In 2002, Maryellen Weimer wrote a landmark book titled Learner-Centered Teaching. Phyllis Blumberg (2009) has written a follow-up book titled Developing Learner-Centered Teaching: A Practical Guide for Faculty. Both books are a must read for those who is more interested in having students learn than in teaching.
Maryellen Weimer states: “Being learner-centered focuses attention squarely on learning: what the student is learning, how the student is learning, the conditions under which the student is learning, whether the student is retaining and applying the learning, and how current learning positions the student for future learning” (Preface, xvi). The focus is on the student as a learner. Weimer points out that it is “about creating climates … that advance learning outcomes.” (Preface, xvii).
Phyllis Blumberg continues the discussion when she says, “Learner-centered teaching does not use a single teaching method: rather, it emphasizes a variety of different method types that shift the role of instructors from givers of information to facilitators of student learning or creators of an environment for learning. With all of the ways we have to disseminate information using technology, the instructor should not be the primary source of knowledge for students. In learner-centered teaching, the instructor focuses on what students are learning, how they are learning, and how they can use the learning” (p. 3).
Maryellen’s book provides and excellent foundation for understanding learner-centered teaching and Phyllis’ book provides many examples on how to accomplish this in the classroom, either face-to-face or online. I will further recommend that you add L. Dee Fink’s book Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses to your list of books on how to improve teaching with a learner-centered approach.
L. Dee Fink points out that “if students learn how to apply the content, can see how it connects with other knowledge, understand the human implications of what they have learned, and come to care about the subject and about learning how to keep on learning, it seems much likelier that they will both retain what they have learned and continue to enlarge their knowledge after the course is over” (p. 57).
References
Blumberg, P. (2009). Developing learner-centered teaching: A practical guide for faculty. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass.
Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences : An integrated approach to designing college courses (1st ed.). San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass.
Weimer, M. (2002). Learner-centered teaching: Five key changes to practice (1st ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.