 8). Retrieved September 25, 2020, from http://tutorials.istudy.psu.edu/cooperativelearning/cooperativelearning4.html

Garrett, T. (2008). Student-Centered and Teacher-Centered Classroom Management. Journal of Classroom Interaction,43, 34-47.

Instruction: Applying Behavioral, Cognitive, and Constructivist Approaches. (2020). Retrieved September 24, 2020, from https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-assets/79064_book_item_79064.pdf

Lynch, M. (2016, November 03). Philosophies of Education: 3 Types of Student-Centered Philosophies. Retrieved September 23, 2020, from https://www.theedadvocate.org/philosophies-education-3-types-student-centered-philosophies/

The Madeline Hunter Model for Mastery Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2020, from https://www.csun.edu/sites/default/files/Holle-Lesson-Planning.pdf

Teaching Methods. (n.d.). Retrieved September 25, 2020, from https://teach.com/what/teachers-know/teaching-methods/

Thompson, V. (2020, June 05). Humanistic Strategies in the Classroom. Retrieved September 25, 2020, from https://classroom.synonym.com/humanistic-strategies-classroom-7701653.html

What Is The Behavioral Learning Theory? (2020, May 29). Retrieved September 25, 2020, from https://www.wgu.edu/blog/what-behavioral-learning-theory2005.html