Cargando…

Comparing student, instructor, and expert perceptions of learner-centeredness in post-secondary biology classrooms

Learner-centered classrooms encourage critical thinking and communication among students and between students and their instructor, and engage students as active learners rather than passive participants. However, students, faculty, and experts often have distinct definitions of learner-centeredness...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Heim, Ashley B., Holt, Emily A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6040760/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29995927
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200524
_version_ 1783338889312731136
author Heim, Ashley B.
Holt, Emily A.
author_facet Heim, Ashley B.
Holt, Emily A.
author_sort Heim, Ashley B.
collection PubMed
description Learner-centered classrooms encourage critical thinking and communication among students and between students and their instructor, and engage students as active learners rather than passive participants. However, students, faculty, and experts often have distinct definitions of learner-centeredness, and the paucity of research comparing perspectives of these different groups must be resolved. In the current study, our central research question was how do student, faculty, and expert observer perceptions of learner-centeredness within biology classrooms compare to one another? We sampled 1114 students from fifteen sections of a general biology course for non-majors, and complete responses from 490 students were analyzed. Five valid and reliable tools (two faculty; two student; and one expert observer) evaluated the learner-centeredness of each participating section. Perceptions of learner-centered instructors often aligned with those of expert observers, while student perceptions tended not to align with either group. Interestingly, students perceived learner-centered instructors as less learner-centered if they taught at non-traditional times and/or in large-enrollment sections, despite their focus on student learning. Perceptions of learner-centeredness in the biology classroom are complex and may be best captured with more than one instrument. Our findings encourage instructors to be cognizant that the approaches they employ in the classroom may not be interpreted as learner-centered, in the same manner, by students and external observers, particularly when additional course factors such as enrollment and scheduling may encourage negative perceptions of learner-centered practices.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6040760
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2018
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-60407602018-07-19 Comparing student, instructor, and expert perceptions of learner-centeredness in post-secondary biology classrooms Heim, Ashley B. Holt, Emily A. PLoS One Research Article Learner-centered classrooms encourage critical thinking and communication among students and between students and their instructor, and engage students as active learners rather than passive participants. However, students, faculty, and experts often have distinct definitions of learner-centeredness, and the paucity of research comparing perspectives of these different groups must be resolved. In the current study, our central research question was how do student, faculty, and expert observer perceptions of learner-centeredness within biology classrooms compare to one another? We sampled 1114 students from fifteen sections of a general biology course for non-majors, and complete responses from 490 students were analyzed. Five valid and reliable tools (two faculty; two student; and one expert observer) evaluated the learner-centeredness of each participating section. Perceptions of learner-centered instructors often aligned with those of expert observers, while student perceptions tended not to align with either group. Interestingly, students perceived learner-centered instructors as less learner-centered if they taught at non-traditional times and/or in large-enrollment sections, despite their focus on student learning. Perceptions of learner-centeredness in the biology classroom are complex and may be best captured with more than one instrument. Our findings encourage instructors to be cognizant that the approaches they employ in the classroom may not be interpreted as learner-centered, in the same manner, by students and external observers, particularly when additional course factors such as enrollment and scheduling may encourage negative perceptions of learner-centered practices. Public Library of Science 2018-07-11 /pmc/articles/PMC6040760/ /pubmed/29995927 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200524 Text en © 2018 Heim, Holt http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Heim, Ashley B.
Holt, Emily A.
Comparing student, instructor, and expert perceptions of learner-centeredness in post-secondary biology classrooms
title Comparing student, instructor, and expert perceptions of learner-centeredness in post-secondary biology classrooms
title_full Comparing student, instructor, and expert perceptions of learner-centeredness in post-secondary biology classrooms
title_fullStr Comparing student, instructor, and expert perceptions of learner-centeredness in post-secondary biology classrooms
title_full_unstemmed Comparing student, instructor, and expert perceptions of learner-centeredness in post-secondary biology classrooms
title_short Comparing student, instructor, and expert perceptions of learner-centeredness in post-secondary biology classrooms
title_sort comparing student, instructor, and expert perceptions of learner-centeredness in post-secondary biology classrooms
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6040760/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29995927
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200524
work_keys_str_mv AT heimashleyb comparingstudentinstructorandexpertperceptionsoflearnercenterednessinpostsecondarybiologyclassrooms
AT holtemilya comparingstudentinstructorandexpertperceptionsoflearnercenterednessinpostsecondarybiologyclassrooms