What Type of Classroom do You Want and What Does it Take to Achieve that Goal:

Characteristics of Teacher-centered (Traditional), Transitional, and Learner-

Centered Classrooms

David BuddUniversity of Colorado, Boulder

Budd, van der Hoeven Kraft, McConnell, and Vislova, in press, Characterizing teaching in introductory geology courses: Measuring classroom practices: Journal of Geoscience Education.

Teacher-centered (traditional) versus Learner-Centered Classrooms

Recalling your own experiences as a student, work with a partner and develop a list of classroom attributes that you think would fit these two end-member scenarios.

Teacher-centered • instructor is well-organized, knowledgeable and has a

thematic framework• instructor does most of the talking and thinking • focus is on detail, covering material, and moving

forward.

• students are mainly inactive (aside from note taking) and there is little, if any, student talk

• no effort to determine if students’ minds are focused on the content.

• instructor appears to assume that transmitting information equates to students learning content.

Teacher-centered (traditional) versus Learner-Centered Classrooms

Learner-centered classrooms

• instructor is well-organized, knowledgeable and has a conceptual focus

• instructor may do little talking aside from giving instructions, guidance, and summing up

• focus on concepts, developing understanding & student thinking

• students are actively engaged with the content, each other, and the instructor

• multiple active-learning activities at multiple scales, with lots of student-student talk

Teacher-centered (traditional) versus Learner-Centered Classrooms

1) What are the specifics that really define these end members?

2) What are instructors really doing in a learner-centered classroom?

3) How do I figure out where I am and what I am planning fits into the spectrum of classrooms?

4) What do I do to be more learner-centered than teacher-centered?

Teacher-centered (traditional) versus Learner-Centered Classrooms

• Classroom observation protocol

• 25 items grouped in 5 subscales that characterize classroom practices

• lesson design and implementation

• the content and processes of instruction

• student engagement in learning

• communication between students,

• interactions between teacher and students.

• Each item scored from 0 to 4

• Higher the total score, the more student-centric the classroom

Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol1

1Piburn et al. (2000) and Sawada et al. (2002)

Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol

Scoring rubric • provides a framework for assigning and interpreting

the Likert scores

• allows a robust characterization & self-assessment of classroom practices

Item 2) The lesson was designed to engage students as members of a learning community.0-No evidence.1- Lesson has limited opportunities to engage students. (e.g., some clickers, rhetorical questions with shout out opportunities, clarification questions).2- Lesson is designed for continual interaction between teacher and students.3- Lesson is designed to include both extensive teacher-student and student-student interactions.4- Lesson was designed for students to negotiate meaning of content primarily through student-student interaction.

Item 3) In this lesson, student exploration preceded formal presentation (students asked to think or do prior to content introduction).

0- No exploration occurred.1- Lesson starts with an abstract exploration opportunity (e.g., what do you think about…).2- Lesson designed with an initial, short exploration opportunity (students do something).3- Lesson is designed to engage students in an active exploration experience.4- Major focus of the lesson is for students to spend time exploring, in detail.

Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol

Lets examine the RTOP & Rubric• handout

Lets try applying it• Video & scoring

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 2610

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90Ins tructor ’s average RTO P score

Ind ividua l observa tion

Instructor

RTOP Scores, Introduction to Physical Geology

4 community colleges, 3 baccalaureate colleges, 1 master’s university, 3 research universities

There is a full range of instructional approach in today’s geoscience classrooms.

> 50 = Student-Centered

< 30 = Teacher-Centered

1 2 3

Subscale 1LessonDesign20

16

12

8

4

01 2 3

Subscale 2Content &Process

of Instruction

1 2 3

Subscale 3Student

Engagement

1 2 3

Subscale 4Student

Interactions

1 2 3

Subscale 5Student-Teacher

Interactions

1 - Teacher Centered 2 - Transitional 3 - Student Centered

RTOP Scores, Introduction to Physical Geology

4 community colleges, 3 baccalaureate colleges, 1 master’s university, 3 research universities

• Progression from teacher-centered to student centered is holistic

• Largest shifts occur when engaging students in activities and in classroom communication

1) How do I figure out where I am and what I am planning fits into the spectrum of classrooms?

2) What do I do to be more learner-centered than teacher-centered?

The RTOP as a Reflective Self-Assessment Tool

Item 3) In this lesson, student exploration preceded formal presentation (students asked to think or do prior to content introduction).

0- No exploration occurred.

1- Lesson starts with an abstract exploration opportunity (e.g., what do you think about…).

2- Lesson designed with an initial, short exploration opportunity (students do something).

3- Lesson is designed to engage students in an active exploration experience.

4- Major focus of the lesson is for students to spend time exploring, in detail.

The RTOP as a Reflective Self-Assessment Tool

Item 18) There was a high proportion of student talk and a significant amount of it occurred between and among students (quantity of interactions).

0 – No student-student talk occurred.1 – Students talk to each other at least one about the lesson’s content.2 – Student-student talk occurs at least 10% of the time during the course of the

class.3 – Student-student talk occurs more than 25% of the time during the course of

the class.4 – In any given moment during the lesson, students are more likely to be talking

to each other than the teacher (>50% student-to-student talk). Item 19) Student questions and comments often determined the focus and direction of classroom discourse (quality of interactions).

0- No student input.1- Student conversations are short and limited to “the answer,” no negotiation of

meaning.2- Student conversations are brief but do involve some negotiation of meaning.3- Student conversations are in depth examinations of a problem.4- Student conversations are detailed, multi-faceted examinations of recent and

previously learned content that is student directed.

The RTOP as a Reflective Self-Assessment Tool

http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/certop/interpret.html

Describes the components of the RTOP

Links (in fine print) to pages with tips and examples for

• structuring the classroom

• improving your lessons so as to move toward more student-centered teaching as measured by the RTOP

• separate links/pages for each of the five subscales

Online Resources