From Teacher-Centered to Student-Centered

From Teacher-Centered to Student-Centered

Class is for the students, so is your classroom student-centered? Most classes feature a teacher at front doing most of the talking. In the traditional model, students have little control over their classroom experience, so it’s no wonder some students feel lost. Here are a few steps to reorient your classroom toward your students.

Give students:

1. A voice: To start your shift, empower students to give feedback, ask questions, and say they’re confused at any time during class. Many students find it difficult to interrupt the teacher, feel too shy to say they’re confused, or sit too far in the back to be seen. Instead, introduce a tool that allows students to silently respond in class–their smartphones. nClass provides a helpful platform to do just that.
2. Autonomy: Students will stay engaged more easily if they take ownership of their learning. Try incorporating group and individual projects within class time so that students can discover the information they are hoping to learn. Try this guide for implementation help.
3. A game: More than 5 million people play an average of 45 hours a week of games, so clearly competitive goals are powerful motivators. Why not use that power to keep students engaged? Incorporate scavenger hunts, gameshow-style contests and Mission Impossible-style learning objectives into class. Click here for a few more tips on gamification.
4. A flip: Does it seem like these tips will take too much class time to cover the material? Try moving the lecture after class. In the flipped classroom model students prepare for class by watching pre-recorded lectures as homework. This ensures students get the information they need to function well in a student-centered class environment.

What do you give students to ensure a student-centered environment?