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Lesson 1 To 4 FACI

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16 views136 pages

Lesson 1 To 4 FACI

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INTRODUCTION TO LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING

DESCRIPTION
This lesson of the module introduces the pre-service teacher about the teaching and learning
process in the advent of learner-centeredness. This Lesson will lay down the key concepts of facilitating
learner-centered teaching in the 21 century classrooms.
st

GUIDE
1. Answer the pre-test in your activity notebook.
2. Observe and analyze the pictures in the ACTIVITY. Write your observations in your activity notebook.
3. After observing, answer the questions in the ANALYSIS part.
4. Read and understand the ABSTRACTION.
5. Design an infographic that will synthesize the different concepts about learner-centered teaching,
6. Write a reflection about your take away in your journal notebook.
7. Answer the post-test in your activity notebook.
LESSON LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the Lesson, students are expected to perform the following:
 Synthesize the different concepts about learner-centered teaching.
REQUIREMENTS
The following are the requirements for this lesson:
1. Activity Notebook
2. Journal
3. Internet Access
4. Computer Software
PURPOSE
The following are the purpose of this lesson:
1. Introduce the pre-service teachers about learner-centered teaching;
2. Instill the significance of learner’s diversity in the teaching-learning-process; and
3. Clarify misconceptions about learner-centered teaching versus traditional teaching method;

KEY TERMS

Learner-centered teaching - the perspective that combines a focus on individual learners—their heredity,
experiences, perspectives, backgrounds, talents, interests, capacities, and needs—with a focus on the best
available knowledge about learning and how it occurs and about teaching practices that promote the
highest levels of motivation, learning, and achievement for all learners.
Learner- a person who is trying to gain knowledge or skill in something by studying, practicing, or being
taught.
Teacher- a teacher is a person who helps people to learn.
Facilitator- a person or thing that makes an action or process easy or easier.

ACTIVITY

Direction: Analyze the picture below and answer the following questions in the ANALYSIS part.

A.

B.
ANALYSIS

After observing the pictures above, answer the following questions in your activity notebook:
1. What are your observations on pictures A and B?
2. What are the similarities and differences between pictures A and B?
3. Which among these pictures is teacher-centered? Which is student-centered? Why?
4. Which of these pictures manifest in today's classroom? Why?

ABSTRACTION

Throughout the history of education, the word “teaching” has evolved its definition, methodology,
and purpose. The traditional approach to teaching deals in the context of the teacher where the learners
are trained to become passive receivers of knowledge and skills. The trend in this contemporary time in the
science and art of teaching focuses on the learner’s context, where they become active and engaging
learners in presenting their knowledge and skills.
Nevertheless, before we start exploring and defining learner-centered teaching, let us discuss first
learner-centered. The most renowned and accepted definition is according to McCombs and Whisler
(1997), they defined learner-centered as the perspective that combines a focus on individual learners—
their heredity, experiences, perspectives, backgrounds, talents, interests, capacities, and needs—with a
focus on the best available knowledge about learning and how it occurs and about teaching practices that
promote the highest levels of motivation, learning, and achievement for all learners. This dual focus then
informs the drives of educational decision making. The definition explicates the importance of the learner as
the key element in the success of the teaching-learning process. It requires the teacher to adopt teaching
methodologies that acknowledge the learner's heredity (biological component), experiences (social
component), perspectives (beliefs), backgrounds (social upbringing), interest (motivation), capacities
(developmentally appropriate), and needs (survival skills and knowledge). It demands the school to
establish educational policies that center on inclusive practices, a positive school climate, and a safe and
secure learning environment. What do you think of the current educational set up? Is it reflective of a
learner-centered instruction?
As opposed to traditional teaching involving lectures punctuated by an objective test, the learning
process from learner-centered teaching is the facilitation of student construction of knowledge based on
their direct experiences. Learner-centered teaching means subjecting every teaching activity (method,
assignment, or assessment) to the test of a single question: “Given the context of my students, course, and
classroom, will this teaching action optimize my students’ opportunity to learn?” (Doyle 2008). Learner-
centered teaching involves optimizing learning opportunities for learners. A great teacher knows how to
maximize opportunities for students to learn. There are aspects of learner-centered practices for achieving
optimizations; (1) Engage students in authentic learning, which requires the teacher to provide experiential
and firsthand experiences as a learning activity for the learners to learn; (2) Involving students in their
choice and control about learning, sharing the responsibility for learning with them makes them held
accountable for their learning; (3) Instill life-long learning skills for the students, teachers must be trained to
teach survival skills and learning—how-to-learn skills and strategies needed to deal with the complex and
challenging problems of the society where they will become productive individuals in the near future; (4)
Promoting the relevance of learner-centered teaching, before starting your lesson, provide first the rationale
behind acquiring new skills and knowledge that will enable the learners to decide whether it is worthwhile
for them to engage in learning. Prioritize knowledge and skills that are important to know instead of good to
know topics.
According to Weimer (2012), there are five characteristics of learner-centered teaching:
1. Learner-centered teaching engages students in the hard, messy work of learning. In this
approach, the teacher lets students perform learning tasks that are developmentally appropriate,
objective-oriented, relevant to the topic, and maximizes learning opportunities.
2. Learner-centered teaching includes explicit skill instruction. Teachers as an expert in their
field of discipline must teach the learners how to solve problems, evaluate arguments, think
critically, apply information, and integrate knowledge, in order for learners to think like an expert
and have the mastery of the lesson content.
3. Learner-centered teaching encourages students to reflect on what they are learning and
how they are learning it. Learners should be conscious of what and how they are learning.
Teachers guide their learners to become active, responsible, and reflective learners, especially in
selecting appropriate learning strategies and study skills best fit for the situation.
4. Learner-centered teaching motivates students by giving them some control over learning
processes. Contrary to the traditional teacher-centered approach where classroom decision
making is the teacher’s sole responsibility, in a learner-centered classroom, decision-making is
inclusive involving teachers, students, and parents. Learners are consulted in the crafting of
classroom rules and routines and planning, designing, implementing, and evaluating the learning
experience.
5. Learner-centered teaching encourages collaboration. A learner-centered classroom is seen as
a commLessony of learners. It recognizes the importance of social regard for learning and
cooperation as an attribute for everyone to learn something new. Nowadays, teachers are not just
the sole source of information; instead, everyone has something to share with others based on
their experiences, making learning in a collective sense. Teachers need to work to develop
structures that promote shared commitments to learning.
Our biggest challenge that we face as a pre-service teacher is to adopt and implement a learner-
centered approach to teaching successfully is to buy into the change, to switch their learning paradigm.
Although the movement towards the full realization of learner-centered teaching in the national curriculum
is extensive, there are still some backlash and resistance against it. Both learners and teachers have their
rationale against this movement. The following are a list that represents learner’s resistance towards a
learner-centered approach to teaching, according to Weimer (2012):
1. Learner-centered approaches require more work. A learner-centered teacher will demand time,
effort, and resources from the students in performing learning tasks. To the learners, this might feel
exhaustive and challenging, but as long as the learning tasks have direct relevance and raise
learner’s interest, it would drastically lessen the burden.
2. Learner-centered approaches are threatening. For some learner’s developed the ways of teacher-
centered classroom practices, introducing a learner-centered approach is quite daunting for them
because it is a brand new experience, and the fear of failure in this unfamiliar environment can
cause anxiety. It requires time and a great deal for our learners to develop a new set of learning
habits, especially those who were patterned in the teacher-centered instruction.
3. Learner-centered approaches involve losses. The decision-making and responsibility for learning is
both a shared power of the learners and teachers. There can be a sense of loss when the learners
realize a sudden shift of learning accountability from the teacher to them.
4. Some students are not ready for specific learner-centered approaches. Some learners are not
ready yet for a learner-driven learning experience. Some learners need assistance and guidance
from their teachers and parents to be intellectually, emotionally, physically, and socially ready in a
classroom where they are the main character.
Some teachers and administrators had felt anxious towards the adaptation of a learner-centered
teaching approach:
1. The coverage of the lesson content. Shifting from a teacher-centered approach to a learner-
centered approach requires the teacher to redefine the lesson content. In a teacher-centered
approach, the teacher can cover all the content that fits into the course, while in a learner-centered
approach, the teacher identifies the essential content and use it to acquire new skills and
knowledge. Due to limited time, teachers must decide if they will focus on covering the entire
lesson content and disregard time for learning tasks or select the most important topics and
provide relevant learning tasks.
2. Only advanced and mature students will benefit from a learner-centered approach. It is a
misconception for teachers to have such a contrary assumption about the capacity of our students.
In fact, in learner-centered teaching, all students, despite their class, gender, beliefs, race, religion,
social upbringing, language, and educational starting point, benefit from this approach, since they
are the priority and their needs are taken into consideration in facilitating learning.
3. The threat when shifting the responsibility for learning to the learners. For some teachers, it is a
formidable act of transferring and sharing powers to the learners in the act of teaching. Especially
for experienced teachers, it is hard for them to let go of complete control of the classroom and
share power with the learners.

Dimensions of Learner-centered Teaching

1. Balance of Power
The learner's motivation, confidence, and enthusiasm for learning are adversely affected when
teachers control the process through and by which they learn. In a learner-centered classroom, there is
shared, collective decision-making between the learners and their teacher. Before you start your school
year with your learners, allow them to express their expectations, talents, interests, and goals in attending
your class. This will give them the feeling of being necessary for the class. Weimer (2013) suggests that
Learners should be involved in activities and assignment decisions, class policy decisions, class content
decisions, and evaluation activities. The benefits of power-sharing had been proven effective. Learners are
engaged, involved, motivated, and more connected with the class, which results in more learning. Through
this, teachers become active, interested, and connected with their students, making the student-against-
teacher rigid wall to breakdown. It also levels up the classroom environment by having a sense of
ownership and comfort where anxiety, guilt, and fear has no place. However, how much power is enough?
How much freedom can our learners handle? When do teachers compromise their professional
responsibilities? The teacher can only answer these questions.

2. The Function of Content

Commonly, teachers have a strong content orientation that, until now, is being part of their principles in
selecting lesson content. Teachers need to abolish the more-is-better assumption in covering a lesson. A
teacher must select subject matter that is essential and practical for the students in a society that undertake
an influx of changes. Teachers must be able to understand that in a learner-centered environment, content
and learning are thought of as mutually reinforcing, instead of having a dichotomous relationship. The
content-learning relationship features that content must be used to develop a knowledge base, it should be
used to develop learning skills, and it must be used to create learner awareness. The race to cover content
has equally negative consequences for the students. It eventually reinforces learning strategies that focus
on rote memorization, simple recall, and forgetting. Having a strong allegiance to content prevents teachers
from using methods and activities that strengthen learning outcomes and develop learning skills. Teachers
must be guided with the following questions in selecting the content of the subject matter, How much
content is enough? How do we change attitudes about the role of content? What about students at different
skill levels? How do I adapt generic learning activities to fit the content I teach?

3. The Role of the Teacher


In learner-centered teaching, the role of the teacher shifts from being a sage on the stage (the sole
source of information) to being a guide on the side (facilitator of learning). Teachers are positioned
alongside the learner to keep the attention, interest, focus, and spotlight aimed at and on the learning
process. According to Weimer (2013), teachers must perform less by instructing the learning tasks to the
learners; teachers must avoid explaining concepts to the learners instead let the learners discover, explore,
and experience; teachers must rigorously plan and design their instruction that centers on the learner’s
success; they must act as a model for their learners in terms of mastery of the content knowledge and skills
by demonstrating approaches in accomplishing the learning tasks; teachers must use a collaborative
approach for learning to value the importance of social learning; teachers must develop a positive
classroom climate for learning, and teachers must provide an avenue for feedbacking to students outputs
and performances. Intervention is also important, especially during class presentations, but teachers should
be reminded of when and how to intervene to avoid humiliation in front of the class.

4. The responsibility for Learning

In learner-centered teaching, the responsibility for learning is bestowed upon the learners. In getting
the learners to accept the responsibility for learning, the classroom climates must be conducive for learning
and build autonomy and responsibility for the students. A classroom climate is conducive for learning where
students perceive the classroom as a setting where they belong. When the students are in an environment
that they prefer, they achieve more. We also need a classroom climate that encourages learner’s
autonomy, responsibility, and confidence. To become responsible in learning also means becoming a self-
regulated learner. Self-regulated learners handle a learning task with diligence, creativity, confidence, and
resourcefulness. They are aware of their limitations; proactively seek answers, and flexible when
encountered with obstacles.
Teachers must convince the learners that the act of learning is their sole responsibility and only theirs
and their teachers are there to guide them. They must also know when their responsibility ends and where
the students begin. Although we cannot force them to accept the responsibility, we can help them develop
their confidence and interest when we plan and implement classroom policies and practices that enable
them to understand their responsibility and that empower them to accept it.
5. The Purpose and processes of Evaluation
In today’s milieu, our policies and practices, coupled with a broader societal interest, place a
disproportionate emphasis on evaluation for grading. The culture of cheating, beliefs about ability, and
grade grubbing are results of being grade oriented—these results to a severe consequence that
compromises learning outcomes. Also, our policies and practices exclude students from our evaluation
process. This leads to the denial of student’s opportunities to learn essential self and peer assessment
strategies.
Evaluation refers to teachers providing value-judgment from the work of the learners. The term inclines
fear and frustration from our learners for their scores in the evaluation determines their grades. Daunting
assumptions had also lurked the term. However, the purpose of evaluation in learner-centered teaching,
evaluation activities should be used in a way that enhances learner's already inherent potentials to promote
learning, and evaluation processes should be opened to students in ways that give them opportunities to
develop self- and peer assessment skills.

APPLICATION

Direction: Using software (Canva or Photoshop), you are tasked to design an infographic that discusses the
roles of the teacher in learner-centered teaching. You will be guided with the rubric below for the content of
your infographic.
Guide: The width of an ideal infographic must not be more than 600 pixels, and the length should not
exceed 1800 pixels. Almost all vertical Infographics are between 600-1100 pixels wide;
shorter infographic height goes up to about 2000 pixels. Submit your infographic in a JPEG or PDF format.
To avoid technical problems, please follow the directions exclusively.

Criteria Percentage
Creativity 40%
The infographic shows the art of creativity and maximizes the use of
elements.
Content 40%
The infographic contains important concepts about learner-centered teaching.
Mechanics 20%
The content shows strong writing skills and proper use of grammar.
Total 100%

REFLECTION

In 100-150 words, write your reflection about the topic in your journal notebook.

REFERENCES
Doyle, Terry (2008). Helping Students Learn in a Learner-centered Environment: A Guide to Facilitating
Learning in Higher Education. Stylus Publishing. Sterling, Virginia
McComba, B. & Miller, L. (2007). Learner-centered Classroom Practices and Assessments: Maximizing
Student Motivation, Learning, and Achievement. Corwin Press. Thousand Oaks. CA
Weimer.M. (2008). Learner-centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice (2 Edition). John Wiley &
nd

Sons Inc. San Francisco. CA

LESSON II
PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNER-
CENTERED TEACHING
DESCRIPTION
This lesson of the module deals with the philosophical basis of learner-centered teaching. This
contains the different learner-centered philosophical thoughts that will guide the teacher in designing
instruction.
GUIDE
In order to become successful in this lesson, you need to comply the following:
1. Answer the pre-test in your activity notebook.
2. Answer the educational philosophy self-assessment in the ACTIVITY. Write your answers in your
activity notebook.
3. After answering the self-assessment test, interpret your score using the interpretation table in the
ANALYSIS part. Analyze your result.
4. Read and understand the ABSTRACTION.
5. Write an essay about your own Philosophy of Education in teaching in your activity notebook.
6. Write a reflection about your takeaways in your journal notebook.
7. Answer the post-test in your activity notebook.
LESSON LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, students are expected to perform the following:
 Examine the different philosophies of learner-centered teaching.
 Adapt a learner-centered teaching philosophy.

REQUIREMENTS
The following are the requirements for this lesson:
1. Activity Notebook
2. Journal
3. Internet Access
4. Computer Software
PURPOSE
The following are the purpose of this lesson:
1. Understand the philosophical thoughts underlying learner-centered teaching;
2. Reflect on the different philosophical thoughts in designing learner-centered instruction; and
3. Develop your own philosophy of teaching a learner-centered classroom.

KEY TERMS

Constructivism- is a learner-centered educational theory that contends that to learn anything, each learner
must construct his or her understanding by tying new information to prior experiences.
Existentialism- promotes attentive personal consideration about personal character, beliefs, and choices.
Humanism- believes that learning must be self-initiated and self-regulated, motivated by the person’s
natural desire to learn those things that are necessary to maintain and develop the self.
Progressivism- is based on the positive changes and problem-solving approach that individuals with
various educational credentials can provide their students.
Philosophy- It is the ultimate search for the meaning of life and seeks to answer basic questions in life.
Social Reconstructivism- is an educational philosophy that views schools as tools to solve social
problems.

ACTIVITY: Educational Philosophies Self-Assessment

This questionnaire will help you recognize and name your own educational philosophy. Respond to
the given statements on a scale from 1, "Strongly Disagree," to 5, "Strongly Agree." Record the number of
your answer along with the question number for scoring.
1. Students are makers of meaning and construct their understandings from active 1 2 3 4 5
experience, rather than through transmission from teachers.
2. Education should emphasize personal growth by solving problems that are real 1 2 3 4 5
to students.
3. Teaching the great works of literature is less critical than involving students in 1 2 3 4 5
activities to criticize and shape society.
4. Students' involvement in choosing how and what they should learn is central to 1 2 3 4 5
education.
5. Curriculum should not be predetermined; rather, it should spring from students' 1 2 3 4 5
interests and needs.
6 Teachers, rather than imparting knowledge, are facilitators of conditions and 1 2 3 4 5
experiences so students can construct their own understandings.
7. If encouraging and nourishing environments are provided, learning will flourish 1 2 3 4 5
naturally because people have an inherent tendency to learn.
8. Schools should encourage student involvement in social change to aid in 1 2 3 4 5
societal reform.
9. Learning is more effective when students are given frequent tests to determine 1 2 3 4 5
what they have learned.
10 Perceptions centered in experience should be emphasized, as well as the 1 2 3 4 5
. freedom and responsibility to achieve one's potential.
11 Conflicts to current understandings trigger the need to learn and to make 1 2 3 4 5
. meaning.
12 Students must learn to make good choices and to be responsible for their 1 2 3 4 5
. behavior.
13 Schools should guide society towards significant social change rather than 1 2 3 4 5
. merely passing on traditional values.
14 Schools should help individuals accept themselves as unique individuals and 1 2 3 4 5
. accept responsibility for their thoughts, feelings and actions
15 Teachers should encourage democratic, project-based classrooms that 1 2 3 4 5
. emphasize interdisciplinary subject matter.
16 A knowledgeable individual facilitates or scaffolds learning for a novice based on 1 2 3 4 5
. understanding the learner's developmental level and the content to be learned.
17 Transmitting traditional values is less important than helping students to develop 1 2 3 4 5
. personal values.
18 Education should help drive society to better itself, rather than restricting itself to 1 2 3 4 5
. essential skills.
19 A learner must be allowed to learn at his/her own pace. 1 2 3 4 5
.
20 The primary goal for educators is to establish environments where students can 1 2 3 4 5
. learn independently through purposeful reflection about their experiences.
21 Learning requires modifying internal knowing structures in order to assimilate 1 2 3 4 5
. and accommodate new information.
22 The role of the teacher is to help create a nurturing atmosphere for students and 1 2 3 4 5
. to promote the growth of the whole person.
23 Learning should guide students to actively participate in social reform. 1 2 3 4 5
.
24 An individual is what he/she chooses to become not dictated by his/her own 1 2 3 4 5
. environment.
25 Students' involvement in choosing how and what they should learn is central to 1 2 3 4 5
. education.
Adapted from https://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/selfassessment.html

ANALYSIS

Record the number you chose for each statement in the self-assessment in the spaces given. Add
the numbers for each section to obtain your score for that section. The highest score(s) indicates your
educational philosophy and psychological orientation.
Constructivism= 1,6,11,16,21
Humanism= 2, 7, 12, 17, 22
Social Reconstructivism= 3, 8, 13, 18, 23
Existentialism= 4, 9, 14, 19, 24
Progressivism= 5, 10, 15, 20, 25
The higher your score in a cluster (constructivism, humanism, social reconstructivism,
existentialism, and progressivism), the higher you are inclined to such educational philosophy. On the
contrary the lesser score you get from a cluster, the lesser you are inclined to such educational philosophy

ABSTRACTION

I am assuming that you have background knowledge about philosophy since you have taken this
subject in your senior high school years. But to refresh your brain, let’s have a brief recap about philosophy.
Etymologically speaking, Philosophy comes from the Greek words philo and Sophia, which means
“love” and “wisdom”, therefore philosophy refers to love of wisdom. Eventually, the definition of philosophy
had evolved through time and became comprehensive. Philosophy is an activity people undertake when
they seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which they live, and their
relationships to the world and to each other. It is also the ultimate search for the meaning of life and seeks
to answer basic questions in life. Philosophy, as a mother science, encompasses the field of education,
that’s why we have the term philosophy of education. Philosophy of education is concerned with the nature
and aims of education and the problems that arise from educational practices. The purpose of philosophy
of education is for teachers to develop a coherent framework of teaching for self-reflection in their teaching
practices. In learner-centered teaching, philosophy of education guides teachers to develop their
perspective in addressing what to teach, how to teach, what learning experiences to use, and why assess.
Learner-centered philosophies are another essential philosophy that educators should be aware of.
By focusing on the needs of students, teachers can assist and teach students within the classroom,
ensuring a higher level of student success.
Student-centered philosophies focus more on training individual students. These philosophies
place more emphasis on the individuality of students and helping them to realize their potential. A student-
centered classroom may be less rigid or structured, less concerned about past teaching practices and
drilling academics, and more focused on training students for success in an ever-changing world. Students
and teachers typically decide together what should be learned, as well as how this can best be achieved.
Progressivism
Progressivism is based on the positive changes and problem-solving approach that individuals with
various educational credentials can provide their students. Progressivist educators are outcome-focused
and don’t merely impart learned facts. Teachers are less concerned with passing on the existing culture
and strive to allow students to develop an individual approach to tasks provided to them.
Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) and John Dewey (1859–1952) are the guiding minds of
progressivism. Rousseau maintained that people are basically good and that society is responsible for
corrupting them. He supported education in nature, away from the city and the influences of civilization,
where the child’s interests (as opposed to a written set of guidelines) would guide the curriculum.
John Dewey proposed that people learn best through social interaction and problem solving.
Dewey developed the scientific method of problem solving and experimentalism. As a result of the varied
opinions emerging from the movement, progressivism was not developed into a formalized, documented
educational philosophy. Progressivists did, however, agree that they wanted to move away from specific
characteristics of traditional schools. In particular, they were keen to remove themselves from the textbook-
based curriculum and the idea of teachers as disseminators of information, in favor of viewing teachers as
facilitators of thinking.
The progressivist classroom is about exploration and experience. Teachers act as facilitators in a
classroom where students explore physical, mental, moral, and social growth. Familiar sights in a
progressivist classroom might include small groups debating, custom-made activities, and learning stations.
Teachers typically walk freely among the groups, guiding them using suggestions and thought-provoking
questions.
Constructivism
Constructivism is a learner-centered educational theory that contends that to learn anything, each
learner must construct his or her understanding by tying new information to prior experiences.
Constructivism has two sub-groups, one which focuses on the interaction among students, the other
focusing on each student's perceptions.
A Focus on Social Interaction
During the early part of the twentieth century, a Russian psychologist and sociologist named Lev
Vygotsky (1896-1934) studied children's interactions. He saw that when students worked in small groups to
solve problems, by discussing problems, the learners were able to talk each other through to the solutions,
which is to say that by helping other group members, they collectively solved problems more efficiently than
they could solve them when working alone. He called this social learning approach, "negotiating meaning."
Vygotsky used a system, which now is known as cooperative learning, to encourage cooperation
within each learning group. To receive a good mark on any task, the members had to successfully help
their fellow group members understand and succeed at the task. This system is in sharp contrast to
traditional education in this country in that it is not teacher-centered but is learner-centered; not passive but
active and problem-centered; and is based not on competition but cooperation.
Because constructivists believe that individuals must construct their knowledge, they believe that
all knowledge is temporary (each concept is considered valid until further experiences enable the learner to
refine it). Because learners in constructivist classrooms use a problem-centered approach, content is
studied not as isolated facts but as broad concepts and interdisciplinary themes.
A Focus on the Individual Learner
Another leading psychologist who contributed significantly to constructivism was the Swiss
educator Jean Piaget. Born in 1896 (the same year that Vygotsky was born), Piaget focused his attention
on the learner as an individual. While many may not think of him as a constructivist, his work consisted of
giving his students (usually his own three children) problems to solve, not written problems but problems
that encouraged them to manipulate concrete objects. He watched the ways they manipulated the objects
and saw that each learner made assumptions and drew right or wrong conclusions about -the objects.
Based on the epistemological belief that knowledge is subjectively and individually constructed
rather than that it exists external to the learner, constructivism lays down the fundamental theoretical
foundation of learner-centered education. Constructivists such as Piaget and Vygotsky state that
knowledge is constructed while learners are engaged in social interaction on the learning topic by
experiencing disequilibrium, negotiating, and finding an equilibrium through assimilation and
accommodation. Therefore, learning should be designed to facilitate individual knowledge construction by
helping learners engage in an authentic task and meaningful conversation around the task.

Humanism
Carl Rogers (1902-1987), one of the foremost psychologists of the 20th century, argued that the
role of therapists should be to free the client to solve his or her own problems, thereby realizing one’s full
organismic potential, rather than prescribing solutions that develop a false, ideal self-based on the
expectations of others. He advocated applying this person-centered approach to education. Rogers argued
that humans have an innate desire to learn, but that a person cannot be taught directly; instead, one can
only facilitate the learning of another. Therefore, learning must be self-initiated and self-regulated,
motivated by the person’s natural desire to learn those things that are necessary to maintain and develop
the self. Consequently, the act of learning requires the full participation of the learner, which means that the
learner “chooses his own directions, helps to discover his own learning resources, formulates his own
problems, decides his own course of action, [and] lives with the consequences of each of these choices.”
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970), a known humanist psychologist, proposed Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs as an approach in motivation theory and educational theory. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is an
eight-tiered model (initially five) of human needs presented in the form of a pyramid that requires the
individual to satisfy the first level of needs in order to advance to the next one. The model implies that
learners are less likely to engage in class if their essential needs are unmet. Likewise, teachers are
reminded to suffice the essential needs before teaching—do not teach learners with an empty stomach.

Social Reconstructionism

Social reconstructionism is an educational philosophy that views schools as tools to solve social
problems. Social reconstructionists reason that, because all leaders are the product of schools, schools
should provide a curriculum that fosters their development. Reconstructionists not only aim to educate a
generation of problem solvers, but also try to identify and correct any noteworthy social problems that face
our nation, with diverse targets including racism, pollution, homelessness, poverty, and violence. Rather
than a philosophy of education, reconstructionism may be referred to as more of a remedy for the society
that seeks to build a more objective social order.
Outraged at the inequity in educational opportunities between the rich and the poor, George
Counts wrote Dare the School Build a New Social Order? in 1932. He called on teachers to educate
students to prepare them for the social changes that would accompany heightened participation in science,
technology, and other fields of learning, without compromising their cultural education. This text was
influential in the development of social reconstructionist schools in the Lessoned States. For social
reconstructionists, the class becomes an area where societal improvement is an active and measurable
goal.
However, if education is to solve society’s problems, the nature of problems we are facing is ill-
defined, contrary to the knowledge which is conventionally divided into various categories of disciplines.
Problems that we face in life do not fall into separate categories like the disciplines of knowledge. We can
only categorize them into specific themes of problems, such as poverty, disease, floods, unemployment,
etc. Under the student-centered learning approach, problem-based learning teaching and learning strategy
emphasizes learning in the context of solving real-world problems.

The reconstructionist classroom contains a teacher who involves the students in discussions of
moral dilemmas to understand the implications of one’s actions. Students individually select their objectives
and social priorities, and then, with guidance from the teacher, create a plan of action to make the change
happen.
Existentialism

Existentialism promotes attentive personal consideration about personal character, beliefs, and
choices. The primary question existentialists ask is whether they want to define who they are themselves,
or whether they want society to define them. Although freedom and individuality are highly valued American
principles, existentialists argue that there is an underlying message of conformity. Rather than the belief
that the mind needs to understand the universe, existentialists assume that the mind creates its universe.
Their beliefs incorporate the inevitability of death, as the afterlife cannot be experienced personally with the
current senses, focusing on the fact that the experience we have of the world is temporary and should be
appreciated as such.
Education from an existentialist perspective places the primary emphasis on students’ directing
their own learning. Students search for their own meaning and direction in life as well as define what is right
and what is false, what is pleasant and satisfying, what is unpleasant and dissatisfying, and what is right or
wrong. The goal of an existentialist education is to train students to develop their own unique understanding
of life.
An existentialist classroom typically involves the teachers and school laying out what they feel is
important and allowing the students to choose what they study. All students work on different, self-selected
assignments at their own pace. Teachers act as facilitators, directing students in finding the most
appropriate methods of study or materials, and are often seen as an additional resource, alongside books,
computers, television, newspapers, and other materials that are readily available to students.
If we follow existentialist philosophy, as teachers, we must readily accept our students as they are
(exist), and we do not decide on what and how the students should learn. Existentialists believe in the
importance of human existence and human free will to decide and be responsible for oneself. Something
which is considered good by one can be considered wrong by another, and everyone must respect that.

Teachers will provide opportunities for students to experience certain learning activities by
themselves in order to learn, through which students will become self-actualized– becoming aware of and
realizing their meaning of the experience, reaching answers to their questions. However, it is the student’s
responsibility to choose and decide the direction to learn.

In the existentialist classroom, subject matter takes second place to help the students understand
and appreciate themselves as unique individuals. The teacher's role is to help students define their
essence by exposing them to various paths they may take in life and by creating an environment in which
they can freely choose their way.
So, given these philosophies of learner-centered teaching, which of these do you think is your
personal philosophy when you teach? Is it a combination of two or more?

APPLICATION

In 200-250 words, you are tasked to create your own learner-centered teaching philosophy, which
you will apply when you become a professional teacher. You will be guided by the following questions in
formulating your own teaching philosophy.

 Why teach?
 What to teach?
 How to teach?
 How will you manage the class?
 How will you build a relationship with the learners?

LESSON III
PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNER-
CENTERED TEACHING
DESCRIPTION
This lesson will explore the “psyche”of teaching, which refers to the soul of the teaching-learning
process. Specifically, this lesson will explore the psychological learning principles of learner-centered
teaching based on the American Psychological Association. Furthermore, the pre-service teacher will
uncover the latent behavior of the learners which they will use as a strategy in teaching in a learner-
centered classroom
GUIDE
In order to become successful in this lesson, you need to comply the following:
1. Answer the pre-test in your activity notebook.
2. Read and understand the cases. Highlight the most important part for you to answer the ANALYSIS
part. Write your answers in your activity notebook.
3. Answer the questions in the ANALYSIS part. Write your answers in your activity notebook
4. Read and understand the ABSTRACTION.
5. Interview a teacher that is already teaching in the field (at least 2 years of teaching experience) and
ask the guide questions in the APPLICATION. Follow the format provided.
6. Write a reflection about your takeaways in your journal notebook.
7. Answer the post-test in your activity notebook.
LESSON LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, students are expected to perform the following:
 Examine the different psychological principles in Learner-centered Teaching applied to teaching
REQUIREMENTS
The following are the requirements for this lesson:
1. Activity Notebook
2. Journal
3. Internet Access
4. Computer Software
5. Focal person
PURPOSE
The following are the purpose of this lesson:
1. Identify the different psychological learning principles and how it is being applied in the classroom;
2. Acquire authentic experiences in the field of teaching by interviewing professional teachers;
3. Apply the different psychological learning principles when they become professional teachers.

KEY TERMS
Metacognitive- is "cognition about cognition", "thinking about thinking", "knowing about knowing",
becoming "aware of one's awareness" and higher-order thinking skills.
Motivation- is the desire to act in service of a goal.
Individual Differences- are the more-or-less enduring psychological characteristics that distinguish one
person from another and thus help to define each person's individuality. Among the most important kinds
of individual differences are intelligence, personality traits, and values.

ACTIVITY

Read and understand the following case studies. After reading, answer the guide questions in the
ANALYSIS part.
Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors
When planning for instruction, Mr. Gething remembered that students should be neither bored nor
frustrated. Although this made sense to him, he was unsure how he would compensate for the diverse
group of students he had in his second-period language arts class. Some students had difficulty with the
English language, and other students planned to participate in the school’s annual Shakespearean play. He
knew that by grouping students of mixed ability, he could occasionally draw on the talents of his
knowledgeable students to assist the less-advanced students. He also understood that without guidelines,
students might not accomplish anything..

Motivational and Affective Factors


Stephanie Wilson had been educated in “old school methods.” Her teachers insisted on straight
rows of seated students who did not talk during lectures or complain about assignments. While Stephanie
had been successful in this model, not all of her past classmates flourished in such a rigid environment. As
a new teacher she wanted a more student-friendly environment. She envisioned a classroom where
students were stimulated by the activities and worked collaboratively. “I want my students to look forward to
coming to school. I want them to be agents in the learning process, not just passive recipients of my
curriculum.” She imagined designing learning situations in which her students could all achieve. Step by
step, they could all learn! As her students would progress, she would see when they got off the track and
manage to remediate before they started to do poorly. In this way, Stephanie thought, none of her students
would be failures.

Developmental and Social Factors


Suzanne Wilson entered Ms. Sullivan’s class in the fall without any friends. While many of the third-
graders engaged in collaborative games on the playground, Suzanne stood on the periphery, and the other
students did not include her. In class her behaviors were more typical of a younger child, sucking her thumb
when she became upset and refusing to share during group activities. By December, Ms. Sullivan decided
to take steps to intervene. She called Mr. and Mrs. Wilson for a parent meeting. When the Wilsons arrived,
Suzanne was with them. What then transpired was shocking to Ms. Sullivan. Suzanne adamantly insisted
that her parents not talk with her teacher in private. Yelling above the crying and screaming, the Wilsons
apologized and suggested they return on another day when Suzanne was feeling more agreeable

Individual Differences Factors


Afonso is fifteen years old, studying in a private school in Brazil. He has noticed that in order to
perform well in school he requires certain environmental factors to help him focus and study better. At
home, he needs to have Samba playing in the background and Brigadeiros at hand to eat while he studies.
The lighting in his room has to be bright, and he cannot study with anyone else around. As part of his
learning style, he makes pictorial mind maps of the school work he needs to memorize. He has a strong
need to always obtain high grades.

Analysis

After reading the case studies above, answer the following guide questions below:
Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors
1. What type of teacher is Mr. Getting? Explain.
2. What do you think is the approach of Mr. Getting in teaching?

Motivational and Affective Factors


1. Do you think that Stephanie Wilson’s strategy will be effective for student’s who will be struggling?
2. How do you think it will affect the learner’s motivation and emotion?

Developmental and Social Factors


1. Explain what type of parenting styles the Wilson’s practice.
2. What strategies should Ms. Sullivan employ to assist Suzanne with her emotional development?

Individual Differences
1. How will you identify Alfonso’s learning styles?
2. As a teacher, how will you handle Alfonso’s learning style in your classroom?

ABSTRACTION

The 14 Psychological Learning Principles


The American Psychological Association develops 14 Learner-centered Psychological Principles
that will serve as a framework for the educational system for instructional reform and redesign. These
principles emphasize the active and reflective nature of learning and learners. From this perspective,
educational practice will be most likely to improve when the educational system is redesigned with the
primary focus on the learner.
The following 14 psychological principles pertain to the learner and the learning process. They
focus on psychological factors that are primarily internal to and under the control of the learner rather than
conditioned habits or physiological factors. However, the principles also attempt to acknowledge the
external environment or contextual factors that interact with these internal factors. The principles are
intended to deal holistically with learners in the context of real-world learning situations. Thus, they are best
understood as an organized set of principles; no principle should be viewed in isolation. The 14 principles
are divided into those referring to cognitive and metacognitive, motivational and affective, developmental
and social, and individual difference factors influencing learners and learning. Finally, the principles are
intended to apply to all learners -- from children to teachers, to administrators, to parents, and
commlessony members involved in our educational system.
Cognitive and Metacognitive- refers to the intellectual capacities of the learners and how they
facilitate the learning process.
Motivational and affective- refer to the roles played by motivation and emotions in learning.
Developmental and social- refers to the influence of various diverse aspects of learner
development and the importance of interpersonal interactions in learning and change.
Individual differences- refers to how individual differences influence learning; how teachers,
students, and administrators adapt to learning diversity; and how standards of assessment can best
support individual differences.
Domain 1: Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors
LCP 1: Nature of the Learning Process
The learning of complex subject matter is most effective when it is an intentional process of
constructing meaning from information and experience.
There are different types of learning processes, for example, habit formation in motor learning; and
learning that involves the generation of knowledge, or cognitive skills and learning strategies. Learning in
schools emphasizes the use of intentional processes that students can use to construct meaning from
information, experiences, and their own thoughts and beliefs. Successful learners are active, goal-directed,
self-regulating, and assume personal responsibility for contributing to their own learning. The principles set
forth in this document focus on this type of learning.
Parents and teachers of young children can clearly see that they want and yearn to learn and know
about their world. As children get older, they want to know about values and how life works so they can
make wise decisions. Developmental psychologists and brain researchers have discovered that even very
young children are capable of learning strategies for more efficiently and effectively processing and
remembering new information.
LCP 2: Goals of the Learning Process
The successful learner, over time and with support and instructional guidance, can create
meaningful, coherent representations of knowledge.
The strategic nature of learning requires students to be goal directed. To construct useful
representations of knowledge and to acquire the thinking and learning strategies necessary for continued
learning success across the life span, students must generate and pursue personally relevant goals.
Initially, students' short-term goals and learning may be sketchy in an area, but over time their
understanding can be refined by filling gaps, resolving inconsistencies, and deepening their understanding
of the subject matter so that they can reach longer-term goals. Educators can assist learners in creating
meaningful learning goals that are consistent with both personal and educational aspirations and interests.
Whether we know it or not, most of what we learn is directed at some personal goal. What most of
us recognize in our work with students in classrooms is that it is difficult for many students to have goals
related to much of what they are required to learn. Much of the information seems irrelevant and boring to
students. If we can understand the role goals play in energizing and shaping the learning process, we can
more readily help students think about short- and long-term goals and how learning new information can fit
into these goals.
LCP 3: Construction of Knowledge
The successful learner can link new information with existing knowledge in meaningful ways.
Knowledge widens and deepens as students continue to build links between new information and
experiences and their existing knowledge base. The nature of these links can take a variety of forms, such
as adding to, modifying, or reorganizing existing knowledge or skills. How these links are made or develop
may vary in different subject areas, and among students with varying talents, interests, and abilities.
However, unless new knowledge becomes integrated with the learner's prior knowledge and
understanding, this new knowledge remains isolated, cannot be used most effectively in new tasks, and
does not transfer readily to new situations. Educators can assist learners in acquiring and integrating
knowledge by a number of strategies that have been shown to be effective with learners of varying abilities,
such as concept mapping and thematic organization or categorizing.
Students of all ages want to make sense of the world. We all learn to make sense of new
information by linking it to information we already know. To make this link, most of us find it most helpful to
have examples of how the new information links to prior experiences. We teachers can play a vital role in
helping students to verbalize what new information means to them and how it might be related to their
talents, interest, or abilities. We can teach students strategies for organizing and categorizing information in
many ways that make sense to them. When students share their strategies with their teachers and
classmates, each learner has the opportlessony to get feedback and refine his or her understanding
LCP 4: Strategic Thinking
The successful learner can create and use a repertoire of thinking and reasoning strategies to
achieve complex learning goals.
Successful learners use strategic thinking in their approach to learning, reasoning, problem
solving, and concept learning. They understand and can use a variety of strategies to help them reach
learning and performance goals, and to apply their knowledge in novel situations. They also continue to
expand their repertoire of strategies by reflecting on the methods they use to see which work well for them,
by receiving guided instruction and feedback, and by observing or interacting with appropriate models.
Learning outcomes can be enhanced if educators assist learners in developing, applying, and assessing
their strategic learning skills.
One of life’s best teachers is a model. In fact, we learn about 80% of what we know from watching
others—our parents, our teachers, our heroes, the media, and so on. When we model effective strategies
for learning new information or for solving learning problems, our students are more likely to use them as
well. Students can also benefit from explicit instruction in various kinds of learning strategies, such as those
for comprehending what they are reading, finding their logic errors in math problems, or solving a
mathematical word problem.
LCP: 5 Thinking About Thinking
Higher order strategies for selecting and monitoring mental operations facilitate creative and critical
thinking.
Successful learners can reflect on how they think and learn, set reasonable learning or
performance goals, select potentially appropriate learning strategies or methods, and monitor their progress
toward these goals. In addition, successful learners know what to do if a problem occurs or if they are not
making sufficient or timely progress toward a goal. They can generate alternative methods to reach their
goal (or reassess the appropriateness and utility of the goal). Instructional methods that focus on helping
learners develop these higher order (metacognitive) strategies can enhance student learning and personal
responsibility for learning.
For students to learn higher-order or metacognitive strategies for monitoring and regulating thei
own learning, they need time to reflect on what they are learning, how they are learning it, the progress
they are making and any problems or concerns they may have while learning. Under pressure to cover
curriculum and prepare students for assessments, we frequently fail to give them a change to engage in the
reflection and self-inquiry that underlie metacognition. Because these processes facilitate the development
of metacognitive skills and strategies, we greatly increase our students’ probability of becoming
responsible, lifelong learners when we create opportlessonies for them to explore and develop these
metacognitive skills.
LCP 6: Context of Learning
Learning is influenced by environmental factors, including culture, technology, and instructional
practices.
Learning does not occur in a vacuum. Teachers a major interactive role with both the learner and
the learning environment. Cultural or group influences on students can impact many educationally relevant
variables, such as motivation, orientation toward learning, and ways of thinking. Technologies and
instructional practices must be appropriate for learners' level of prior knowledge, cognitive abilities, and
their learning and thinking strategies. The classroom environment, particularly the degree to which it is
nurturing or not, can also have significant impacts on student learning.
All students are influenced by the social and physical context of the classroom. How technology is
used, whether students can work in pairs or with other students can work in pairs or with other students,
how diverse student learning needs are handled by the teacher, and a variety of other contextual factors
influence how students view the learning process in general and their own learning abilities in particular.
The teacher plays a major role in establishing a positive learning context in which all learners feel valued
and capable of learning.
Domain 2: Motivational and Affective Factors
LCP 7: Motivational and Emotional Influences on Learning
What and how much is learned is influenced by the motivation. Motivation to learn, in turn, is
influenced by the individual's emotional states, beliefs, interests and goals, and habits of thinking.
The rich internal world of thoughts, beliefs, goals, and expectations for success or failure can
enhance or interfere the learner's quality of thinking and information processing. Students' beliefs about
themselves as learners and the nature of learning have a marked influence on motivation. Motivational and
emotional factors also influence both the quality of thinking and information processing as well as an
individual's motivation to learn. Positive emotions, such as curiosity, generally enhance motivation and
facilitate learning and performance. Mild anxiety can also enhance learning and performance by focusing
the learner's attention on a particular task. However, intense negative emotions (e.g., anxiety, panic, rage,
insecurity) and related thoughts (e.g., worrying about competence, ruminating about failure, fearing
punishment, ridicule, or stigmatizing labels) generally detract from motivation, interfere with learning, and
contribute to low performance.
Motivation to learn is natural in young children—as evidenced by their insatia
ble curiosity to explore, discover, and know. For many of us, however that natural motivation can
become hidden or lost in some learning situations. Apparent lack of motivation is largely due to negative
thoughts we have about ourselves and our abilities or even about the learning situations including our
teacher. If learners of any age are worried about their chances of success or how they will be viewed by
others, just two of a host of possibilities they often experience fear and anxiety, which then override their
positive emotions of curiosity and interest. When fear and/or anxiety take over, information processing and
other cognitive function are impaired, and performance suffers. When teachers are aware of the debilitating
effects of negative self-thoughts, they can assist students by providing a variety of supports and success
experiences that build confidence and motivation.
LCP 8: Intrinsic Motivation to Learn
The learner's creativity, higher order thinking, and natural curiosity all contribute to motivation to
learn. Intrinsic motivation is stimulated by tasks of optimal novelty and difficulty, relevant to personal
interests, and providing for personal choice and control.
Curiosity, flexible and insightful thinking, and creativity are major indicators of the learners' intrinsic
motivation to learn, which is in large part a function of meeting basic needs to be competent and to
exercise personal control. Intrinsic motivation is facilitated on tasks that learners perceive as interesting
and personally relevant and meaningful, appropriate in complexity and difficulty to the learners' abilities,
and on which they believe they can succeed. Intrinsic motivation is also facilitated on tasks that are
comparable to real-world situations and meet needs for choice and control. Educators can encourage and
support learners' natural curiosity and motivation to learn by attending to individual differences in learners'
perceptions of optimal novelty and difficulty, relevance, and personal choice and control.
In a typical school, students are often asked to learn things that they are not naturally interested in
or curious about learning. It then becomes the teacher’s job to figure out how to make what students have
to learn more meaningful, interesting, and relevant to their interest and experiences. Those who have
studied what triggers natural or intrinsic motivation to learn have found that there are three conditions or
needs that must be satisfied in school in order for intrinsic motivation to learn to surface. Teachers must
help students feel competent and able to succeed; autonomous and self-determining; like they belong and
fit in.
Rather than blaming students for what looks like lack of motivation, teachers who understand this
principle know that they just need to alter the conditions and context of learning by helping all students
experience success and feelings of competence, by allowing developmentally appropriate choices of
learning experiences, and by creating learning commlessonies and positive relationships in which all
students feel like they belong. If we want students to become self-directed and self-regulated learners, it is
particularly critical that they have opportlessonies for choice and control without which they will merely
become compliant learners, or they will choose to disrupt/ or leave school.
LCP 9: Effects of Motivation on Effort
Acquisition of complex knowledge and skills requires extended learner effort and guided practice.
Without learners' motivation to learn, the willingness to exert this effort is unlikely without coercion.
Effort is another major indicator of motivation to learn. The acquisition of complex knowledge and
skills demands the investment of considerable learner energy and strategic effort, along with persistence
over time. Educators need to be concerned with facilitating motivation by strategies that enhance learner
effort and commitment to learning and to achieving high standards of comprehension and understanding.
Effective strategies include purposeful learning activities, guided by practices that enhance positive
emotions and intrinsic motivation to learn, and methods that increase learners' perceptions that a task is
interesting and personally relevant.
When students are free of negative thoughts or fears that interfere with their natural curiosity and
motivation to learn—and when they are supported in basic needs that give rise to their intrinsic motivation
to learn—they freely put effort into learning. Evidence of this effort is that students use active learning
strategies such as paying attention to things the teacher says doing the assignments or even going beyond
what is asked, persisting when learning gets difficult, and challenging themselves to do even harder work.
When learners are being effortful and strategic during learning, they are engaged and learning to optimal
levels. Teachers can facilitate students effort and commitments to learning by involving their students as
active partners in decisions about learning experiences that are of most interest and relevance to them, and
by meeting students needs to be successful and to belong. Peer learning and inquiry-based learning are
examples of practices that provide students with opportlessonies to put forth considerable effort to learn
information, skills, and processes they are motivated to learn. In peer learning, student take turns being the
teacher and learner—cementing their knowledge by learning it more deeply. In inquiry-based learning,
learners pose their own questions that are of highest interest to them in a given content area—letting
interest be the engine that deepens their learning .
Domain 3: Developmental and Social Factors
LCP 10: Developmental Influence on Learning
As individuals develop, there are different opportlessonies and constraints for learning. Learning is
most effective when differential development within and across physical, intellectual, emotional, and social
domains is taken into account.
Individuals learn best when material is appropriate to their developmental level and is presented in
an enjoyable and interesting way. Because individual development varies across intellectual, social,
emotional, and physical domains, achievement in different instructional domains may also vary.
Overemphasis on one type of developmental readiness--such as reading readiness, for example--may
preclude learners from demonstrating that they are more capable in other areas of performance. The
cognitive, emotional, and social development of individual learners and how they interpret life experiences
are affected by prior schooling, home, culture, and commlessony factors. Early and continuing parental
involvement in schooling, and the quality of language interactions and two-way communications between
adults and children can influence these developmental areas. Awareness and understanding of
developmental differences among children with and without emotional, physical, or intellectual disabilities,
can facilitate the creation of optimal learning contexts.
The thought of having to be aware of and know the developmental differences in your learners in
order to create the “right” instructional and contextual experiences for individual learning can be daunting!
However, the key to meeting the diverse student needs represented by your learners is to combine your
knowledge of individual students with the basic principles of human development.
LCP 11: Social Influences on Learning
Learning is influenced by social interactions, interpersonal relations, and communication with
others. Learning can be enhanced when the learner has an opportlessony to interact and to collaborate
with others on instructional tasks.
Learning settings that allow for social interactions, and that respect diversity, encourage flexible
thinking and social competence. In interactive and collaborative instructional contexts, individuals have an
opportlessony for perspective taking and reflective thinking that may lead to higher levels of cognitive,
social, and moral development, as well as self-esteem. Quality personal relationships that provide stability,
trust, and caring can increase learners' sense of belonging, self-respect and self-acceptance, and provide
a positive climate for learning. Family influences, positive interpersonal support and instruction in self-
motivation strategies can offset factors that interfere with optimal learning such as negative beliefs about
competence in a particular subject, high levels of test anxiety, negative sex role expectations, and undue
pressure to perform well. Positive learning climates can also help to establish the context for healthier
levels of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Such contexts help learners feel safe to share ideas, actively
participate in the learning process, and create a learning commlessony.
Decades of research have confirmed the importance of student-teacher relationships in student
motivation, social outcomes, and classroom learning. Further benefits of having a good relationship with
teachers are that students experience their academic work as meaningful, personal, complementing their
goals, and promoting their understanding. By contrast, when students experience poor relationships with
their teachers, they see their academic work as coercive, repetitive, isolated, irrelevant, and contrary to
their social and academic goals. Good relationships are defined by low levels of conflict and high levels of
closeness and support. Through these relationships, children learn how to regulate their behavior and
affect and develop social competence.
DOMAIN 4: Individual Differences Factors
LCP 12: Individual differences in Learning
Learners have different strategies, approaches, and capabilities for learning that are a function of
prior experience and heredity.
Individuals are born with and develop their own capabilities and talents. In addition, through
learning and social acculturation, they have acquired their own preferences for how they like to learn and
the pace at which they learn. However, these preferences are not always useful in helping learners reach
their learning goals. Educators need to help students examine their learning preferences and expand or
modify them, if necessary. The interaction between learner differences and curricular and environmental
conditions is another key factor affecting learning outcomes. Educators need to be sensitive to individual
differences, in general. They also need to attend to learner perceptions of the degree to which these
differences are accepted and adapted to by varying instructional methods and materials.
We all know that no two learners learn in the same way. Each of us has preferences for how we
learn, and over the years of educational experiences we have also learned what kind of approaches usally
work best for us. Each of us has at least some idea bout our interests, talents, and special capabilities.
Affirmative development of academic ability is nurtured and developed through (1) high-quality teaching
and instruction in the classroom, (2) trusting relationships in school, and (3) supports for pro-academic
behavior in the school and commlessony.
LCP 13: Learning and diversity
Learning is most effective when differences in learners' linguistic, cultural, and social backgrounds
are taken into account.
The same basic principles of learning, motivation, and effective instruction apply to all learners.
However, language, ethnicity, race, beliefs, and socioeconomic status all can influence learning. Careful
attention to these factors in the instructional setting enhances the possibilities for designing and
implementing appropriate learning environments. When learners perceive that their individual differences in
abilities, backgrounds, cultures, and experiences are valued, respected, and accommodated in learning
tasks and contexts, levels of motivation and achievement are enhanced.
In spite of the busy and complex life of the classrooms, learner-centered teachers understand how
important it is to get to know each student personally. Every interaction with students at risk of academic
failure is an opportlessony to get to know individual students, their talents, and their interests. Many
children with difficult backgrounds become passive and withdrawn because they don’t believe teachers are
going to allow them to use their strengths. To counter this belief, learner-centered teachers make sure their
students are provided with equal opportlessony to learn, which requires not treating them the same. This
means that students from different ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic groups may need different types of
supports to enhance their learning. If you adhere to the foundational principle of learner-centered practice,
you will know what type of supports your learners need. In other words, you will learn what your soon to be
learners need if you know them individually and if you establish a positive relationship with each student.
LCP 14: Standards and Assessment
Setting appropriately high and challenging standards and assessing the learner as well as learning
progress -- including diagnostic, process, and outcome assessment -- are integral parts of the learning
process.
Assessment provides important information to both the learner and teacher at all stages of the
learning process. Effective learning takes place when learners feel challenged to work towards
appropriately high goals; therefore, appraisal of the learner's cognitive strengths and weaknesses, as well
as current knowledge and skills, is important for the selection of instructional materials of an optimal degree
of difficulty. Ongoing assessment of the learner's understanding of the curricular material can provide
valuable feedback to both learners and teachers about progress toward the learning goals. Standardized
assessment of learner progress and outcomes assessment provides one type of information about
achievement levels both within and across individuals that can inform various types of programmatic
decisions. Performance assessments can provide other sources of information about the attainment of
learning outcomes. Self-assessments of learning progress can also improve student’s self-appraisal skills
and enhance motivation and self-directed learning.
Rigorous, standards-based curriculum and strong social support systems that include people who
value students and their learning are both successful practices that reduce the achievement gap. In
environments where the focus is on student performance on high-stakes tests, teachers are less inclined to
encourage students to explore concepts and subject interest to them—obstructing student’s path to
becoming lifelong, self-directed learners. High-stakes testing does not adequately deal with issues in the
education of low-income and non-English-speaking students and can lead to teaching to the test and
inflated and/or misleading test scores.
Effective approaches include engaging students in self-evaluation and meaningful feedback
through formative assessment, which particularly benefits students who are achieving below their peers.
Incentives are needed foe low-achieving students to be motivated to work hard on high stakes tests, such
as feedback on their progress, tangible rewards, and support from their teachers to find meaning in the
experience and take responsibility for learning.

APPLICATION

Interview a Teacher on the Field. In a group, considering your field of specialization, you need to
interview a teacher in a public or private school with at least two years of experience in teaching. Record
your interview with the teacher and provide pictures in your output. You will be guided with the following
questions in your interview:
1. What are the teaching strategies that you often use? Why?
2. How do you improve your learner's cognitive and metacognitive skills?
3. How do you reinforce learner’s participation in class?
4. How do you address student's misbehaviors?
5. How do you design your learning activities?
6. How do you make the most of the learner’s peers and parents?
7. How diverse is your classroom?
8. How do you accommodate such diversity in your classroom?
9. How do you assess your learners?
Remember that these are the main questions in your guide questionnaire, you are encouraged to ask follow
up questions in order to be satisfied with your participant's answer.
Output Format:
Long Bond paper
1-inch Margin (all sides)
Arial “12”
Double-space

Criteria Percentage
Discussion 40%
The interview results and discussion are well focused and included all important points.

Structure 40%
The interview results are organized, clear and detailed with corresponding explanation.

Components 20%
The reflection includes all the answers based on the questions indicated in the instruction.

Total 100%

REFLECTION

In 100-150 words, write your reflection about the topic in your journal notebook.

LESSON IV
LEGAL FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNER-CENTERED
TEACHING
DESCRIPTION
This lesson will emphasize the legal basis of learner-centered teaching in the Philippines. This
includes the K to 12 Law and DepEd Orders anchored on the Philippine constitution. This lesson will
discuss the highlights of the laws and its interpretation in the teaching-learning process.
GUIDE
In order to become successful in this lesson, you need to comply the following:
1. Answer the pre-test in your activity notebook.
2. Read and understand the news article. Highlight the most important part for you to answer the
ANALYSIS part. Write your answers in your activity notebook.
3. Answer the questions in the ANALYSIS part. Write your answers in your activity notebook
4. Read and understand the ABSTRACTION.
5. Read and analyze the learner-centered provisions in DepEd Order No. 21, s. 2019. Write your
answers in your activity notebook.
6. Write a reflection about your take aways in your journal notebook.
7. Answer the post-test in your activity notebook.
LESSON LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, students are expected to perform the following:
 Explain the legal framework of learner-centered teaching and its implication to the teaching-
learning process.
REQUIREMENTS
The following are the requirements for this lesson:
1. Activity Notebook
2. Journal
3. Internet Access
4. Computer Software
PURPOSE
The following are the purpose of this lesson:
1. To become aware of the different laws that support learner-centered teaching; and
2. Examine the different laws about its pros and cons.

KEY TERMS

Constructivism- is an approach to learning that holds that people actively construct or make their own
knowledge and that reality is determined by the experiences of the learner.
Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013- The enhanced basic education program encompasses at least
one (1) year of kindergarten education, six (6) years of elementary education, and six (6) years of
secondary education, in that sequence. Secondary education includes four (4) years of junior high school
and two (2) years of senior high school education.
ICT Integration- efined as the use of ICT to introduce, reinforce, supplement and extend skills.
Spiral Progression- means the basic principles are introduced in the first grade and are rediscovered in
succeeding grades in more complex forms. With this approach, concepts are introduced at an early age
and re-taught in succeeding years in an increasingly sophisticated fashion.
ACTIVITY
Read the news article below and answer the questions in the ANALYSIS part.
Tell it to SunStar: The K-12 program
WE call on the Department of Education (DepEd) and Congress to do an honest evaluation of the whole K-
12 program and see that it is better abandoned altogether than be maintained or reformed. DepEd Secretary Leonor
Briones earlier announced that the K to 12 curriculum will undergo review to “keep up with the changing times.”

K to 12 has worsened the problems of our education system in all aspects. Its impetuous implementation has
aggravated the shortages in facilities, personnel and materials. It intensified the privatization in the basic education
through the voucher system. It reinforced the colonial and market-oriented curriculum of the basic and tertiary
education. We can see no reason why it should still be continued.
Republic Act 10533 that was passed in 2013 made mandatory the one year in kindergarten and two years in senior
high school purportedly to address the poor quality of basic education and high unemployment rate.

Five years after the law was enacted, the program has become a burden to teachers, students and parents and is
plagued with a lot of problems. Textbooks for elementary and junior high school are not yet completed, instructional
materials for senior high school teachers are not yet available, public senior high schools are very scant, billions of
pesos are paid by the government to private schools, and the drop-out rate is alarming.

And for what? There is no remarkable improvements in the achievement test results of K to 12 students or in the
country’s unemployment rate. The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said in a statement early
this year that the 1st batch of K to 12 graduates were not ready for skilled jobs and are therefore not employable.

The current K to 12 curriculum is problematic. Not only does it serve capitalist interest, it also promotes an even
more colonial education. For one, Philippine History is no longer taught in high school. It also effected the reduction
of required Filipino and social science subjects in the tertiary level.

Then there is Briones’ K to 12 curriculum review direction of “teaching how to make robots” and “teaching life skills,”
which does not get out of the colonial framework of producing cheap labor to meet global market demands and
reinforces individualistic desire for wealth and success.

Education must be geared towards national development. Its duty is to optimize the potentials of our youth and instill
among them a deep desire to serve the country. They should be equipped with critical thinking, necessary skills and
sense of nationalism to enable them to analyze and help solve the underdevelopment of our country.

It is not enough that students are taught how to “adapt to the fast changing world.’ They should be made to realize
that they can be catalysts of change and that they must use their skills and talents in effecting the kind of change that
the Filipino people aspire—to be freed from poverty, underdevelopment, corruption in government and dependence
to foreign powers.--Raymond Basilio, Secretary General, Alliance of Concerned Teachers-Philippines
Adapted from https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1756264/Cebu/Opinion/Tell-it-to-SunStar-The-K-12-program

ANALYSIS
After reading the news article above, reflect on the following questions:
1. What do you think is the point of the news article? Do you agree or disagree with their statement?
Why?
2. What do you think is the status of the K to 12 program?
3. As a product of the K to 12 program, what are your own standpoint about the K to 12 program?
4. Do you think we need to discard the K to 12 program? Why or why not?
5. What do you think is the future of the K to 12 program?

ABSTRACTION
Features of the K to 12 Curriculum
In preparing daily lessons, teachers are encouraged to emphasize the features of the K to 12
curriculum as discussed briefly below:
Spiral Progression
The K to 12 curriculum follows a spiral progression of content. This means that students learn
concepts while young and learn the same concepts repeatedly at a higher degree of complexity as they
move from one grade level to another. According to Bruner (1960), this helps learners organize their
knowledge, connect what they know, and master it. Teachers should make sure that in preparing lessons,
learners are able to revisit previously encountered topics with an increasing level of complexity and that
lessons build on previous learning.
Constructivism
The K to 12 curriculum views learners as active constructors of knowledge. This means that in
planning lessons, teachers should provide learners with opportlessonies to organize or re-organize their
thinking and construct knowledge that is meaningful to them (Piaget, 1950). This can be done by ensuring
that lessons engage and challenge learners and tap into the learners’ zone of proximal development (ZPD)
or the distance between the learners’ actual development level and the level of potential development
(Vygotsky 1978). Vygotsky (1978) suggests that to do this, teachers can employ strategies that allow
collaboration among learners, so that learners of varying skills can benefit from interaction with one
another.
Differentiated Instruction
All K to 12 teachers is encouraged to differentiate their teaching in order to help different kinds of
learners meet the outcomes expected in each lesson. Differentiation or differentiated instruction means
providing multiple learning options in the classroom so that learners of varying interests, abilities, and
needs are able to take in the same content appropriate to their needs. According to Ravitch (2007),
differentiation is instruction that aims to “maximize each student’s growth by recognizing that students have
different ways of learning, different interest, and different ways of responding to instruction”
Differentiation is just one of the strategies available to teachers in the K to 12 classrooms. In
planning lessons, teachers are encouraged to think about and include in their lesson’s options for different
kinds of learners to understand and learn the lesson’s topic. This means that teachers need to continually
conduct formative assessment of learners to be able to articulate these options for learners. However, it
shall still be up to the individual teacher to decide when to utilize differentiated instruction in the classroom.
Planning lessons increases a teacher’s chances of carrying out a lesson successfully. It also allows
teachers to be more confident before starting a lesson.
Lesson planning inculcates reflective practice as it allows teachers to think about and reflect on
different strategies that work inside the classroom including research-based strategies. Making a habit of
lesson planning ensures that teachers truly facilitate learning and respond to the learners’ needs inside the
classroom.
Additionally, lesson planning helps teachers’ master learning area content. Through the
preparation of effective lesson plans, teachers are able to relearn what they need to teach. In the
classroom, well-prepared teachers show ownership of the learning area they teach. Lesson planning helps
teachers know their learners and teach what students need to learn and therefore ensures curriculum
coverage.
ICT Integration
ICTs are basically information-handling tools that are used to produce, store, process, distribute,
and exchange information (Anderson 2010). ICT integration in teaching and learning involves all activities
and processes with the use of technology that will help promote learning and enhance the abilities and
skills of both learners and teachers. With the availability of ICTs in schools, teachers can integrate
technology in planning, delivery, and assessment of instruction.
The use of computers can speed up the preparation of daily lessons. Lesson plans may be
computerized or handwritten. Schools may also use ICTs to store the lessons that their teachers prepare.
They can create a databank/database of lesson plans and feature exemplary lesson plans in the school
websites or submit exemplary lesson plans for the uploading to the LRMDS portal. Teacher can then use
the portal as a resource for their daily lesson preparation. This way, teachers can support each other by
having a repository of lesson plans to refer to in preparing for their daily lesson.
Teachers can also integrate the use of technology into different parts of a lesson. Various
instructional strategies and methods can be delivered using ICT equipment, peripherals, and applications.
Teachers can plan learning opportlessonies that allow learners to access, organize and process
information; create and develop products; communicate and collaborate with others using ICTs. Use of
ICTs in lessons is also one way of differentiating instruction inside the K to 12 classrooms.
Excerpts from RA 10533 “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013”
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — The State shall establish, maintain and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system
of education relevant to the needs of the people, the country and society-at-large.
Likewise, it is hereby declared the policy of the State that every graduate of basic education shall be an empowered individual
who has learned, through a program that is rooted on sound educational principles and geared towards excellence, the
foundations for learning throughout life, the competence to engage in work and be productive, the ability to coexist in fruitful
harmony with local and global commlessonies, the capability to engage in autonomous, creative, and critical thinking, and the
capacity and willingness to transform others and one’s self.
For this purpose, the State shall create a functional basic education system that will develop productive and responsible citizens
equipped with the essential competencies, skills and values for both life-long learning and employment. In order to achieve this,
the State shall:
(a) Give every student an opportlessony to receive quality education that is globally competitive based on a pedagogically sound
curriculum that is at par with international standards;
(b) Broaden the goals of high school education for college preparation, vocational and technical career opportlessonies as well
as creative arts, sports and entrepreneurial employment in a rapidly changing and increasingly globalized environment; and
(c) Make education learner-oriented and responsive to the needs, cognitive and cultural capacity, the circumstances and
diversity of learners, schools and commlessonies through the appropriate languages of teaching and learning, including mother
tongue as a learning resource.
SEC. 3. Basic Education. — Basic education is intended to meet basic learning needs which provides the foundation on which
subsequent learning can be based. It encompasses kindergarten, elementary and secondary education as well as alternative
learning systems for out-of-school learners and those with special needs.
SEC. 4. Enhanced Basic Education Program. — The enhanced basic education program encompasses at least one (1) year of
kindergarten education, six (6) years of elementary education, and six (6) years of secondary education, in that sequence.
Secondary education includes four (4) years of junior high school and two (2) years of senior high school education.
Kindergarten education shall mean one (1) year of preparatory education for children at least five (5) years old as a prerequisite
for Grade I.
Elementary education refers to the second stage of compulsory basic education which is composed of six (6) years. The entrant
age to this level is typically six (6) years old.
Secondary education refers to the third stage of compulsory basic education. It consists of four (4) years of junior high school
education and two (2) years of senior high school education. The entrant age to the junior and senior high school levels are
typically twelve (12) and sixteen (16) years old, respectively.
Basic education shall be delivered in languages understood by the learners as the language plays a strategic role in shaping the
formative years of learners.
For kindergarten and the first three (3) years of elementary education, instruction, teaching materials and assessment shall be in
the regional or native language of the learners. The Department of Education (DepED) shall formulate a mother language
transition program from Grade 4 to Grade 6 so that Filipino and English shall be gradually introduced as languages of instruction
until such time when these two (2) languages can become the primary languages of instruction at the secondary level.
For purposes of this Act, mother language or first Language (LI) refers to language or languages first learned by a child, which
he/she identifies with, is identified as a native language user of by others, which he/she knows best, or uses most. This includes
Filipino sign language used by individuals with pertinent disabilities. The regional or native language refers to the traditional
speech variety or variety of Filipino sign language existing in a region, area or place.
SEC. 5. Curriculum Development. — The DepED shall formulate the design and details of the enhanced basic education
curriculum. It shall work with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to craft harmonized basic and tertiary curricula for
the global competitiveness of Filipino graduates. To ensure college readiness and to avoid remedial and duplication of basic
education subjects, the DepED shall coordinate with the CHED and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA).
To achieve an effective enhanced basic education curriculum, the DepED shall undertake consultations with other national
government agencies and other stakeholders including, but not limited to, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the
Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), the private and public schools associations, the national student organizations, the
national teacher organizations, the parents-teachers associations and the chambers of commerce on matters affecting the
concerned stakeholders.
The DepED shall adhere to the following standards and principles in developing the enhanced basic education curriculum:
(a) The curriculum shall be learner-centered, inclusive and developmentally appropriate;
(b) The curriculum shall be relevant, responsive and research-based;
(c) The curriculum shall be culture-sensitive;
(d) The curriculum shall be contextualized and global;
(e) The curriculum shall use pedagogical approaches that are constructivist, inquiry-based, reflective, collaborative and
integrative;
(f) The curriculum shall adhere to the principles and framework of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE)
which starts from where the learners are and from what they already knew proceeding from the known to the unknown;
instructional materials and capable teachers to implement the MTB-MLE curriculum shall be available;
(g) The curriculum shall use the spiral progression approach to ensure mastery of knowledge and skills after each level; and
(h) The curriculum shall be flexible enough to enable and allow schools to localize, indigenize and enhance the same based on
their respective educational and social contexts. The production and development of locally produced teaching materials shall be
encouraged and approval of these materials shall devolve to the regional and division education lessons.
Excerpts from DepEd Order No. 21 s. 2019 “Policy Guidelines on the K to 12 Basic Education Program”
V. Policy Statement
13. As prescribed by Republic Act No. 10533, DepEd shall adhere to the following principles in pursuit of the K to 12 Basic
Education Program:
a. The curriculum shall be learner-centered, inclusive, developmentally relevant and appropriate. Learner-centered is an
approach to education that puts the needs and interests of the students at the center of the teaching-learning process.
b. The curriculum shall be relevant, responsive and research based. It is based on learning theories, principles, sound
research, and studies in teaching and learning dynamics.
c. The curriculum shall be culture-sensitive which means that instruction must respect the cultural identities of the
learners.
d. The curriculum shall be contextualized and global. Relevant, appropriate, and responsive curriculum will only become
a reality if it puts a premium on the personal, bio-geographical and socio-cultural setting of the learners, taking into
account the demands of the national and global commlessony.
e. The curriculum shall use pedagogical approaches that are constructivist, inquiry-based, reflective, collaborative,
differentiated, and integrative. Constructivism views learners as active constructors of meaningful knowledge. Inquiry-
based learning puts a premium on questioning, investigating, proving, probing, explaining, predicting, and establishing
connection of evidences. Reflective learning provides opportlessonies for learners to reflect on what and why they
need to learn and how to go about it. Collaborative approach allows learners to share ideas between and among
themselves thus developing the value of cooperation, respect, camaraderie, and tolerance. Differentiation takes into
great consideration the different learning styles and multiple intelligences of the learners, which are significant aspects
of their individual differences not only as learners but also as individuals. Finally, integrative pedagogy espouses the
importance of connections and relationships of ideas and concepts between and among disciplines.
f. The curriculum shall adhere to the principles and framework of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-
MLE) in the early grades. Instructional materials and capable teachers to implement the MTB-MLE curriculum shall be
available. The guidelines on the implementation of the MTB-MLE program are further explained in Annex 4.
g. The curriculum shall use the spiral progression approach to ensure mastery of knowledge and skills after each level.
This pedagogical feature follows the idea that concepts are introduced at an early age and deepened in succeeding
years.
h. The curriculum shall be flexible enough to enable schools to localize indigenize and to enhance it based on their
respective educational and social context. The production and development of locally produced teaching materials
shall be encouraged and approval of these materials shall be devoted to the regions and divisions, subject to approved
standards and monitoring at the central level.
The Learner
14. The Learner refers to any individual, regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, culture, religion, and ability, enrolled in basic
education to enhance his/her knowledge, skills, and values to improve the quality of his/her life, and to develop his/her
potentials. DepEd provides all learners with many opportlessonies to access quality basic education. Learners in difficult
circumstances, which prevent them from attending school regularly, have Flexible Learning Options (FLOs) so they may
complete basic education, including the Alternative Learning System (ALS) where appropriate. Learners who are gifted and
talented, learners with disabilities, and learners from specific cultural contexts and religious belief will be helped to attain their full
potential through equitable, relevant, appropriate, and responsive educational interventions. Learners who are temporarily
abroad may attend schools that offer K to 12 curriculum following the regulations of their host country, so they can return to the
Philippine education system seamlessly.
15. The goal of the K to 12 curriculum is for all learners to have access to quality and relevant education. In effect, all
learners have the opportlessony to become well-rounded, happy, and smart individuals who are confident to pursue their chosen
paths.
Inclusive Education
16. Inclusive education is the core principle of the K to 12 Basic Education Program. This promotes the right of every
Filipino to quality, equitable, culture-based and complete basic education. Through inclusive education, all Filipinos will realize
their full potential and contribute meaningfully to building the nation. The Inclusive Education Policy Framework is discussed in
Annex 5.
The Enhanced Basic Education Program: K to 12
17. The Enhanced Education Program or K to 12 Basic Education Program responds to national and global
commlessony needs and demands through its mission to strengthen the values of the Filipino people, develop a strong sense of
nationalism, develop productive citizens who contribute to the building of a progressive, just, and humane society, ensure
environmental sustainability, and cultivate global partnership for development.
18. The K to 12 graduate is a holistically developed Filipino who has built foundations for learning throughout life. They
are individuals equipped with information, media and technology skills, learning and innovation skills, life and career skills, and
communication skills necessary to tackle the challenges and take advantage of the opportlessonies of the 21 century. These
st

skills are defined and described as follows:


a. Information, media and technology skills deal with various sub-skills such as visuals and information literacies, media
literacy, basic, scientific, economic and technological literacies, multicultural literacy, and global awareness. These
skills allow learners to navigate the fluid and dynamic environment of knowledge creation and acquisition. These skills
are embedded in subjects such as Technology and Livelihood Education, Science, Mathematics, Araling Panlipunan,
MAPEH, and Languages, which are all subjects used as platforms for integration of these skills.
b. Learning and innovation skills include among others creativity and curiosity, critical thinking, problem-solving,
adaptability, managing complexity and self-direction, and sound reasoning skills. Acquisition of these skills help
learners resolve daily issues and challenges be it academic, personal, social, etc. Learning and innovation skills are
honed in all subject areas and across grade levels.
c. Communication skills enable learners to easily adapt to present and future challenges and opportlessonies. Teaming,
collaboration, interpersonal skills, and interactive communication are parts and parcels of the 21 century learning and
st

are integrated in all learning areas, which are gradually developed through the learning competencies and
performance standards.
d. Life and career skills empower learners to make informed decisions, thereby giving them the leverage to significantly
contribute ot the development of the society. Flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social and cross-
cultural skills, productivity and accountability, leadership, and responsibility form part of the said skills.
These skills, coupled with curriculum support system and DepEd core values, are designed to holistically prepare the K to 12
learners to become effective in helping address the needs of the nation, by pursuing higher education, employment,
entrepreneurship, or middle-level skills development.
As a result, K to 12 graduates are able to engage in productive and creative undertakings individually or collaboratively.
APPLICATION
Read the DepEd Order No. 21 s. 2019 “Policy Guidelines on the K to 12 Basic Education Program” or RA
10533 “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013”. Identify provisions form the above-mentioned statute,
provisions that that highlight learner-centeredness and discuss their implication for teaching. Provide at
least, three (3) provisions and explain its implications. Write your answers in your activity notebook. You will
be guided with the rubrics below in answering.
Criteria Percentage
Recollection of facts 30%
The analysis covers all the important concepts related to the topic.
Demonstrated understanding 30%
The analysis contains full comprehension of the learner with original wordings, analogies,
or example.
Linking topics 20%
The explanations per provisions are connected and significant to the topic. The learner
clearly evaluates and synthesize a coherent answer.
Persuasive writing 20%
The analysis provides logically supported explanation for every provisions.

Total 100%

REFLECTION
In 100-150 words, write your reflection about the topic in your journal notebook.
Criteria Percentage
Depth 40%
The reflection demonstrates an in-depth reflection on, and personalization of, the
philosophies of education.
Structure 40%
The reflection is written in a clear, concise, and well organized with excellent
sentence/paragraph construction.
Components 20%
The reflection includes all the answers based on the questions indicated in the instruction.

Total 100%

REFLECTION

In 100-150 words, reflect on your newly formulated philosophy of education. How will you act in
your own teaching philosophy? Write your reflection in your journal notebook.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Module 2
Lesson 5 Group 5

LESSON I
INTRODUCTION TO CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT:
PRINCIPLES AND MODELS
DESCRIPTION
This lesson will introduce the pre-service teacher in classroom management. Specifically, this
lesson will provide the different principles and models in managing a learner-centered classroom and apply
it in the real classroom scenario to have a smooth flow of lesson delivery.
GUIDE
In order to become successful in this lesson, you need to comply the following:
1. Answer the pre-test in your activity notebook.
2. Watch the video about classroom management. Click the link to direct you to the video.
3. Answer the questions in the ANALYSIS part. Write your answers in your activity notebook
4. Read and understand the ABSTRACTION.
5. Read and analyze the different case studies. Write your answers in your activity notebook.
6. Write a reflection about your takeaways in your journal notebook.
7. Answer the post-test in your activity notebook.

LESSON LEARNING OUTCOMES


At the end of the lesson, students are expected to perform the following:
 Explain classroom management, its principles, and models.
 Analyze case studies of classroom management, its application, and models.
REQUIREMENTS
The following are the requirements for this lesson:
1. Activity Notebook
2. Journal
3. Internet Access
4. Computer Software

PURPOSE
The following are the purpose of this lesson:
1. Discuss the principles and different classroom management;
2. Understand the learner’s behavior inside the classroom to effectively manage the class; and
3. Apply strategies and techniques in classroom management when they become professional
teachers.

KEY TERMS

Classroom Management- refers to all the actions teachers take to create and maintain an environment
conducive to learning.
Discipline- acts that prevent misbehavior.
Physical Design- refers to the structure of the physical learning environment such as the classroom.
Withitness- a skill enabling you to see what is happening in all parts of the classroom at all times.
ACTIVITY

Watch the video below about classroom management.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI35q7kHXPo

ANALYSIS

After watching the video, answer the following questions:


1. List down manifested misbehaviors of the class.
2. How did the teacher address misbehaviors?
3. How did the teacher manage the time?
4. How did the teacher discipline her student?
5. What do you think are the appropriate approaches that the teacher should have done with those
misbehaviors?

ABSTRACTION

Classroom Management
Brophy (2006) describes classroom management as all the actions teachers take to create and
maintain an environment conducive to learning. Classroom management is a process consisting of the
following five key areas: organizing the physical design of the classroom, establishing rules and routines,
developing caring relationships, implementing engaging and effective instruction, and addressing discipline
issues. Strategically and purposefully addressing each of these areas helps teachers create and maintain
an environment conducive to learning.
1. Physical design of the classroom—The physical design lies in how the classroom is laid out, where the
students’ desks are, where the teacher’s desk is, where learning centers and materials are located, where
heavily used items such as the pencil sharpeners are, and so on.
2. Rules and routines—Teachers establish class rules and routines (such as handing back papers and
taking attendance) to keep the class activities running smoothly with as little disruption and loss of time as
possible.
3. Relationships—Effective classroom managers develop caring, supportive relationships with students and
parents and promote supportive relations among students.
4. Engaging and motivating instruction—Effective managers develop instruction that engages learners, and
they carefully plan their instruction so that each learning activity is well organized and runs smoothly.
5. Discipline—Discipline revolves around teacher actions focused on preventing and responding to
students’ misbehavior. Discipline does not only mean punishment, nor does it only mean the actions that
teachers take after misbehavior occurs. Discipline also includes teacher actions that prevent misbehavior.
Guiding Principles in Classroom Management
1. Successful classroom management fosters self-discipline and personal responsibility. Instead of
having dependence on a price and punishment system of motivating and controlling learners
behavior, emphasize more on providing limits and guide the learners to develop self-discipline and
personal responsibility.
2. Most problems of disorder in classrooms can be avoided if teachers foster positive student–teacher
relationships, implement engaging instruction, and use good preventive management strategies.
Extensive research demonstrates that when students perceive that the teacher is supportive and
caring, they are more engaged, cooperative in classroom tasks, and adheres to classroom rules.
Likewise, if the students feel that the learning tasks are significant, coherent, and meaningful, they
are less inclined to disruption. Finally, orderly classes are a result of teachers’ ability to manage
classroom activities, and not by addressing learners’ misbehavior.
3. The need for order must not supersede the need for meaningful instruction. Although learning and
teaching cannot take place in an environment that is chaotic, excessive concerns about quiet and
uniformity can hinder instruction (Doyle, 2006).
4. Managing today’s diverse classrooms requires the knowledge, skills, and predispositions to work
with students from diverse racial, ethnic, language, and social class backgrounds. In other words,
teachers must become “culturally responsive classroom managers.” Sometimes, a desire to treat
students fairly leads teachers to strive for “color-blindness” (Nieto & Bode, 2008), and educators
are often reluctant to talk about cultural characteristics for fear of stereotyping. But definitions and
expectations of appropriate behavior are culturally influenced, and conflicts are likely to occur if we
ignore our students’ cultural backgrounds.
5. Becoming an effective classroom manager requires reflection, hard work, and time. Classroom
management cannot be reduced to a set of recipes or a list of “how to’s.” Similarly, well managed
classrooms are not achieved by following “gut instinct” or doing “what feels right.” Classroom
management is a learned craft. That means that you must become familiar with the knowledge
base that undergirds or supports effective management. You must also be ready and willing to
anticipate problems, analyze situations, generate solutions, make thoughtful decisions—and learn
from your mistakes.

Model To Know To Provide To Maintain To Involve To Attend to


What Is Going Smooth Group Students Misbehavior
On Transitions Allterness
Canter’s Realize that Insist on Set clear limits Use firm tone Follow through
Assertive the student decent, and of voice; keep wit your
Discipline has the right to responsible consequences; eye contact; promises and
Model choose how to behavior. follow throughuse nonverbal the
behave in your consistently; gestures as reasonable,
class with state what youwell as verbal previously
understanding expect; state the
statements; stated
of the consequences, use hints, consequences
consequences and why the questions, and that have been
that will follow limits are
direct established in
his or her needed. messages in your class.
choice. requesting
student
behavior; give
and receive
compliments.
Dreikur’s Realize that Identify a Provide firm Allow students Make it clear
Logical the student mistaken guidance and to have a say that
Consequences wants status, student goal; leadership. in establishing unpleasant
Model recognition, act in ways rules and consequences
and a feeling that do not consequences will follow
of belonging. reinforce in your class. inappropriate
Misbehavior is these goals. behavior.
associated
with mistaken
goals of getting
attention,
seeking power,
getting
revenge, and
wanting to be
left alone.
Ginott’s Communicate Invite student Model the Build student’s Give a
Congruent with the cooperation. behavior you self-esteem. message that
Communication student to find expect to see in addresses the
Model out his/her your students. situation and
feelings about does not
a situation and attach the
about student’s
him/herself. character.
Glasser’s Realize that Help the Understand that Realize that Accept no
Reality the student is a student make class rules are classroom excuses for
Therapy Model rational being; good essential. meetings are inappropriate
he/she can choices; effective behavior; see
control his/her good choices means for that
own behavior. produce attending to reasonable
good rules, behavior, consequences
behavior, and and discipline. always follow.
bad choices
produce bad
behavior.
The Kounin Develop Avoid Avoid Avoid boredom Understand
Model withitness, a jerkiness, slowdowns by providing a that teacher
skill enabling which (delays and time feeling of correction
you to see consists of wasting) that progress for influences
what is thrust (giving can be caused the students, behavior of
happening in directions by overdwelling by offering other nearby
all parts of the before your (too much time challenges, by students (the
classroom at group is spent on varying class ripple effect).
all times. ready), explanations) activities, by
dangles and by changing the
(leaving one fragmentation level of
activity (breaking down intellectual
dangling in an activity into challenge, by
the verbal air, several varying lesson
starting unnecessary presentations,
another one, steps). Develop and by using
and then a group focus many different
returning to (active learning
the first participation by materials and
activity), flip all students in aids.
flops the group)
(terminating through
one activity, accountability
beginning (holding all
another one, students
and then accountable for
returning to the concept of
the first the lesson) and
activity you by attention
terminated). (seeing all the
students and
using unison
responses as
well as
individual
responses).
Skinner’s Realize the Realize that Set rules, Invovlves Provide
Behavior value of smooth rewards, and students in tangibles to
Modification nonverbal transitions consequences; “token students who
Model interaction (i.e. may be part emphasize that economies”, in follow the
smiles, pats, of your responsibility for contracts, and class rules;
and procedures good behavior in charting own represemt
handshakes) for awarding rests with each behavior tangibles as
to reinforcers student. performance. “points” for the
communicate (i.e. points whole class to
to students and tokens) use to
that you know to reward “purchase” a
what is going appropriate specisl activity.
on. behavior.
APPLICATION

Activity 1. With your knowledge on the different models of classroom management, analyze and discuss
the following case studies that happen in a day-to-day event in the schools.

Case 1: The Bully


Background
Tony is considered by his peers to be one of the “tough guys.” He is 14 and in the 8th grade at
Green Middle School. Tony is prone to bullying, frequently quarreling with his fellow students and teachers,
and is considered by his parents to be disobedient. He has a record of minor offenses that range from
truancy to destruction of property to drunkeness and offensive behavior. In general, Tony gets satisfaction
in ways that are damaging and unfair to others.
It is obvious to school officials that Tony is beyond parental control. Tony’s mother has no apparent
ability to control Tony’s behavior. His father frequently beats him .
Tony is not a member of any school organization, nor does he participate in co-curricular activities.
His mid-term progress shows that he is failing in three subjects.
The Situation
One of the subjects Tony is failing is English. Tony is a discipline problem in class, and although it
makes the teacher feel guilty, she cannot help but be pleased when Tony is absent from class.
Questions:
1. Where is the problem?
2. Where is Tony heading?
3. What can and should be done, if anything? By whom?
4. What is the role of Tony? His teachers? His peers? The school administration? His parents?
Society in general?
5. Is it too late for Tony?

CASE 2: The Problem of Mary


Mary has been characterized by her peers and by her teachers as being lonely, indifferent, and
generally unhappy. She avoids both students and teachers. She will lie and cheat to avoid attention. Her
“close” friends describe her as thoughtless and unkind. She often uses damaging remarks about members
of her class, calling them conceited, teacher’s pets, and so on. She considers members of her class to be
thoughtless, unkind, and uninterested in her.
Mary will do what she has to do to achieve average success in her studies. Her association with
adults, her parents, and her teachers would be described as one of “getting along,” doing what “ I have to
do in order not to get too much attention.”
The Situation
One of Mary’sfriends is another 14-year-old girl, Jane. Jane is an above-average student in school,
seemingly well adjusted, and interested in people. She has gotten to know Mary because they are
neighbors and walk together to school.. Because of Jane’s interest in other people and her closeness to
Mary, she has become interested in “trying to bring Mary out of her shell.”
Mary has told Jane that she feels her teachers are unreasonably severe. Mary said, “The teachers
are only interested in the popular kids.” Jane disagreed. Mary said, “ You only disagree because you are
pretty and popular.” At this point, the conversation was broken by a boy running up and saying, “Hey, Jane,
you’re late for the council meeting.”
Questions:
1. Where is the problem?
2. What if you were Mary’s teacher?
3. How did you feel after reading this case?

CASE 3 : Students Use the Internet for Extracurricular Activity


During project work time in a seventh-grade language art/social studies block, the classroom teacher
discovers a group of three students at a computer workstation viewing a graphic sex website.
Questions
1. After reading this, what were your immediate thoughts?
2. What should the teacher do?
3. How could the problem have been avoided?
4. What, if anything, did you learn from this case that might be helpful to you during your own
teaching career?

Criteria Percentage
Recollection of facts 30%
The analysis covers all the important concepts related to the topic.
Demonstrated understanding 30%
The analysis contains full comprehension of the learner with original wordings, analogies,
or examples.
Linking topics 20%
The explanations per provisions are connected and significant to the topic. The learner
clearly evaluates and synthesizes a coherent answer.
Persuasive writing 20%
The analysis provides logically supported explanations for every provision.

Total 100%
Activity 2 GRASP Activity
As a beginning teacher, you were assigned by your school principal to become the adviser of Grade 7
students (a group of underperforming students and has few students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder). As their new adviser, you need to implement new classroom management models in order to
address the learning problems and demands of your students. After a month, your class will be observed
by master teachers and your principal on the improvement of the classroom behavior of the class. They will
evaluate your classroom management based on its (a) organization of the classroom, (b) implementation of
routines, and (c) the performance of the learners.

REFLECTION

In 100-150 words, write your reflection about the topic in your journal notebook.

LESSON II
ORGANIZING THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE,
ESTABLISHING RULES AND ROUTINES, and
IMPLEMENTING AND MANAGING ENGAGING
INSTRUCTIONS IN A LEARNER-CENTERED
CLASSROOM
DESCRIPTION
This lesson will provide a thorough discussion in organizing the physical structure of the learning
environment, specifically a typical classroom, how should teachers establish rules and routines to avoid
distractions and slow downs, and how to manage an engaging instructions in a learner-centered classroom.
The lesson is composed of practical techniques and strategies based on first-hand experiences and
researches in effective classroom management.
GUIDE
In order to become successful in this lesson, you need to comply the following:
1. Answer the pre-test in your activity notebook.
2. Observe the set of pictures and jot down important observations. Write your answers in your activity
notebook.
3. Answer the questions in the ANALYSIS part. Follow the format provided. Write your answers in your
activity notebook
4. Read and understand the ABSTRACTION.
5. Design a classroom structure with the given items and create a poster of your own rules and routines
for your classroom. Interview a teacher about managing engaging instructions. Perform the tasks in
your activity notebook
6. Write a reflection about your take aways in your journal notebook.
7. Answer the post-test in your activity notebook.
LESSON LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, students are expected to perform the following:
 Design a physical map of an ideal classroom.
 Develop a classroom rules and routines for a learner-centered classroom.
 Examine the different phases of an engaging instruction.

REQUIREMENTS
The following are the requirements for this lesson:
1. Activity Notebook
2. Journal
3. Internet Access
4. Computer Software
5. Focal person
PURPOSE
The following are the purpose of this lesson:
1. Know how to organize the physical structure of a learner-centered classroom;
2. Effectively establish rules and routines in their respective class when they become professional
teachers; and
3. Succesfully manage and implement engaging instructions.

KEY TERMS

Action zone- which is the area of the classroom where students interact most frequently with the teacher.
Classroom Rules- refers to the overall conduct of the class.
Classroom Routines- usually provide some direction about how these tasks should be accomplished,
rather than seeking to prevent a particular type of behavior.
Engaging Instructions- which involves using instructional techniques that increase students’ motivation
and interest in learning.
ACTIVITY

Take a tour with these classroom pictures. Write down your observations and answer the
ANALYSIS part after observing.
ANALYSIS

Write your observation in the pictures in the table below. You will be guided with the questions in
answering the table:
1. How secure is the classroom? How about its sense of being home?
2. How will it affect social contact with the teacher? Among other learners?
3.What does this classroom tell us about the learners—their interest, activities, backgrounds,
accomplishments, and preferences?
2. What does the classroom tell us about the teacher’s goals, values, and beliefs about
education?
3. How will the physical environment help the learners and teachers in accomplishing a task?
4. Is the classroom attractive and pleasing for the students?
5. but development?
CLASSROOM A CLASSROOM CLASSROOM C
B
ABSTRACTION

ROOM STRUCTURING
The first component of the process of classroom management is the physical design of the
classroom. According to teacher educator Walter Doyle (2006), one of the main factors determining how
much time teachers spend organizing and directing students and dealing with inappropriate and disruptive
behavior is the physical arrangement of the classroom. Decisions about how to arrange the furniture, set up
work areas or centers, store everyday classroom supplies and materials, and decorate the classroom are
just some examples of the tasks related to the physical design of the classroom, which contribute to a
teacher’s ability to establish an environment conducive to social-emotional and academic learning. The
number of studies that explicitly examine how the physical setting influences student behavior is limited.
Although some of these studies are dated, several still hold important implications for teachers’ practice.
In order to provide students with the necessary space to learn, you will need to make thoughtful
and purposeful decisions about how to arrange the students’ desks as well as other important classroom
furniture and materials. It is helpful to remember that one factor influencing some of these decisions is class
size. Sometimes the ideal environment that you envision for your classroom may need small modifications
because of the number of students who will be present in your classroom and you will need to be flexible
and creative when organizing the physical design of your classroom.
Classrooms have an action zone (Doyle, 2006), which is the area of the classroom where students
interact most frequently with the teacher. When desks are arranged in traditional rows, the action zone is
typically the front and the center of the room—the parts of the room that are closest to the teacher.
Students who sit in these parts of the classroom benefit from having more frequent interactions with the
teacher (Adams, 1969; Adams & Biddle, 1970). It is essential to be aware that teachers have a strong
tendency to interact disproportionately with these students. You may compensate by circulating to all parts
of the room during your lessons and making sure that you are interacting equally with students in all parts
of the room (Evertson & Emmer, 2012; Savage & Savage, 2010; Weinstein & Romano, 2014). You may
choose from many different configurations for your students’ desks. To help you decide what arrangement
of student desks might work best for you, Chinn (2012) describes the advantages, disadvantages, and
underlying theory of four common desk arrangements.
Traditional Rows
1. Theory—This arrangement conveys a message that the teacher is the authority, standing in front of the
room and “transmitting” knowledge to the class.

2. Advantages
a. It is easy for teachers to move around to any desk in the room.
b. It is easy for students to look at the teacher when he or she is talking.
c. Students may be less distracted by peers because they are not sitting next to them.
d. Teachers can readily monitor whether students are paying attention and understanding the material
because they can see all of the students’ faces.

3. Disadvantages
a. Students cannot easily work in groups and have to move desks around in order to work together, which
means short group tasks cannot be easily accomplished (i.e., five minutes to discuss a topic).
b. Students cannot see each other during group discussions.
c. Students in the back often cannot hear students in the front row who are facing toward the teacher.

Clusters
1. Theory—This arrangement emphasizes the importance of students’ working together to construct
knowledge.
2. Advantages
a. It is easy for the teacher to move around and talk with individuals or with groups.
b. Students can readily work in small groups.
c. Students can see each other more easily, which encourages students to talk to one another during
discussion.
3. Disadvantages
a. Maintaining attention may be more difficult when the teacher is talking, since not all students are facing
the teacher.
b. Teachers cannot easily monitor behavior or student understanding as readily as when all students are
facing them.

Pairs
1. Theory—This arrangement emphasizes the importance of students working together to construct
knowledge. In addition, this arrangement places the teacher in the front of the room as the authority.
2. Advantages
a. It is easy for the teacher to move around and talk with individuals or with pairs.
b. Teachers can expect that all students will look at them when teachers are talking.
c. Since the teacher can see all of the students’ faces, he or she can more readily monitor behavior and
understanding.
d. Students can readily work in groups of two, and by having one pair turn their chairs around to join the
group behind them, students can quickly form groups of four.
3. Disadvantages
a. When students are doing individual work at their seats, a partner may distract them.
b. Students cannot see each other during a group discussion.
c. Students in the back often cannot hear students in the front, who are facing toward the teacher.

U-Shaped
1. Theory—This arrangement emphasizes the importance of students’ talking directly to each other, and it
also allows for collaborative knowledge construction by pairs of students.
2. Advantages
a. All students can see the center of the room, which makes it easy for the teacher to maintain attention
when talking.
b. The teacher can see all the students’ faces and can readily monitor students’ behavior and
understanding.
c. Adjacent students can work in pairs, usually without moving their desks much, as desks are usually close
together.
d. Most students can look at a person who is speaking, which encourages students to talk directly with
each other during discussions.
3. Disadvantages
a. The arrangement can often be crowded.
b. When students are doing individual work at their seats, someone sitting on either side of them may
distract them.
c. Work in small groups is difficult.

Overall, you will want to consider several factors, among them the class size, the density of
different areas of the classroom, the frequency of class discussions or collaborative work, and your ability
to circulate and interact with all students when deciding on the right arrangement of student desks for your
classroom.

Arranging Other Furniture, Equipment, Supplies, and Décor

The arrangement of students’ desks is not the only important component of the classroom’s
physical layout. You will also need to decide where to place (1) your desk; (2) any additional tables or other
furniture; (3) computers or other equipment; (4) materials and supplies that students use regularly, such as
art supplies, materials for science experiments, and pencil sharpeners; and (5) special centers that you
might create, such as a library corner. You will also plan the room’s decor, including wall decorations (such
as posters or students’ work) and items placed around the room (such as plants, aquaria, or student
artwork). The best physical layout for your classroom will depend on your goals, the shape of the room, and
the physical constraints of the classroom (where outlets and internet connections are, the type and size of
furniture, the size of the room, etc.) (Carter & Doyle, 2006). Some principles that can help guide you as you
arrange your classrooms are discussed below (Evertson, Emmer, & Worsham, 2003; Savage & Savage,
2010; Weinstein & Romano, 2014).

1. Create Adequate Space for Interaction


Students need adequate space in which to learn, individually and collaboratively. They need enough
desk space and space to put their personal belongings so that they do not feel cramped.
2. Minimize Traffic Problems
It is important to create an aesthetically pleasing classroom environment. Placing posters, pictures, and
student work on the wall helps students feel that the room is a welcoming, comfortable place to be. This
can include posters that express values and class norms, pictures that you and the students like, or notable
quotations from books the students are reading.
3. Showcase Student Diversity
Students’ diversity provides a rich resource for decorating the classroom and helps make students feel
accepted. For example, you can display a world map in the center of a bulletin board and hang pictures of
students around the perimeter. Have each student staple a piece of string or ribbon linking the student’s
picture and his or her country of origin.
4. Adapt the Room to the Instructional Purposes and Activities
You will want to match the physical layout of your classroom to your preferred instructional activities
and purposes. For example, if you want students to work in different learning centers, you will want to
arrange the classroom so that there are learning centers spread around the classroom.
5. Consider Students’ Perceptions
Your students’ ideas about their surroundings may be different from what you expect and
understanding what they are thinking will help you design an environment that meets their needs.

ESTABLISHING CLASSROOM RULES AND ROUTINES

Most frequently, teachers struggle with classroom management for one of two primary reasons: (1)
They do not establish rules and routines in their classroom or (2) they do not understand the difference
between the two. Rules and routines both communicate an expectation about behavior. Classroom rules,
though, are generally about overall conduct, whereas routines are much more specific to certain tasks and
usually provide some direction about how these tasks should be accomplished, rather than seeking to
prevent a particular type of behavior. They are both essential components of an effective classroom
management plan and go a long way with respect to developing an environment conducive to learning.
First, let’s take a look at classroom rules.

Classroom Rules

You have the freedom and flexibility to develop a wide variety of rules for your classrooms as well
as the process used to develop them. There are some general guidelines or “best practices” to guide you in
the development of effective classroom rules.

1. Develop a reasonable number of rules.


It is best to develop approximately four to six rules. If you have too many rules, your classroom will
seem overly rigid, and students may have a hard time remembering them all. If there are too few rules,
critical aspects of behavior that should be covered by class rules will probably be neglected. Rules should
cover several dimensions of behavior, including classroom safety (not fighting, being careful with
equipment), respect (listening to others, treating others respectfully), and making appropriate effort (doing
one’s best, coming to class prepared every day). When developing the final set of rules, be sure that your
classroom rules are congruent with schoolwide rules. Some can double as class rules. For example, if the
school emphasizes respecting others throughout the school, you will want to include respect for others as
one of the class rules.

2. Decide on how to word the rules


Remember to write rules using positive language, which means avoiding negative words such as no or
not. Instead of using a classroom rule that says, “No running,” you can write this rule as “We walk at all
times.” Writing the rules using positive language results in a more positive classroom environment overall
because it emphasizes good behavior. Negative rules, in contrast, emphasize what students cannot do and
behavior for which they will be punished.

3. Consider students’ cultural backgrounds


It is important to remember to take students’ cultural backgrounds into account when developing rules.
Some rules that might make sense within one cultural group will not make sense within another group. For
instance, in some cultural groups there is a strong expectation that people learn by helping each other. A
rule that forbids these students to help each other would likely be counterproductive (Gay, 2006).

4. Teach and demonstrate each rules


You will also need to explicitly teach the students what the rules are and how to interpret them. Many
teachers announce their rules, post them on the wall, and then assume that students will understand and
follow them. However, students may not understand the rules in the same way that you intend. For
example, if you have a rule that says, “Respect each other,” you may interpret this to mean that students
should not call each other names. However, some students may not think that the rule applies to name-
calling because they may think of name-calling as “teasing” rather than as “disrespect.” To ensure that all
the students understand what is meant by this rule, you will need to discuss with the students what it
means to respect each other so that everyone develops the same understanding.

5. Post the Rules in a Prominent Spot


Effective classroom managers make sure that students understand and remember the rules. One way to
help students remember the rules is to post the rules in a conspicuous place where everyone in the
classroom can see them easily. If the rules are displayed saliently, students will see them frequently and be
reminded of them when they see them. When you need to remind students of one or more rules, they can
point to the posted rules.

6. Decide Whether to Give Students a Voice


An important decision that you need to make is whether to involve the students in developing the rules. On
the one hand, you may determine what the rules are. On the other, you may have the students help
generate them. There are pros and cons to each approach. Although involving the students in the
development of the rules can be time-consuming, this process may allow students to feel more ownership
over the rules and, as a result, they may be more likely to follow them. Conversely, if you generate the rules
yourself, you ensure that you have the exact set of rules you need in order to teach. It is possible to use a
combination of both teacher- and student-generated rules. For example, you might hold a class meeting to
discuss the importance of rules and to generate ideas for them. Then, you can guide the discussion so that
it focuses on those rules that you want to highlight in your classroom.

IMPLEMENTING AND MANAGING ENGAGING INSTRUCTION

One of the components of classroom management is engaging instruction, which involves using
instructional techniques that increase students’ motivation and interest in learning. It is imperative that
teachers understand that there is a reciprocal relationship between engaging, motivating instruction and
effective classroom management. This means that, on the one hand, the more engaging the instruction is,
the fewer behavioral issues will arise, because students are actively engaged, interested, and motivated in
the lesson (Savage & Savage, 2010; Weinstein & Romano, 2014). On the other hand, some issues of
classroom management must be attended to so that a teacher can implement an engaging and motivating
lesson.

Before a Lesson

Consider the Physical Design


Although we have already discussed the idea of creating a thoughtful and purposeful physical
design of the classroom, those strategies were general strategies to incorporate to help with the overall
classroom environment. However, when thinking about the implementation of certain lessons, you need to
consider additional specific issues related to the physical environment. For example, can the current
physical design of the classroom accommodate this lesson or activity? Sometimes you may have a
wonderful idea for an activity to support a particular concept, but the room may not be accommodating.
Consider the teacher who wants to simulate the solar system and the distance between the planets; this
probably won’t be possible in the classroom because there is not enough space to spread the students out
to accurately represent the distance between the planets.

Plan for the necessary materials


Most successful lessons draw on a variety of materials throughout the lesson Materials can include
items that are pretty standard in classrooms, such as chalkboards, chart paper, markers, rulers, scissors,
and glue. However, with the growing popularity of technology, you can now draw on a broader range of
materials and incorporate iPads, interactive whiteboards, PowerPoint or Prezi presentations, and so on.

Consider the Number of Students


There are many times when the number of students participating in a lesson or activity is an
important factor in the design and implementation of the lesson. Remember that many students are pulled
out of classes at different times throughout the entire day for different types of instruction and activities
such as speech lessons, English as a Second Language instruction, music lessons, gifted and talented
instruction, and basic skills instruction. In addition, students are periodically absent. Therefore, when
planning a lesson, be flexible enough to account for the changing number of students who are in the
classroom during a given time period and develop a plan for how to help the students who were not present
during the lesson learn the necessary material.

Decide How to Group Students


Many teachers like to incorporate cooperative or collaborative work into their lessons, which
requires students to work with other students. In order for the group work to go more smoothly, you need to
think about how you will group students. For example, will students be grouped by interest or academic
ability? Can students choose their own groups, or will you assign the groups? In addition, how will you
direct students to move into their groups?

During a Lesson

Incorporate Relevant Content

It is essential that students feel that the content they are learning is relevant to their lives. Basically,
if students see a purpose for what they are learning, they will be more willing to invest their time and effort
and will remain engaged in the lesson. You can find ways to incorporate students’ interests, such as music,
art, TV shows, or particular sports and hobbies, into your lectures, discussion, and activities.

Provide Clear Instructions


One of the more challenging aspects of implementing a lesson is providing clear directions for
different aspects of the lesson. Be sure to supply explicit step-by-step directions and model the first few
steps of the process. An effective way to double-check the clarity of your directions is to ask students to
repeat the directions.

Teach Collaborative Work Skills


Many teachers incorporate collaborative or cooperative work into their lessons. There are many
benefits and pitfalls to having students work in small groups or with a partner. In order to capitalize on the
benefits and avoid potential pitfalls, remember that students need to be taught how to work in groups. This
is not something that students inherently know how to do. It requires explicit directions and practice in skills
such as listening, sharing, complementing, and challenging one another’s ideas.

Plan for Transitions


A transition is a change in activity. Examples of this can include moving from one area of a room to
another, moving from one classroom to another, switching from one subject to another, or changing the
type of activity students are working with. Most lessons have several transitions, so be sure to plan for
different kinds of such changes.

Monitor Progress and Provide Feedback


Monitoring students’ work and providing feedback will help students stay engaged in the task at
hand. One of the most effective ways to accomplish consistent student engagement is to circulate and
check in with all students. This method enables you to observe what the students are doing and whether or
not they have grasped key concepts. This also allows you to refocus students who need attention, offer
suggestions about how to improve, or to praise students when they are doing something well.

Monitor Student Behavior


It is important to keenly observe students to see how they are doing, including whether they are on
task and if they are achieving the key learning goals. It is a good idea to have a plan for what you will do if a
student clearly can’t handle the lesson and is extremely disruptive.

After a Lesson
Organize and Assess Student Work
For students to stay engaged in the learning process, they need timely and helpful feedback about their
progress. To supply this, you can develop a system to efficiently collect, assess, and record student work.
Given the number of papers teachers deal with on a daily basis, a helpful idea may be to observe and talk
with other teachers about their systems and then develop a system that works for you. Some people
develop different file folder systems to help organize and assess work, while others prefer to use student
portfolios. In addition, with new technologies constantly being created, some teachers continue to seek out
ways to incorporate these technological tools to help simplify and streamline the process of collecting and
assessing student work.

Engage in Reflection
Reflecting on a lesson after the fact is one of the most effective strategies for improving your teaching.
Consider questions such as what parts of this lesson or activity went well? What would I do differently next
time? Do I think the students understood the key concepts that I planned for them? Reflection on crucial
questions like these will help improve the quality of every lesson.

APPLICATION

CLASSROOM DESIGN
Design your ideal classroom, draw a floor plan of the room, and write a brief commentary
explaining your design decisions. Organize the following furniture in a typical classroom for secondary.

 Two teacher’s table


 50 armed chairs
 One chalkboard (long)
 One whiteboard (long)
 One smart TV
 Two bookshelves (big)
 Two bulletin board (big)
 One aquarium
 Two working table (long)
 One filing cabinet (for students and teachers records)
 Two office chairs
 One storage cabinet (cleaning materials)
 Two trash bin
 Four plants (placed in a pot)
 One storage cabinet (for instructional materials)
 Four electric fans

Decide also in the following features of your rooms:

1. How many windows?


2. How many doors?
3. What will the color/s of your classroom?
4. Where will you place your comfort room?

Criteria Percentage
Design 40%
The classroom design is planned carefully, understanding of all concepts and instructions
is clearly demonstrated.
Craftsmanship 40%
The classroom design contains control, adaptations, and understanding of the indicated
materials.
Context 20%
The classroom design is constructed based on facts and theoretical basis and in the
advent of an actual classroom scenario.
Total 100%

POSTER

Create your own classroom rules and routines for your class. Place your classroom rules and
routines in a poster following the guidelines below:

Size: 42 x 59.4 cm (poster size)

Criteria Percentage
Creativity 40%
The poster shows the art of creativity and maximizes the use of elements.
Content 40%
The poster contains important concepts about establishing rules and
routines.
Mechanics 20%
The content shows strong writing skills and proper use of grammar.
Total 100%

INTERVIEW
Interview a Teacher on the Field. As a group, considering your field of specialization, you need to
interview a teacher in a public or private school with at least two years of experience in teaching. Record
your interview with the teacher and provide pictures in your output. You will be guided with the following
questions in your interview: Write your observations in your activity notebook.
Before a Lesson
How do you implement engaging instructions before a lesson?
 Do you consider the physical design of your
classroom?
 How do you plan for the necessary materials?
 Do you consider the number of students? How?
 Do you group students? Why or why not?
During a Lesson
How do you implement engaging instructions during a lesson?
 Do you incorporate relevant content? How?
 How do you provide clear instructions?
 Do you teach collaborative work skills? How?
 How do you plan for transitions?
 How do you monitor progress and provide feedback?
 How do you monitor student behavior?

After a Lesson
How do you implement engaging instructions after a lesson?
 How do you organize and assess student work?
 Do you engage in reflection? How?

Criteria Percentage
Discussion 40%
The interview results and discussion are well focused and included all important points.

Structure 40%
The interview results are organized, clear and detailed with corresponding explanation.

Components 20%
The reflection includes all the answers based on the questions indicated in the instruction.

Total 100%

REFLECTION

In 100-150 words, write your reflection about the topic in your journal notebook.

LESSON III
DEVELOPING RELATIONSHIPS AND RESPONDING
TO BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN A LEARNER-
CENTERED CLASSROOM
DESCRIPTION
This unit provide insights on how an effective teacher develops a caring and friendly relationship
with their students and how they respond to their misbehaviors. The content presents the different
relationship that exist in a learner-centered classroom such as teacher-to-learner, teacher-to-parents, and
learner-to-learner relationships. This unit will also present different tactics in addressing different levels of
students misbehaviors.
GUIDE
In order to become successful in this unit, you need to comply the following:
1. Answer the pre-test in your activity notebook.
2. Read and understand the case. Highlight the most important part for you to answer the ANALYSIS
part. Write your answers in your activity notebook.
3. Answer the questions in the ANALYSIS part. Write your answers in your activity notebook
4. Read and understand the ABSTRACTION.
5. Interview a teacher that is already teaching in the field (at least 2 years of teaching experience) and
ask the guide questions in the APPLICATION. Design a personal classroom management plan based
on the format provided.
6. Write a reflection about your take a ways in your journal notebook.
7. Answer the post-test in your activity notebook.
UNIT LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the unit, students are expected to perform the following:
 Discuss the importance of developing relationship among different school stakeholders.
 Evaluate responses in Addressing Discipline Issues.
 Develop a Personal Classroom Management Plan.
REQUIREMENTS
The following are the requirements for this unit:
1. Activity Notebook
2. Journal
3. Internet Access
4. Computer Software
5. Focal persons
PURPOSE
The following are the purpose of this unit:
1. In order for the pre-service teachers to develop a harmonious relationship with their learners, their
parents, and other stakeholders.
2. Understand the social networks that exist in schools; and
3. Respond to different levels of misbehaviors in the most ethical way.

KEY TERMS
Chronic Misbehavior- Subject to a habit or pattern of behavior for a long time.

Positive reinforcement- the act of receiving something (praise, a reward, a privilege, etc.) that increases
the likelihood of repeating the desired behavior.

Negative reinforcement- a response or behavior is strengthened by stopping, removing, or avoiding


a negative outcome or aversive stimulus.

ACTIVITY

Read the case study below of Tim a Grade 9 History Teacher.

Tim is considered a very popular teacher, and one of the reasons for this is that his students know
that he cares about them. Tim always seems to have athletes in his class every year. As a result, he makes
sure he reads the high school sports section of the newspaper every morning before school. This allows
him to comment on a particular student’s or team’s performance when students arrive to his class. He also
attends sporting events, club activities, and theater performances by the students. Whenever possible, he
brings his wife and two sons to these events. His students love the opportunity to interact with his sons. Tim
likes to get to work very early and prepare for the day. He decided that students might like the opportunity
for a quiet place to study and mentally prepare for the day. Thus, he allows students to use his room as an
extra “study hall” location before school starts. Occasionally, he stops off at a grocery store and surprises
the students with doughnuts and orange juice to enjoy during the study hall. Finally, to keep parents in the
loop, Tim uses a class website. Each of his classes has a different section of the website devoted to
information pertinent to their class. For example, parents can keep up to date with the daily homework and
look at announcements about upcoming tests or quizzes and any special projects. Since Tim knows that
some of his students’ families do not have a computer in their homes, he makes a paper copy of the
information pertinent to each class and leaves it by the computer. Students know that they are free to pick
up a paper copy or access the information from the classroom computer on their own.

ANALYSIS

After reading the case study, answer the following questions below:

1. What is your impression about Tim?


2. Have you experienced a teacher like Tim?
3. Would you think that Tim will find it hard to maintain a professional distance with his students due
to his closeness with them? Why or why not?
4. Is Tim’s strategy effective in showing care for his learners? Why or why not?
5. What do you think is the impact of this to Tim’s students?

ABSTRACTION

DEVELOPING RELATIONSHIPS

All learning takes risks. Whether a teacher asks a student to write an answer on the board, shoot a
basketball into the hoop, or spell a word in front of the class, there is an element of risk involved. The
degree of risk will depend on the individual student’s personality; an extroverted student will be more likely
to take a risk more quickly than an introverted student. Students will not take risks if they do not feel safe
and cared for by their teacher and their classmates. Research supports the idea that the quality of
relationships that exist within a classroom setting has a direct impact on a teacher’s ability to develop an
environment conducive to learning (Newman, 2000; Pianta, 2006). More specifically, this research
consistently affirms that students who perceive their teachers to be caring and respectful are more likely to
cooperate, adhere to classroom rules and routines, and engage in academic activities (Osterman, 2000;
Wentzel, 1997, 1998). In light of this, it is a teacher’s responsibility to develop caring relationships with his
or her students and among the students in the class.

Teacher-Student Relationships

It is clear that students respond better to caring teachers. I hope that people who choose to enter the
teaching profession bring with them a caring disposition. Although that personality trait is a good start, it is
not enough. It is imperative that we think more purposefully and strategically about the issue of caring and
be able to identify specific strategies that communicate care. There are many different ways to
communicate to students that you care about them both academically and personally. Following are some
guides.

1. Maintain a Sense of Humor


Humor plays an integral role in creating a comfortable learning environment, and it is vital to be
able to laugh at yourself when you make mistakes. Did you trip over a piece of equipment in front of the
room while you were in the middle of giving a lecture? Did you get tongue-tied and say the wrong word and
something silly came out? Did you write the wrong answer on the board? There are many times when we
make mistakes. Take this opportunity to laugh at yourself. Likewise, laugh with your students when
something is funny—but also be able to regain order quickly, to not lose too much time for academics.

2. Be a Real Person
For some reason, students (of all ages) have trouble understanding that their teacher is a “real person”
with a life outside the school building, which is why they love to learn personal information about us. Don’t
be afraid to let your students into your life a little. Do you have a favorite hobby or activity? Do you have a
favorite sports team? Favorite books? Do you have children? Students especially like to hear stories about
our children when the children are similar in age to our students that particular school year. When you ask
students what they are planning to do on the winter or spring recess from school, consider sharing your
plans as well. Frequently, when you share some personal information about yourself, those are the times
that students find out that they have something in common with you. As a result, students often feel more
connected with you and are more likely to follow the rules and routines and engage in academic tasks.
Remember that the goal of sharing some personal information with students is to help make a connection
and get to know students better, not to develop a friendship with them. Remember to be cautious about the
type of personal information you choose to share and be certain to maintain a professional distance with
your students. For example, it is not appropriate to share information about the variety of people that you
may or may not be dating. This is especially important for novice teachers who plan to teach high school
because they tend to be much closer in age to their students than teachers who plan to teach elementary
school, although it is still important to maintain a professional distance no matter your age or the age of
your students.

3. Be welcoming

Your students will spend many hours in your classroom, and you will want to be sure that they feel
welcome and comfortable in that environment. There are many simple but effective ways to help
accomplish this goal. Consider greeting your students at the door as they arrive in the morning or for that
particular period of the day. What could be more welcoming than seeing your teacher anxiously awaiting
your arrival? In addition, be sure to say “good morning” or “hello” to each student and do so with a smile
and by using their name. Students appreciate it when a teacher learns and uses their name quickly in the
school year.

4. Provide Extra Help

Students need to know that you are available to provide extra help when they need it. You can take the
initiative by inviting students who are struggling with a particular concept to come before or after school or
during a study hall period for tutoring rather than wait for the student to seek out help. Providing this extra
tutoring may require that you come in before school, stay after school, or give up some of your lunchtime or
prep periods, but your students will appreciate it. Another alternative that may help students improve their
grades is providing extra credit assignments or projects. This may be especially important with high school
students who might have jobs or family responsibilities that prevent them from spending time at school
outside school hours. If given enough time to complete an extra credit project, the student may be able to
work on it at home in the evenings or on the weekends. If you are willing to give up some of your own free
time or be flexible in creating feasible extra credit assignments for students, they will definitely believe that
you care about their academic success.

5. Provide Ongoing Feedback


For students to be successful, they need to receive ongoing feedback about how they are doing in
each subject. To facilitate this, make time to regularly evaluate whether students are achieving learning
goals and communicate this information to your students and, when appropriate, to parents.

6. Encourage Students to Regulate Their Own Learning


When students receive ongoing and consistent feedback about their progress, they are more aware of
how they are doing and what they need to do to improve. Consider involving students in the process of
evaluating their work. Teach them how to set learning goals, develop a plan for how to achieve them and a
plan for how to evaluate whether they have achieved their goals. This type of goal setting and evaluative
skill will go a long way to helping students be successful students for many years to come.

7. Be Available to Talk
It seems that students are coming to school with more and more problems that interfere with their
learning. There are many times when students are just looking for a sympathetic ear and need someone to
listen to them for a few minutes. Although you are not a counselor, you can play a crucial role in that
process. Students will elect to speak with you because they trust you and know that you care about them.
Be aware of the referral process in your school for when issues become “serious” and need the expertise of
a counselor.

8. Be Sensitive to Students’ Personal Concern


Sometimes students are sensitive to or preoccupied with certain situations or circumstances in their life
that are also interfering with their learning. Is one student having a particularly difficult time because her
parents are getting divorced? Is a student having trouble adjusting to the arrival of a new sibling? Is a
student self-conscious because she just got glasses or braces? Is a student self-conscious because he is
shorter than all the other boys in the class? As teachers, we can try to be aware of the fact that one of our
students might be “off” because something is bothering her. Once we are aware, we can go out of our way
to provide some extra special attention to that particular student. Again, this extra attention helps
communicate to students that we care about them.

9. Learn About Students’ Cultural Backgrounds


In a multicultural classroom, another critical point in developing effective interpersonal relationships
with your students is that you must understand and appreciate the cultural backgrounds of your students
and their families. It is not possible to build caring relationships with your students if students believe that
you dislike their cultures or are disinterested in them. Consequently, it is important to learn more about your
students’ cultures. One simple idea is to just talk to students and ask questions about traditions and events
in their cultures. Students are usually proud of their heritage and welcome the opportunity to share this
important part of what makes them unique.

10. Take a Personal Interest in Students


Getting to know our students outside the classroom goes a long way toward helping them know that we
care about them as people, not just as students. There are many ways to get to know our students. Learn
some details about each student such as his or her favorite sport, hobby, or book. Think about attending
student performances and club activities such as soccer games, swim meets, theater performances,
debates, concerts, and club fund-raising events. Finally, just talk to students about their personal lives.
Once we know our students a little better as people, we can also use examples from their personal lives to
illustrate academic concepts, which helps make learning more engaging. Something as simple as including
the names of students’ favorite sports teams in a math problem can increase the students’ interest.

Relationship Among Students

The key to developing positive interpersonal relationships among students is to provide students
with opportunities to form connections with their classmates. If students feel personal connections with
each other, they are less likely to engage in bullying and other disruptive behaviors. This does not mean
that all students in the class need to be close friends; this would be an unrealistic goal. Rather, the goal is
to develop a caring and respectful classroom environment in which students respect each other and in
which academic and socioemotional learning can take place as a result.

Teacher-Parent Relationship

Another type of relationship that affects your ability to effectively manage your classroom is the one
that you develop with the students’ parents. Research demonstrates that students achieve more when their
parents are involved in the learning process (Walker & Hoover-Dempsey, 2006). Parental involvement
means that parents stay abreast of what their children’s assignments are and what they are doing in school
and that parents attend school functions such as athletic events or concerts and back-to-school night.
There is evidence that parental involvement also improves student achievement, behavior, and values and
character. It is important to be aware that some parents will be more involved in their children’s education
than others. This is normal, and it does not mean that your plan to involve parents is flawed. Rather, there
are likely many other factors at play. In some socioeconomic situations, parents may be required to work
multiple jobs or night shifts, which prevents them from being an active participant in their child’s education.
Alternatively, some cultures may not perceive direct involvement in schooling to be part of their
responsibility as parents (Weinstein et al., 2003). A culturally responsive classroom manager considers the
possibility that a lack of direct involvement reflects a differing perspective about parental responsibility
rather than a lack of commitment to their children’s education
(Weinstein et al., 2003).

As a teacher, it is your professional responsibility to work to build cooperative relationships with


parents that will most benefit your students. Cooperative relationships do not happen automatically; they
require mutual effort and good communication and interpersonal skills. Some personal skills and attributes
that teachers must acquire in order to build cooperative relationships include respect for all parenting styles
(even those that differ from your own beliefs), good listening skills, kindness, consideration, empathy,
enthusiasm, and an understanding of parent-child relationships.

Overall, although there are many different types of relationships that exist within a school setting,
three of the most important relationships that affect your ability to develop an environment conducive to
learning are those relationships formed between you and your students, among classmates, and with the
students’ families. If you implement specific strategies that enable you to foster strong relationships in each
of these areas, the end result will be an environment where more time is available for learning and students
are more willing to take the risks necessary for learning to occur.

Responding to Behavior Problems

Even when teachers are extremely proficient at employing teaching strategies that prevent
misbehavior, students will still sometimes misbehave. Behavior problems that require a teacher’s response
will arise even in the best-managed classrooms. These misbehaviors can be classified into two categories
—minor or more serious. Teachers (and schools) may vary in which misbehaviors they classify as minor
and which they consider more serious. But most would probably agree that examples of minor misbehavior
include calling out, daydreaming, and talking to a classmate instead of participating in group work or a class
discussion. More serious misbehavior may include fighting, bullying, and disrespecting the teacher or other
students. When students chronically commit minor misbehaviors despite the teacher’s warnings, teachers
should treat the chronic pattern of misbehavior as more serious misbehaviors. When dealing with any type
of misbehavior, whether minor or more serious, there are three guidelines that you can adhere to when
addressing the misbehavior (Weinstein & Romano, 2014). These three guidelines are the following:

 Preserve the dignity of the students—All students want the respect of their teacher and peers. In
many cases, students will attempt to “save face” with their peers at any cost.

 Keep the instructional program going with as minimal disruption as possible—It is vital to
remember that one of the goals of classroom management is to maximize learning time.

 Use culturally consistent language—It is important to understand that different cultures have
different ways of giving instructions and directions.

Responding to Minor Misbehavior


Most behavior problems that arise in the classroom are minor and can be dealt with quickly and
efficiently using a nonverbal or verbal intervention. A good rule of thumb when dealing with minor
misbehavior is to think about beginning with a nonverbal intervention and moving to a verbal intervention, if
necessary. Nonverbal interventions are less disruptive to the flow of your lesson than verbal interventions.
In fact, many students may not even be aware that you have used a nonverbal intervention with a
misbehaving student. If nonverbal interventions are not effective, you can move to verbal interventions.
With verbal interventions, it is best to try to disrupt the lesson as little as possible. Gently saying a
chitchatting student’s name is less disruptive than stopping the lesson to formally reprimand the student.
Some examples of nonverbal and verbal interventions are listed below. All these interventions are
consistent with the three guiding principles for dealing with misbehavior.
There are also occasions when the best strategy for dealing with minor misbehavior is to ignore it.
Sometimes, students act inappropriately because they crave attention. By responding to the misbehavior,
you are giving them attention, which functions as positive reinforcement of the inappropriate behavior. In
these cases, the student may stop the misbehavior if it is ignored, rather than
being rewarded with attention. When the student begins behaving well, you can then give him or her
attention, thus rewarding the student for this good behavior. Your knowledge of particular students is critical
in allowing you to wisely decide whether or not to ignore the misbehavior. If ignoring the misbehavior isn’t
effective for a particular student, you can move on to a different strategy

Intervention Description
Proximity The teacher moves closer to the misbehaving student. Most students will not
continue to engage in misbehavior if the teacher is standing right next to
them, which makes this a straightforward and effective strategy.
“The Look” The teacher makes a stern face that communicates disapproval to
misbehaving students.
Hand Signals The teacher uses hand signals or gestures to communicate to misbehaving
students.
Confiscating When a teacher sees students using forbidden items (checking cell phones,
forbidden items passing notes), he or she quietly takes the item, quietly directing the students
to meet to discuss this after class.
Facial Expression A teacher uses a large repertoire of facial expressions to communicate
dissatisfaction to misbehaving students.
Calling on the student If the teacher suspects that a student is not behaving appropriately, he or she
calls on the student or uses the student’s name in a lesson. This subtly
communicates to the student that the teacher is aware of the misbehavior.
Praising good This is a technique that works primarily with elementary school students.
behavior by other When some students are misbehaving, the teacher praises other students for
students being well behaved.
Private reminder The teacher privately reminds a student of a rule or privately reprimands the
student.
Reminder in a soft The teacher warns students in a soft rather than a loud voice.
voice
Public rule reminder A teacher directly reminds students that they are breaking one of the
classroom rules.
Warning of The teacher warns students of consequences of continuing to misbehave.
consequences

Responding to More Serious Misbehaviors

Some behaviors that arise in the classroom will fall into the category of more serious misbehavior
and will require more than a nonverbal or verbal intervention. Rather, this is the time to impose a
consequence. There is a significant difference between interventions and consequences. For the most part,
interventions can be implemented with little or no disruption to a lesson; consequences are slightly more
intrusive and therefore should be used only when addressing more serious misbehavior.

When developing and selecting a consequence, a general guideline is to be sure that the
consequences are logically related to the misbehavior. A consequence is logical if it meets three criteria
known as the three Rs (Denton & Kriete, 2000):
 Related—The consequence should be directly related to the student’s misbehavior. Having a
student stay after school to write a summary of lecture material missed while talking is directly
related to the misbehavior of talking; staying after school to erase the chalkboards is not.
 Respectful—The consequence is respectful of the student and the classroom. Being respectful
entails giving students input into possible consequences and including some choices about the
specifics of the consequence. The consequence is not intended to hurt or humiliate.
 Reasonable—Reasonable consequences should help children correct their mistakes and know
what to do next time, not make them feel bad. Reasonable consequences are also not excessively
severe given the nature of the misbehavior.
Addressing Chronic Behavior
A large percentage of misbehavior will respond to nonverbal and verbal interventions or logical
consequences. However, many times there will be one or two students who do not respond to these
strategies, and their behavior becomes chronic. One of the most effective ways to deal with chronic
misbehavior is through behavior modification, which is the systematic use of reinforcement to strengthen a
desired behavior.
There are many different behavior modification systems that can be effective. However, any well-
designed classroom behavior modification plan will have three common elements: a contract, a tracking
system, and the use of reinforcement. Let’s examine these three elements more closely.
The first step in developing an effective behavior modification plan is to create a contract. A
contract should state the specific behavioral goals and consequences that will result if the student fails to
change his or her behavior. A good practice is to develop this contract during a conference with the student
(or parent or both, if appropriate) rather than impose the contract on the student. This enables you to spend
time discussing the problematic behavior and its effect with all parties involved. During this time, it is
important to remember to communicate how much you care about the student and want to help him or her.
By the end of the conference, all parties involved should be clear on the plan.
The second step is to develop a tracking system. This system should allow students to track their
progress toward the identified goal. It is helpful to choose a visible, tangible way to track a student’s
progress. Either you or the student can do the tracking, but this should be specified during the conference.
The final step in an effective behavior modification system is the use of positive reinforcement.
Positive reinforcement is the act of receiving something (praise, a reward, a privilege, etc.) that increases
the likelihood of repeating the desired behavior. It is a good idea to involve the student in choosing a
reward that he or she would like to try to work toward. If the student is not motivated by the reward, it
undermines the behavior modification plan.

APPLICATION

Interview teachers on the field who is teaching elementary, secondary, tertiary. Ask for a
permission to record and document your interview. Ask the following guide questions to the teacher:

1. How do you build a relationship with the learners? Parents?


2. What is your approach to building a relationship with them?
3. How do you establish discipline for your learners?
4. How do you address minor misbehaviors? Major misbehaviors? Chronic misbehaviors?
5. How do you deal with parent's complain?
6. How do you consolidate with the parents for their child’s problem?
7. How do you maintain a friendly and caring relationship with the learners? Parents?

Criteria Percentage
Discussion 40%
The interview results and discussion are well focused and included all important points.
Structure 40%
The interview results are organized, clear and detailed with corresponding explanation.

Components 20%
The reflection includes all the answers based on the questions indicated in the instruction.

Total 100%

PERSONAL CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN


Create your own personal classroom management plan. Write your own personal classroom
management plan in detail by following the format below:
I. Classroom Management (In your own words define what is classroom management)
II. Rules (What are your class rules?)
III. Procedure (What will be your routine before, during, and after the lesson?e.g. using the comfort
room)
IV. Classroom Layout (Sketch an aerial drawing of your classroom layout)
V. Disciplinary Interventions (How will you address minor, major, and chronic misbehavior of your
students?)
VI. Teacher-student relationship (Tell us how will you establish and maintain your relationship with
your students)
VII. Mental Set (How will you sustain the mental set of you and your students)
VIII. Summary (Synthesize everything that you have written)

Format:
Short bond paper
Arial 12
No spacing

Criteria Percentage
Organization 30%
The PCMP shows high degree of attention to its organization of information, clarity of the
thought, and logical reasoning.
Content 30%
The PCMP content indicates synthesis of ideas, in-depth analysis and evidences original
thought and support for the topic.
Development 30%
The PCMP reveals a high degree of critical and creative thinking that reflects on the
writer.
Mechanics 10%
The PCMP is free of distracting spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors.
Total 100%
REFLECTION

In 100-150 words, write your reflection about the topic in your journal notebook.

For Group 8

LESSON II
LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING METHODS &
STRATEGIES

UNIT LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the unit, students are expected to perform the following:
 Elaborate the different Learner-centered Teaching Methods and Strategies
 Create a portfolio on the best practices of Learner-centered Teaching Methods and Strategies

ACTIVITY

Examine the following quotations from famous educators and answer the questions in the ANALYSIS part.
ANALYSIS

Answer the following questions in your activity notebook.


1. Which among the quotations had an impact on you as a pre-service teacher? Explain why?
2. What makes a teacher effective?
3. How will you deliver a lesson successfully?

ABSTRACTION

LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING METHODS


Active Learning Activities
The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Australasian Survey of Student
Engagement (AUSSE) provides a very simple definition: active learning involves “students’ efforts to
actively construct their knowledge.” This definition is supplemented by the items that the AUSSE uses to
measure active learning: working with other students on projects during class; making a presentation;
asking questions or contributing to discussions; participating in a community-based project as part of a
course; working with other students outside of class on assignments; discussing ideas from a course with
others outside of class; tutoring peers (reported in Carr et al., 2015).
Active learning strategies help to initiate learners and teachers into effective ways to help everyone engage
in activities based on ideas about how people learn. Multiple active learning strategies may be used in each
of the active learning designs. Review an annotated list of active learning strategies:
1. Sit & talk with peers nearby
Think-Pair- Share.
1. Define Think-Pair-Share. Explain to students that a Think-Pair-Share allows them to activate their
prior knowledge and share ideas about content or beliefs with peers. This structure gives students
a chance to organize their ideas—first in their own minds, then in a smaller group setting before
sharing with the entire group. In a Think-Pair-Share, students think individually about the question
or idea(s) put forth, Pair up with someone to discuss their thinking, and then share their
conversation with their table group, and then finally with the whole group.

2. Display Think-Pair-Share prompts about a concept or topic. Give students 1-2 minutes to think
about the prompt on their own. Then discuss with a partner for another few minutes.

3. Facilitate a whole group discussion.

 Listen to their responses.


 Ask students to elaborate on their thinking by providing explanations, evidence, or clarifications.
Suggested probing questions:
 What makes you think that?
 Please give an example from your experience.
 What do you mean?
 Try to stay neutral in your reaction to students’ comments.
 Invite others to react and respond to ideas by providing alternative viewpoints, agreements or
disagreements. Suggested probing questions:
 Can anyone add something to that comment?
 Who would like to share an alternative opinion?
Quick write
A prompt is posed for students to respond to in writing. Taking only 5 minutes or so, this is a quick
way to accomplish one or more of the following: determine whether or not students have done the
homework assignment, engage students in thinking about the topic that will be covered in the session,
provides the opportunity for students to access their prior knowledge on a topic. The quick write can be
graded to encourage students to do their reading assignment, or collected to serve as an attendance
check.
Turn and Talk
In a turn and talk, a question is posed to the class and students simply turn to the person next to them
to discuss. This can serve as a comfortable way for students to share their ideas with others and set the
stage for them sharing with the larger group. The instructor doesn’t need to hear all (or any) of the ideas
shared– the important aspect of this strategy is for the peers to share and for individuals to access their
prior knowledge about a topic. Example prompt: Ask students to turn to someone next to them and discuss
their responses to the following question. Tell them to take two minutes to discuss this with their partner
with each person getting some time to talk.
 Part of the challenge of communicating climate change with the public is that there is disparity
between what scientists and the non-scientist public think and know about climate change.
 Why do you think there is such a disparity?
Polling
Having students vote anonymously on what they perceive as the best explanation/answer to a
question, followed by opportunities to discuss their ideas with peers, and then to vote again leads to greater
learning of the material. It is important to have students discuss why they think their explanation is the most
accurate and why the other explanations proposed are not accurate. It is also important that the teacher
looks at the polling results and listens to the reasoning of the students in order to determine what further
explanations and summary might need to be made in lecture. There are various tools that can be used for
polling, including Clickers, Socrative.com and PollEverywhere.com.
Individual plus Group Quizzes
Give students a quiz that they complete individually and turn in to be graded. Immediately following
the individual quiz, put students in small groups and have them take the quiz again, but this time they
discuss the answers in their group and turn it in for a group score. Both quizzes are graded and if the group
score is higher, the two grades are averaged. The group score can’t hurt someone if they have a higher
individual score. This encourages individual accountability and helps students to better understand the
material as they discuss it with peers. In this way, they keep up with the material, rather than realizing they
don’t totally understand it when they reach the midterm.
Tests/Quizzes with common preconceptions as distractors
Design assessments to include common preconceptions (or misconceptions) that students often
hold. Allow students to answer the question on their own and then discuss their answer and rationale with a
partner. Have them answer the question again after the peer discussion. Elicit a whole group discussion
about why the correct answer is correct and why the others are not.
Jigsaws
Students work in small groups to read information that has been organized into sections. Each
student in the group reads one section of the material and then shares that information with the rest of their
group. As they read and share information, they refer to prompts such as: what do you think each idea
means? What is the big idea? How can this idea be applied to help understand the concept(s)? What
questions do you have about what you read? What do you agree/not agree with?
There are various permutations of jigsaws. One such model includes expert and cooperative
groups: Each group can be assigned a particular aspect/part of the overall information – they read it
individually and then discuss in their small “expert” group to make sure they all understand it. Then new
“cooperative” groups are formed made up of one-two students from each of the original expert groups. In
this way, the new groups have an “expert” representative from each of the original groups so that all of the
information is now represented in the new cooperative group. The “expert” has had a chance to practice
sharing and hearing other viewpoints about the information in their original group, and therefore likely feels
more comfortable sharing in the new group.
Sorting strips
Small bits of information are separated into strips so that students can sort the strips into various
categories or organize them into a sequence depending on the topic. This strategy encourages discussion
of competing ideas or organizations or order in which a process would take place. In this case, it is often
the discussion and sharing of ideas that is the most important outcome of the activity.
Partial Outlines/PPTs provided for lecture
Research has shown that students have a better understanding, do better on exams, and stay
more engaged with the content during lecture when they are provided with partial, rather than complete
lecture notes or PowerPoints.
Pausing in lecture
These strategies work towards inserting wait time in lectures for students to reflect on, discuss and
apply ideas just presented and to encourage them to engage actively in the lecture rather than passively
taking notes. These strategies also help students to understand what they do and don’t understand about
the lecture.
 ask students to not take notes as you work through a problem on the board with the class, followed
by 5 minutes for them to copy down board and discuss the problem/chemical reaction/process with
peers
 pause 6-10 seconds after asking a question before calling on a student to respond have students
do a quick write about a concept just covered in lecture (e.g. their understanding, two questions
they have about the concept as presented, what they would like to know more about etc.); optional,
collect the quick write to help you better understand what they understood from the lecture and the
questions they have and to keep them engaged
 turn and talks – ask peers to talk to each other about what they do and don’t understand and/or
share with each other what they wrote down in their notes about a particular concept just covered
in lecture. Encourage students to add to their notes from the discussion
 have students apply their understanding of a concept just covered by working with a small group
around a huddle board. Optional, have a few groups share their work and elicit reactions and
reviews from other students. Summarize findings and scientific normative explanations.
 Have students do think-pair-shares, polling to keep their mind engaged in the topic and to share
their ideas with their peers for greater meaning-making opportunities.
2. Requires students moving around
Posters & gallery walk
Give groups of students an assignment that they need to work on together and present their ideas
on a sheet of chart paper. Once they have completed their poster, have them display it on the wall, much
like at a scientific poster session. One of their group will stay with the poster and help to explain it as the
class circulates to look at all of the posters. Students take turns standing by their poster so that each of
them has the chance to visit the other groups’ posters. This sets up a more interactive way of presenting as
compared to ppt presentations.
Fish bowl
A fishbowl allows a small group of students to engage in a discussion about ideas or concepts that
have alternative explanations while the rest of the class observes and takes notes. An inner circle of
students engages in the discussion, while the rest of the class either sits in an outer circle or remains in
their regular seats and observes. If you have your class organized into small groups, then the members of
each group can tap their respective teammate and replace them in the inner circle to expand on or provide
additional evidence to support an explanation. Optional: the entire class needs to take part in the inner
circle conversation by the end of the class period.
Idea line up
The idea line up is a structure that allows a teacher to use the diversity of perspectives in the
classroom to generate heterogeneous groups of students for discussion. This diversity of thinking is a good
place from which to develop a classroom climate that supports argumentation. More student-initiated
science talk happens when students are connected with peers who have opposing perspectives (Clark &
Sampson, 2007). The question should be one about which students have enough prior
knowledge/experience to have some evidence to bring to bear in the discussions which ensue.
How it works: The teacher provides a question that (s)he knows may have a continuum of
responses, especially if it is asked prior to collecting significant amounts of evidence or before students
have the opportunity to synthesize the evidence they have already collected.
The question is displayed prominently for students to consider. Students are directed to position
themselves on a line to indicate their level of agreement in response to the question. After the students line
up, have students talk to the person next to them so they can clarify their own thinking on why they
positioned themselves on the line in a particular spot.
Student positions on the line typically indicate a diversity of thinking. The teacher can then use their
positions to form groups of students with differing ideas about the question. Students then discuss their
thinking and reasoning for their responses with the peers with whom they have been matched. Students
should be prompted to listen carefully to each other’s claims and evidence and respond with evidence to
counter or support the claims of other students in their group. A group claims and evidence chart or small
whiteboards can be used to collect student thinking.
If the activity is used prior to an investigation, students can use the ideas from the initial discussion
to continually weigh against the evidence they gather from their investigations. If the activity is used after an
investigation, but prior to a whole-group meaning-making discussion, ideas from the small group
discussions can be used to prepare for a whole group discussion.
Four corners
Four corners is used for the same reasons as the idea line up. The only difference is that students
are considering several claims (responses to a question). For example, a teacher might ask, “Where does
most of the mass in a plant come from?” Claims for consideration might include, “soil,” “air,”“water,” and
“sunlight.”
How it works: The teacher displays the question prominently for all to consider. Each corner of the
classroom is assigned one claim, also prominently displayed. Students are asked to go to the corner of the
classroom that has the claim they agree with most. If they think more than one answer is correct,they
should just pick one of the corners they agree with. If they don’t agree with any claims, they should go to
the middle of the room. Once in their corners, students should discuss with others why they chose that
corner to help clarify their thinking. Have them share and record evidence that supports that claim and why
the other claims are not supported. Optional: have them visit the other corners to see what others thought
about the ideas and the evidence they put forth.
Just as in the idea line up the teacher can use the student positions around the room to form groups with a
diversity of ideas. The rest of the instructions are the same as for the idea line up.

Cooperative Learning Activities


Cooperative learning is a generic term for various small group interactive instructional procedures. Students
work together on academic tasks in small groups to help themselves and their teammates learn together. In
general, cooperative learning methods share the following five characteristics.
 Student work together on common tasks or learning activities that are best handled through group
work.
 Students work together in small groups containing two to five members.
 Students use cooperative, pro-social behavior to accomplish their common tasks or learning
activities.
 Students are positively interdependent. Activities are structured so that students need each other
to accomplish their common tasks or learning activities.
 Students are individually accountable or responsible for their work or learning.
1. Three-step Interview
Three-step interviews can be used as an ice breaker for team members to get to know one another or can
be used to get to know concepts in depth, by assigning roles to students.
 Teacher assigns roles or students can "play" themselves. The teacher may also give interview
questions or information that should be "found."
 A interviews B for the specified number of minutes, listening attentively and asking probing
questions.
 At a signal, students reverse roles and B interviews A for the same number of minutes.
 At another signal, each pair turns to another pair, forming a group of four. Each member of the
group introduces his or her partner, highlighting the most interesting points.
2. Roundtable
Roundtable structures can be used to brainstorm ideas and to generate a large number of responses to a
single question or a group of questions.
 Teacher poses question.
 One piece of paper and pen per group.
 First student writes one response and says it out loud.
 First student passes paper to the left, second student writes response, etc.
 Continues around group until time elapses.
 Students may say "pass" at any time.
 Group stops when time is called.
The key here is the question or the problem you've asked the students to consider. It has to be one that
has the potential for a number of different "right" answers. Relate the question to the topic, but keep it
simple so every student can have some input.
Once time is called, determine what you want to have the students do with the lists...they may want to
discuss the multitude of answers or solutions or they may want to share the lists with the entire class.
Focused Listing
Focused listing can be used as a brainstorming technique or as a technique to generate
descriptions and definitions for concepts. Focused listing asks the students to generate words to define or
describe something. Once students have completed this activity, you can use these lists to facilitate group
and class discussion.
Example: Ask students to list 5-7 words or phrases that describe or define what a motivated
student does. From there, you might ask students to get together in small groups to discuss the lists, or to
select the one that they can all agree on. Combine this technique with a number of the other techniques
and you can have a powerful cooperative learning structure.
Structured Problem-solving
Structured problem-solving can be used in conjunction with several other cooperative learning structures.
 Have the participants brainstorm or select a problem for them to consider.
 Assign numbers to members of each group (or use playing cards). Have each member of the
group be a different number or suit.
 Discuss task as group.
 Each participant should be prepared to respond. Each member of the group needs to understand
the response well enough to give the response with no help from the other members of the group.
 Ask an individual from each group to respond. Call on the individual by number (or suit).
One Minute Papers
Ask students to comment on the following questions. Give them one minute and time them. This activity
focuses them on the content and can also provide feedback to you as a teacher.
 What was the most important or useful thing you learned today?
 What two important questions do you still have; what remains unclear?
 What would you like to know more about?
You can use these one-minute papers to begin the next day's discussion, to facilitate discussion within a
group, or to provide you with feedback on where the student is in his or her understanding of the material.
Paired Annotations
Students pair up to review/learn same article, chapter or content area and exchange double-entry journals
for reading and reflection.

Students discuss key points and look for divergent and convergent thinking and ideas.
Together students prepare a composite annotation that summarizes the article, chapter, or concept.

Structured Learning Team Group Roles


When putting together groups, you may want to consider assigning (or having students select) their roles
for the group. Students may also rotate group roles depending on the activity.
Potential group roles and their functions include:
 Leader - The leader is responsible for keeping the group on the assigned task at hand. S/he also
makes sure that all members of the group have an opportunity to participate, learn and have the
respect of their team members. The leader may also want to check to make sure that all of the
group members have mastered the learning points of a group exercise.
 Recorder - The recorder picks and maintains the group files and folders on a daily basis and keeps
records of all group activities including the material contributed by each group member. The
recorder writes out the solutions to problems for the group to use as notes or to submit to the
instructor. The recorder may also prepare presentation materials when the group makes oral
presentations to the class.
 Reporter - The reporter gives oral responses to the class about the group's activities or
conclusions.
 Monitor - The monitor is responsible for making sure that the group's work area is left the way it
was found and acts as a timekeeper for timed activities.
 Wildcard (in groups of five) - The wildcard acts as an assistant to the group leader and assumes
the role of any member that may be missing.
Send-A-Problem
Send-A-Problem can be used as a way to get groups to discuss and review material, or potential solutions
to problems related to content information.
 Each member of a group generates a problem and writes it down on a card. Each member of the
group then asks the question to other members.
 If the question can be answered and all members of the group agree on the answer, then that
answer is written on the back of the card. If there is no consensus on the answer, the question is
revised so that an answer can be agreed upon.
 The group puts a Q on the side of the card with the question on it, and an A on the side of the card
with an answer on it.
 Each group sends its question cards to another group.
 Each group member takes ones question from the stack of questions and reads one question at a
time to the group. After reading the first question, the group discusses it.
 If the group agrees on the answer, they turn the card over to see if they agree with the first group's
answer.
 If there again is consensus, they proceed to the next question.
 If they do not agree with the first group's answer, the second group write their answer on the back
of the card as an alternative answer.
 The second group reviews and answers each question in the stack of cards, repeating the
procedure outlined above.
 The question cards can be sent to a third, fourth, or fifth group, if desired.
 Stacks of cards are then sent back to the originating group. The sending group can then discuss
and clarify any question
Variation: A variation on the send a problem is to use the process to get groups to discuss a real problem
for which there may be no one set answer.
 Groups decide on one problem they will consider. It is best if each group considers a different
problem.
 The same process is used, with the first group brainstorming solutions to a single problem. The
problem is written on a piece of paper and attached to the outside of a folder. The solutions are
listed and enclosed inside the folder.
 The folder is then passed to the next group. Each group brainstorms for 3-5 minutes on the
problems they receive without reading the previous group's work and then place their solutions
inside the folders.
 This process may continue to one or more groups. The last group reviews all the solutions posed
by all of the previous groups and develops a prioritized list of possible solutions. This list is then
presented to the group.
Value Line
One way to form heterogeneous groups, is to use a value line.
 Present an issue or topic to the group and ask each member to determine how they feel about the
issue (could use a 1-10 scale; 1 being strong agreement, 10 being strong disagreement).
 Form a rank-ordered line and number the participants from 1 up (from strong agreement to strong
disagreement, for example).
 Form your groups of four by pulling one person from each end of the value line and two people
from the middle of the group (for example, if you had 20 people, one group might consist of
persons 1, 10, 11, 20).
Uncommon Commonalities
Uncommon Commonalities can be used to foster a more cohesive group.
 Groups get together and first list individual things about themselves that define them as people.
 Groups then discussed each item, finding things that 1, 2, 3, or 4 of them have in common.
 When the group finds an item that all of them have in common, they list that item under 4; when
they find something that 3 of them have in common, the list that item under 3, etc.
Team Expectations
Some of the common fears about working with groups include student fears that each member will
not pull their weight as a part of the group. Students are scared that their grade will be lower as a result of
the group learning vs. learning they do individually. One way to address this issue is to use a group activity
to allow the group to outline acceptable group behavior. Put together a form and ask groups to first list
behaviors (expectations) they expect from each individual, each pair and as a group as a whole.
Groups then can use this as a way to monitor individual contributions to the group and as a way to evaluate
group participation.
Double Entry Journal
The Double Entry Journal can be used as a way for students to take notes on articles and other resources
they read in preparation for class discussion.
 Students read and reflect on the assigned reading(s).
 Students prepare the double entry journal, listing critical points of the readings (as they see them)
and any responses to the readings, in general, or specific critical points.
 Students bring their journal notes to class
 Once in class, students may use their double entry journal to begin discussion, to do a paired
annotation, or for other classroom and group activity.
Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning
The goal of this activity is to generate discussion among student groups about a specific topic or content
area.
 The teacher conducts a brief (10-15 minutes) lecture on a topic or content area. The teacher may
assign a reading or written assignment as well.
 The teacher then gives the students a set of generic question stems.
 Students work individually to write their own questions based on the material being covered.
 Students do not have to be able to answer the questions they pose. This activity is designed to
force students to think about ideas relevant to the content area.
 Students should use as many question stems as possible.
 Grouped into learning teams, each student offers a question for discussion, using the different
stems.
Sample question stems:
 What is the main idea of...?
 What if...?
 How does...affect...?
 What is a new example of...?
 Explain why...?
 Explain how...?
 How does this relate to what I've learned before?
 What conclusions can I draw about...?
 What is the difference between... and...?
 How are...and...similar?
 How would I use...to...?
 What are the strengths and weaknesses of...?
 What is the best...and why?

Inquiry and Inductive Learning Activities


Inquiry-based teaching is a pedagogical approach that invites students to explore academic
content by posing, investigating, and answering questions. Also known as problem-based teaching or
simply as ‘inquiry,’ this approach puts students’ questions at the center of the curriculum, and places just as
much value on the component skills of research as it does on knowledge and understanding of content.
Steps in Inquiry-based learning
1. Students develop questions that they are hungry to answer. Have them develop a problem statement
that requires them to pitch their question using a constructed response, further inquiry, and citation.

2. Research the topic using time in class. It’s crucial to have some of this be classwork so students have
access to the head researcher in the room—you. You aren’t going to do the work for them, but you are
going to guide them and model methods of researching reliably.

3. Have students present what they’ve learned. Students should create and present a culminating
artifact. When I have my students present what they’ve learned, I use a rubric with “Able to Teach” as the
acme of what to reach for. After all, many people can understand content, but can they communicate
it? Students can develop a website using Weebly, or perhaps a slideshow using Google Slides.

4. Ask students to reflect on what worked about the process and what didn’t. Reflection is key. And it isn’t
just about asking them to think back on their opinion of the topic. It’s about reflecting on the process itself.
That’s where you can work in metacognition—thinking about thinking. Have students focus on how they
learned in addition to what they learned.
Activities for Inquiry-based learning

1. Dramatized Problem-Based Learning: An interactive inquiry-based teaching method in which


students ask questions to identify and resolve a problem while engaging with the people involved in
the problem.
2. First Person Experiences: A project-based teaching idea in which students take on the identities
of people actively involved in an event or era they have chosen to research.
3. Inquiring Minds: An inquiry-based research activity in which students, in small groups formed
based on the topics they have selected, brainstorm three to five questions they intend to answer
through their research. This provides direction throughout the activity.
4. Oral History Project: A long-term project in which students research the personal histories of an
individual of their choice, conduct interviews of the person, and create a presentation which
includes artifacts, a feature article, a personal memoir, and a photograph.
5. Transmediations: An inquiry-based writing activity in which students change the medium of a
work from its original form. For example, students might transmediate a poem into a picture book
or song lyrics into a story.
6. Travelogues: An inquiry-based writing activity in which students record their virtual visits to
countries wherein a novel they are reading is set, a language they are studying originates, or a
historic event has occurred. Travelogues can be created in various formats including a travel
journal, a PowerPoint presentation, or a video.
7. Press Conference: A project-based activity in which students have researched a given topic and
their peers, acting as the audience, raise questions as if they were participating in a press
conference.
8. Rest of the Story: An inquiry-based research method in content area study that encourages
students to go further in their research beyond general knowledge about a person, event,
invention, discovery, or topic.
9. Ripped from the Headlines: A long-term inquiry-based activity in which teachers and students
select an intriguing story from a news source to use as the basis for inquiry and examination.
10. Solution Products: The resulting material from problem-based learning which are, generally,
reasoned explanations. Students come up with these solutions based on the information given to
them, their responses to the questions they have come up with, as well as subsequent reasoning.

LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING STRATEGIES

Cooperative Learning
Cooperative Learning, sometimes called small-group learning, is an instructional strategy in which
small groups of students work together on a common task. The task can be as simple as solving a multi-
step math problem together, or as complex as developing a design for a new kind of school. In some
cases, each group member is individually accountable for part of the task; in other cases, group members
work together without formal role assignments.
According to David Johnson and Roger Johnson (1999), there are five basic elements that allow successful
small-group learning:
 Positive interdependence: Students feel responsible for their own and the group's effort.
 Face-to-face interaction: Students encourage and support one another; the environment
encourages discussion and eye contact.
 Individual and group accountability: Each student is responsible for doing their part; the group is
accountable for meeting its goal.
 Group behaviors: Group members gain direct instruction in the interpersonal, social, and
collaborative skills needed to work with others occurs.
 Group processing: Group members analyze their own and the group's ability to work together.
Procedure
No matter what the setting is, properly designing and implementing cooperative learning involves five key
steps. Following these steps is critical to ensuring that the five key elements that differentiate cooperative
learning from simply putting students into groups are met. (Johnson et al., 2006, 2:30-31.)

1. Pre-Instructional Planning. Plan out how groups will be formed and structure how the members will
interact with each other.
2. Introduce the Activity to the Students. Students need to get their "marching orders." Explain the
academic task to them and what the criteria are for success. Then structure the cooperative aspects
of their work with special attention to the components of positive interdependence and individual
accountability. Set up time limits and allow for clarifying questions.
3. Monitor and Intervene
This is where you let the groups run while you circulate through the room to collect observation data,
see whether they understand the assignment, give immediate feedback and praise for working
together. If a group is having problems, you can intervene to help them get on the right track.
4. Assessment
Some informal assessment is already done while you are monitoring the groups during the
exercise. However, once the group finishes their project, work should be assessed by both
teacher and group.
5. Process
Group processing involves asking the groups to rate their own performance and set goals for
themselves to improve their cooperative work.

Presentations

Presentation Types

Presentations can take many forms and potentially serve many purposes. When reading the definitions
below, keep in mind that many presentations often combine several elements into a hybrid form. You may
have to pick and choose what will work best for you depending on the instructor and the course. Let’s start
with the different genres or types of presentations.

1. Informative
Some presentation assignments will ask you simply to deliver information about a topic. Often these
presentations involve research, which you will shape and present to your instructor and classmates.
Typically, informative presentations ask that you NOT share your opinion about the subject at hand (which
can be more challenging than it seems). With an informative presentation, your goal is to educate your
audience by presenting a summary of your research and “sticking to the facts.”

2. Persuasive
Unlike informative presentations, persuasive presentations ask that you not only form an opinion about your
subject but also convince your audience to come around to your point of view. These presentations often
involve research, too, and the findings of your research will be used to bolster the persuasive case you’re
making.

3. Lesson Delivery
You may be asked to do a “Teaching Presentation,” which will require you to specialize in one topic of the
course and give your fellow classmates instruction about it. In short, you become the teacher of a subject.
Often your presentation will be the only time that this subject is covered in the class, so you will be
responsible for making sure that you provide clear, detailed, and relevant information about it. You
may also be asked to provide questions on the subject to be included in a quiz or test.

4. Demonstration
These action-based presentations typically model some behavior or subject matter that has been
introduced previously in the class. Unlike the Lesson Delivery presentation, a demonstration adds a level of
performance in which you show and tell the audience what you know. You might perform the demonstration
yourself, as a way of illustrating the concept or procedure, or you might provide classmates with
instructions and guidance as they do it themselves.

5. Poster
Poster presentations should convey all the information on a subject necessary for a viewer to consider
on her own. They often consist of short, punchy wording accompanied by strong visuals—graphs, charts,
images, and/or illustrations. Posters frequently require research to prepare, and they allow for some
creativity in design. Depending on the assignment, your poster may be part of a gallery of poster
presentations with your classmates. Your poster has to communicate everything that is important without
you being there to explain it to your audience.

6. Online

Similar to poster presentations, online presentations are generally asynchronous—meaning they don’t
require you to be present at the same time as your viewer. They often serve similar purposes as poster
presentations, but due to the online format, they allow for more interactive possibilities, such as sharing a
pertinent video or animated graph. Your online presentation must stand alone to teach your audience
everything they need to know.

7. Solo and Group Presentations


You may be asked to present as an individual or as part of a group.
Individual presentations put all of the responsibility for preparation, research, and delivery on you. You
rightfully take all the credit for the final product you produce.

Group presentations, in contrast, often involve more complicated tasks and therefore require more
participants to make them. Your instructor may make suggestions about how the work should be divided, or
the group may delegate tasks internally. Grades may be assigned equally to everyone in the group,
though many instructors assign individual grades based on some participation-level factor to inspire each
member to pull his or her own weight.

Procedure

1. Analyze your audience


It's a good idea to obtain some information on the backgrounds, values, and interests of your audience so
that you understand what the audience members might expect from your presentation.
2. Select a topic
It will be much easier to deliver a presentation that the audience finds relevant, and more enjoyable to
research a topic that is of interest to you.
3. Define the objective of the presentation
Once you have selected a topic, write the objective of the presentation in a single concise statement. The
objective needs to specify exactly what you want your audience to learn from your presentation. Base the
objective and the level of the content on the amount of time you have for the presentation and the
background knowledge of the audience. Use this statement to help keep you focused as you research and
develop the presentation.

4. Prepare the body of the presentation

After defining the objective of your presentation, determine how much information you can present in the
amount of time allowed.

5. Prepare the introduction and conclusion

Once you've prepared the body of the presentation, decide how you will begin and end the talk. Make sure
the introduction captures the attention of your audience and the conclusion summarizes and reiterates your
important points. In other words, "Tell them what you're going to tell them. Tell them. Then, tell them what
you told them."

During the opening of your presentation, it's important to attract the audience's attention and build their
interest.

During the conclusion of your presentation, reinforce the main ideas you communicated. Remember that
listeners won't remember your entire presentation, only the main ideas. By reinforcing and reviewing the
main ideas, you help the audience remember them.

Panel/Experts
A panel discussion is a specific format used in a meeting, conference or convention. It is a live or virtual
discussion about a specific topic amongst a selected group of panelists who share differing perspectives in
front of a large audience.
 The panel is typically facilitated by a “moderator” who guides the panel and the audience through the
event.
 The panel, typically 3-4 experts or practitioners in the field, shares facts, offers opinions and responds
to audience questions either through questions curated by the moderator or taken from the audience
directly.
 The panel session typically lasts for 60-90 minutes.
Procedures
Putting a Panel Together
1. Select a topic.
2. Recruit varied participants. A panel of three to five people usually creates the most interesting
discussion. Look for well-informed students/people from a variety of backgrounds.
3. Invite a moderator. Select an additional person not participating in the panel discussion, to serve
as a moderator.
4. Plan the physical setup. Individual chairs will make the participants appear closer to the audience
than a solid table, encouraging audience participation. Arranging the seats in a slight circle, still
mostly facing the audience, may help the panelists discuss the topic with each other.
Planning the Panel Discussion
1. Figure out the goals of the panel. Make sure all of the participants know why the panel has been
assembled well in advance, so they have time to prepare.
2. Decide how long the panel should last. For most panels, especially those taking place at a
conference or other larger event, 45–60 minutes is the recommended length of time. Take note of
the time intended for the class.
3. Consider starting with individual lectures (optional). The main focus of the panel should
always be a discussion. However, if one of the panel's main goals is providing information, this may
be a useful way to precede the discussion.
4. Try to avoid visual presentations. Unless absolutely necessary for the topic, avoid PowerPoint
presentations and slides. They tend to slow down the discussion, keep audience involvement low,
and often bore the listeners.
5. Write questions for the panelists. Try to come up with several open-ended questions, which the
panelists can take in a direction best suited to the course of the discussion and their expertise.
6. Plan out the rest of the panel. Determine how much time you will set aside for questions;
typically, this constitutes half the panel's length or more.
Moderating a Panel Discussion
1. Convince people to sit in the front row. The closer the panel is to the audience member, the
more energetic and involved the atmosphere will feel.
2. Briefly introduce the panel and each participant. Use only one or two sentences to introduce
the panel topic, since most audience members present are likely familiar with the basic idea.
3. Involve the audience early. Get the audience invested in the panel by asking for their involvement
right away.
4. Ask the panelists the prepared questions. Start going through the questions in the prearranged
order, but don't hesitate to adjust this order if the discussion moved in a different, interesting
direction.
5. Follow through with your own questions as necessary. You may deviate from the prepared
questions whenever you think it will benefit from the discussion.
6. Get a timekeeper.
7. Keep the panelists on task. When a panelist is going on too long, or going off topic, politely return
the discussion to the correct point.
8. Collect questions from the audience.
K-W-L Chart
K-W-L charts are graphic organizers that help students organize information before, during, and
after a unit or a lesson. They can be used to engage students in a new topic, activate prior knowledge,
share unit objectives, and monitor students’ learning.

Procedure

1. Make K-W-L Charts


Pass out the accompanying handout to students. Alternatively, you can distribute a blank sheet of
paper and ask students to create their own chart.
2. Complete Column 1
Have students respond to the first prompt in column 1: What do you Know about this topic?
Students can do this individually or in small groups. Often, teachers create a master list of all
students’ responses. One question that frequently emerges for teachers is how to address
misconceptions students share. Sometimes it is appropriate to correct false information at this point
in the process. Other times, you might want to leave the misconceptions so that students can
correct them on their own as they learn new material.
3. Complete Column 2
Have students respond to the prompt in column 2: What do you Want to know about this topic?
Some students may not know where to begin if they don't have much background knowledge on
the topic. Therefore, it can be helpful to put the six questions of journalism on the board as prompts
(Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?). We suggest that students’ responses and questions
be used to direct the course of study. As students share what they want to learn, this step provides
an opportunity for teachers to present what they hope students will learn in the unit.

4. Complete Column 3 and Review Columns 1 and 2


Throughout the unit, students can review their K-W-L charts by adding to column 3: What did you
Learn? Some teachers have students add to their charts at the end of each lesson, while others
have students add to their charts at the end of the week or the end of the unit. As students record
what they have learned, they can review the questions in column 2, checking off any questions that
they can now answer. They can also add new questions. Students should also review Column 1 so
they can identify any misconceptions they may have held before beginning the unit.

BRAINSTORMING
Brainstorming is a way to generate ideas within a group setting. It is usually used in the beginning
stages of a project, where the possibilities for the project are not clearly understood or defined. It provides a
quick means for tapping the creativity of a limited number of people for a large number of ideas. The
brainstorming environment fosters an uninhibited, non-judgmental explosion of ideas, concepts, policies,
decisions, and strategies. In brainstorming, all contributions are valid, and the key to a successful session
is to share as many ideas as possible without evaluating them.
Brainstorming sessions can be unstructured - that is, there may not be a moderator or facilitator.
Most sessions, however, are facilitated, structured discussions with guidelines to help the process move
along smoothly and allow a variety of perspectives and ideas to surface.
Procedures

1. Solicit quality ideas


Rule: Encourage the generation of lots of creative ideas.
2. Encourage everyone to participate.
Rule: Quantity is wanted - every idea is accepted and recorded. The more ideas, the more
to choose from and the more likely ideas will spark new ideas.
3. Encourage freewheeling and expression of different ideas.
Rule: "Freewheeling" is welcomed. Freewheeling means the wilder the idea, the better. It is
always easier to tame an idea than to make one more exciting.
4. Do not criticize or evaluate ideas.
Rule: Criticism is ruled out. Suspend judgment. Every idea is welcome without critique or
ridicule.
5. Build upon other group members' ideas.
Rule: Combination and improvement are sought. Ideas spark more ideas. Encourage
everyone to participate and to build upon the ideas of others in the group.
6. Record ideas accurately during the session.
Rule: Record the ideas. It is crucial to record the ideas generated during a brainstorming
session.

LEARNERS CREATED MEDIA

This type of strategy refers to how learners respond to a learning task by creating a media (e.g. video/audio
presentation, creating a software, digital infographic) to accomplish the task.

Benefits

 Student-created media projects utilize tools and resources that students are often already using in
their daily lives. The incorporation of media into an assignment may make it more engaging for
students.
 Asking students to create media content for course assignments will increase the digital literacy
skills of students, including both the technological skills to create the content and the composition
skills of designing media for specific audiences. These skills are valuable to all students,
regardless of discipline, in a 21st century workplace.
 Student-created media may be used to allow students at a distance to showcase specific skills or
demonstrate understanding of content without having to be face-to-face with the instructor or class
participants.

Procedures
1. Set the objective and the purpose of creating a media. Select the type of media to be used.
2. Provide a clear instruction and guidelines in making the media. Present the rubrics which will serve
as the criteria for the said output.
3. Provide ample time for your students to produce the media. Remember that it great works requires
time.
4. Prepare the platform where the students will present their work. To save time, ask for a copy of
their work before the scheduled presentation to detect and address technical problems and issues.
5. Present their work in class.
6. Provide feedback. Ask some students their insights after watching their classmates work.
DISCUSSION
A classroom discussion is a sustained exchange between and among teachers and their students
with the purpose of developing students’ capabilities or skills and/or expanding students’ understanding—
both shared and individual—of a specific concept or instructional goal. Classroom discussions are
characterized by high quality and high quantities of student talk. Teachers must ensure that discussions are
built upon and revolve around both students’ contributions and the content at hand. In a discussion, the
teacher’s role is to question students, take up, revoice, and press students’ ideas, structure and steer the
conversation toward the learning goal(s), enable students to respond to one another’s ideas by stepping
back to listen, moderate and facilitate students’ interactions, ensure that the content under discussion is
represented accurately, and bring the discussion to a meaningful close (Witherspoon et al., 2016).
Procedure

1. Refer to questions you distributed. Start the discussion by asking one of the study questions you
assigned or by asking group members which of the questions they found most challenging.
2. Make a list of key points. Identify and list the important points from the reading and use these as a
starting point for discussion.
3. Use a partner activity. Ask students to come to the discussion with 3 or 4 questions prepared. Start
the discussion by having students pair off and alternate asking and answering their questions.
4. Use a brainstorming activity. Ask students to contribute ideas related to the discussion topic (no
matter how bizarre or farfetched) and write all ideas on the board. After a set period of time or when
students have run out of ideas, critically evaluate all the ideas or categorize themes.
5. Pose an opening question and give students a few minutes to record an answer. The process of
writing down their answers will enable students to generate new ideas as well as questions. After they
have finished writing, ask for volunteers or call on students to share their ideas. This activity also gives
quieter students the opportunity to prepare answers they can share with the group.
6. Divide students into small groups to discuss a specific question or issue. Be sure to assign
explicit questions and guidelines and give the groups a time limit to complete the exercise. Also ask
them to select a recorder and/or a reporter who will report back to the entire discussion group.
7. Pose a controversial issue and organize an informal debate. Group the students according to the
pro or con position they take and ask the groups to formulate 2-3 arguments or examples to support
their position. Write each group's statements on the board and use these as a starting point for
discussion.

SMALL GROUP
Working in small groups gives students a chance to practice the higher-order thinking skills that
instructors love to teach. Students who do small group work generally learn more of the material and retain
their knowledge longer than students who don’t (Davis, 1993). Small group work can range from short,
informal exercises to formalized problem sets that make up the majority of class. Contrary to popular belief,
instructors can incorporate small group work into large lectures as well as seminars and discussion
sections.
Types of Small Group Work Activities
Think/write-pair-share
Because of the versatility of this activity, it can be used in seminars, discussion sections, and even
very large lectures. Pose a question or problem and either give students one minute to think about it or
write an answer down. Next, instruct students to discuss their answer with a partner for 2-5 minutes.
Finally, call on one or two students to share their answers with the class. This activity can be varied ad
infinitum. For example, the initial writing prompt can be longer, and students can have a chance to revise
their mini essay after conferring with a partner. Another possibility is to lengthen the “pair” portion so that
students can do multiple problems, carry out a translation, or some other activity that requires more time.

Three-step interview

This technique is similar to the think/write-pair-share. Students work in pairs to discuss a question
or issue. In the first step, one person in the pair answers/discusses the question first while the other takes
notes or asks additional questions. In the second step, the students reverse roles. Last, two pairs join
together to make a quartet. The groups describe their answers to each other and discuss.

Form student subgroups

This format is likely to work best in smaller classes. Give students a problem on a single sheet of
paper to work on in groups of three or four. The single sheet of paper helps prevent students from working
on the problem(s) individually. Once they have finished, either solicit responses from each group, if the
class is small enough, or call on one or two groups to present their responses. Ask if the other groups
agree.

Problem-based learning

This is a more formal type of small group work that has long been used for training medical and
science students. However, it can also work well in other disciplines; for example, students could parse
difficult sentences in a language course or carry out a close reading of a passage in a literature course. The
defining characteristic of problem-based learning is that material is generally introduced through problems
rather than lecture. Students work in small (3-4 people), permanent, cooperative groups to carry out
problem-solving activities with limited help from the instructor. Problems are followed by whole-class
discussion during which the instructor can correct misconceptions and make connections between the
problems and the larger context of the class.

Class Debates

Discussion sections can be an excellent place to stage a debate. Assess student opinions by a
show of hands (or previous discussions in class or on chalk), divide the class into groups accordingly, and
have them draw up arguments supporting their stance (either their own or the opposite opinion). Give each
group a limited amount of time to make their case, requiring as many as possible of them to speak, and
give the other group the chance for a rebuttal. Afterwards, open the discussion to talk about the results.

Speed Interviews

The goal of this group activity is for the students to gather as many opinions as possible about an
issue. First divide the class into pairs and distribute a series of questions for them to discuss (one to three
questions are recommended). Have the students switch partners every 2 minutes or so and ask the same
questions to their new partner. Switch groups as many times as appropriate and then have the entire class
report back and discuss the results. This type of exercise is particularly useful for small classes, survey
activities or icebreakers.
The Inner Circle or Fishbowl

A variation on whole-class discussion is the fishbowl. Divide the class into an inner group, which
will be the discussion group, and an outer group, which will be the observers who take notes and give
feedback on the quality of the discussion and the group dynamics. This leads to a discussion about
discussion culture, increases student awareness of effective communication within a discussion, and
enhances a sense of responsibility to contribute.

Buzz groups

This technique works well in both small and large classes. Pick a challenging issue or problem, and
then ask students to form small groups to discuss it. After approximately 5-10 minutes of discussion, call on
a few of the groups to report their answers. Ask the other groups whether they agree with the reported
answers by a show of hands.

CASE STUDY
Case study is a method of teaching using a case, or story, with a hidden message, which students
explore to make a decision or solve a problem, developing specific skills and knowledge through inquiry
(Good & Brophy, 2008; Killen, 2009). Case study is a pedagogically constructivist method of teaching, with
emphasis on student engagement for the challenging and (re) construction of their understandings (Volpe,
2002).
Procedure
According to Schwartz (2019), the following are the steps in using case study as a method of instruction:
7. Identify a problem to investigate: This should be something accessible and relevant to students’
lives. The problem should also be challenging and complex enough to yield multiple solutions with
many layers.

8. Give context: Think of this step as a movie preview or book summary. Hook the learners to help
them understand just enough about the problem to want to learn more.

9. Have a clear rubric: Giving structure to your definition of quality group work and products will lead
to stronger end products. You may be able to have your learners help build these definitions.

10. Provide structures for presenting solutions: The amount of scaffolding you build in depends on your
students’ skill level and development. A case study product can be something like several pieces of
evidence of students collaborating to solve the case study, and ultimately presenting their solution with
a detailed slide deck or an essay—you can scaffold this by providing specified headings for the
sections of the essay.

JIGSAW
The “Jigsaw Method” is a teaching strategy of organizing student group work that helps students
collaborate and rely on one another. This teaching strategy is effective for accomplishing multiple tasks at
once and for giving students a greater sense of individual responsibility. With this simple approach to group
work, each individual has something unique to contribute to their group’s outcome, in the same way each
piece of a jigsaw puzzle comes together to create a completed image. No one else in the group is doing the
same task, so each student experiences a higher sense of ownership and accountability to the members of
their group.

Procedure
If you’re interested in running a jigsaw activity in your classroom, follow this simple six-step guide:

1. Organize students into groups of 4-6.

2. Divide the day’s reading or lesson into 4-6 parts, and assign one student in each group to be
responsible for a different segment.

3. Give students time to learn and process their assigned segment independently.

4. Put students who completed the same segment together into an “expert group” to talk about and
process the details of their segment.

5. Have students return to their original “jigsaw” groups and take turns sharing the segments they’ve
become experts on.

6. Have students complete a task or a quiz that’s reliant on them having understood the material from the
contributions of all their group members.

During this whole process, where’s the teacher? At first, the teacher facilitates the arranging of small
groups, explaining of roles, and timing for each portion. Notice that the teacher doesn’t have to lecture or
be the focal point of attention. When the students are in groups for steps 4 and 5, the teacher should walk
amongst the groups and lend support or explanation where necessary. The teacher may find it valuable to
appoint one student in each group as the “leader” who can manage time, make sure each student
contributes their part, and ensure the group is accomplishing the goals.

LEARNING CENTERS
A learning center is typically a designated area within the classroom that provides students with
exciting and interesting experiences to practice, enrich, reteach, and enhance their learning. These types of
centers are filled with manipulatives, art materials, books, and other instructional tools. Students visit the
centers to complete an assignment or learn through different activities. In well-designed learning centers,
students participate in activities that help them see curriculum subjects in real-time, hands-on ways.
Working both independently and in small groups, students are provided with time and space to complete a
project.

A learning center is governed by rules that students are well aware of and requires students to be
responsible and accountable for their own learning. The power of learning centers lies in the fact that
students who "didn't get it the first time" or need information presented in a different light receive a more
individualized lesson than a whole-class lesson could ever provide. Centers provide time for you as the
teacher to spend time with students individually or in small groups, helping students learn curriculum
materials in their own way and style.
Procedure
Preparing the Centers
1. Figure out what skills or knowledge you would like your students to develop.
2. Gather student materials.
3. Write out clear directions using visuals. Students should not need to raise their hand and ask you how to
complete a task because the answers should already be there for them.
4. Set behavioral goals and expectations. Be explicit about how exactly they should work together and
behave.
Setting up the Classroom
With your learning center materials prepared, you can arrange your room to accommodate new
spaces. The way you choose to set up your centers ultimately depends on the size of your class and
number of students but the following tips can be applied to any classroom.

 Groups should not exceed five students. This makes it possible for students to complete tasks and
move easily through the centers.
 Get creative with the setup. Don't be afraid to use rugs, libraries, and even hallways for your
centers. Students are flexible and enjoy experiencing learning in new ways and from new angles,
so don't hesitate to have some working on the floor and some standing up if the activities allow for
this.
 Keep materials organized. It's not enough to just keep them in one place, you also need a system
for making materials easy for students to find and keeping the supplies together after they have
been used. Utilize baskets, folders, and totes for easy organization and efficiency.
 Make a schedule. Assign each student a group to rotate with and center where they will begin and
end. Give each group and center a color/shape and number to help children know where to go
next.
 Provide cleanup time. After each center is completed, give students time to return materials to their
places for the next group and a place to turn in their completed center work. This makes it easier to
collect all finished work at once.

EXPERIMENTS
Classroom experiments are activities where any number of students work in groups on carefully
designed guided inquiry questions. Materials provide students with the means of collecting data through
interaction with typical laboratory materials, data simulation tools or a decision making environment, as well
a series of question that lead to discovery based learning.

During the experiment itself the students and/or teacher collect data or observations. However, the most
critical role for the instructor is to act as facilitator, asking leading questions and drawing attention to
interesting results. A well-designed experiment targets common student misconceptions, focusing on major
ideas that students will need to understand correctly in order to support deep learning.
Procedure
1. Teacher Preparation
Teacher’s routinely tailor classes to their own students. Some issues you may encounter when using
classroom experiments include:
 Deciding how to best incorporate experiments into class content
 Designating an appropriate amount of time for the experiment - some experiments might be adapted
to take more than one class period while others may be adapted to take only a few minutes. For more
information see How Much Time Does it Take?
 Matching the experiment to the class level, course atmosphere and the personalities and learning
styles of your students
 Choosing a strategy for dealing with the classroom environment: room layout, number of students,
online courses
2. Student Preparation
Helping the students prepare for the experiment is key to them having a successful learning experience.
You might ask your students to do the following before starting the experiment:
 Read instructions that explain the experiment and the student's role
 Complete a pre-class reading and/or write about their role in the experiment
 Make predictions about the outcome of the experiment

3. Conducting the experiment and collecting data (with an example of an experiment)


Working through the logistics of carrying out the experiment can be key to students having a successful
experience. It is often helpful to have a teaching assistant present during an experiment to help answer
questions and keep things moving. You will want to consider:
 Developing a streamlined process for answering questions and collecting data
 Adapting experiments for very large classes, perhaps using computers or clickers
 Modifying experiments so that they will work in an online class

4. Analyzing the data and Extending the Experience


Once you collect the data, communicating the results to students and linking it to what they are learning in
class is very important. Just doing the experiment isn't enough - you need to guide students through the
process of interpreting and learning from what happened.
The classroom experiment experience isn't just about that moment in class. It can often be successfully
used as a shared experience that anchors material that is covered later in the course. It also can be a
catalyst to help students start thinking beyond the course material.

5. Assessing student achievement of learning goals


Standard tests, quizzes and homework assignments can be used to measure what students are learning in
class. You might consider adding additional assessment measures, for example ask students
 Test questions about the experiment itself
 Open Ended questions that allow students to reflect on their experience and give you an idea of what
they did and did not get from the experiment.
ROLE PLAY
Role-play is a pedagogy that been used in a wide variety of contexts and content areas (Rao &
Stupans, 2012). Essentially, it is the practice of having students take on specific roles - usually ones in
which they are not familiar - and act them out in a case-based scenario for the purpose of learning course
content or understanding “complex or ambiguous concepts” (Sogunro, 2004: 367). The guidelines for the
role-play are usually modeled on realistic criteria so the students can get as close to “the real thing” as
possible.
When role-playing, students act out a predetermined set of events, knowing the outcome of their
characters’ actions. Playing a role acquaints the student with the historical scenario and develops an
awareness of the factors influencing a decision made at that time. Students can practice “walking in
someone else’s shoes.” (Role-playing the decision to use the atomic bomb in World War II is an example.)
Procedure

Step 1: Warm up the group – This step involves presenting students with a problem, providing examples,
and having students predict what might happen.

Step 2: Select participants – In this step, the characters and their characteristics are identified and students
volunteer or the teacher assigns the roles. The teacher should not assign roles based on student
suggestion, however, as that could put a student in an uncomfortable situation or stereotype the student.

Step 3: Set the stage – A line of action and the setting are established and the roles are restated.

Step 4: Prepare the observers – To make sure that the whole group stays involved; the teacher is
encouraged to assign them tasks. For example, the observers could evaluate the realism of the role playing,
respond to the effectiveness and sequences of the role players’ behavior, and define the feeling and ways of
thinking of the persons being portrayed.

Step 5: Enact – The players assume the roles and spontaneously “live” the situation from beginning to end
of the situation.

Step 6: Discuss and Evaluate – In this step, the action of the role playing is reviewed, the focus is discussed,
and the next enactment is developed.

Step 7: Reenact – New interpretations of roles are shared and new possibilities for causes and effects are
explored in this step.

Step 8: Discuss and Evaluate as was done in Step 6.

Step 9: Share Experiences and Generalize – The problem situation is related to children’s current problems
and the real experience in a non-threatening way.

SIMULATION

Simulation refers to the imitation of real-world activities and processes in a safe environment.
Simulations aim to provide an experience as close to the ‘real thing’ as possible; however, a simulated activity
has the advantage of allowing learners to ‘reset’ the scenario and try alternative strategies and
approaches. This allows learners to develop experience of specific situations by applying their wider learning
and knowledge.

The approach is frequently used in disciplines where students need to develop skills and
experience but safety issues or cost considerations prevent this happening in the real-world. For example,
medical simulators allow students to practice diagnosis and treatment on dummies that can react in
sophisticated and fairly realistic ways; whereas, trainee pilots (and aeronautical engineering students) use flight
simulators to learn how an aircraft would react in a variety of conditions without ever leaving the ground.
However, while the use of simulation is obvious and well established in these areas, it does exist in others,
such as the ‘moot’ or simulated courtroom in Law, and could be applied in still more.

Procedure

Three elements are necessary for effective simulations; preparation, active student participation, and post-
simulation debrief.

1. Preparation: Although instructional simulations can be very effective in encouraging student’s


engagement, many simulations require intensive pre-simulation lesson preparation. Preparation
varies with the type and complexity of the simulation. Most simulation creators suggest that
simulations are best when:

a. Simulations are tied to the learning competency.


b. Facilitators read all the supporting material for the simulation.
c. Facilitators do a trial run or participate in the simulation before assigning the simulation to
students, when possible.
d. Facilitators make sure that school facilities support the simulation when facilities are
needed.
e. The teacher integrate instructional simulations with other pedagogies such as cooperative
learning.
f. Teacher’s should anticipate ways the simulation can go wrong and include this in their pre-
simulation discussion with the class.

2. Active Student Participation: Effective learning comes through simulations when students are
actively engaged.

a. Students should predict and explain the outcome they expect the simulation to generate.
b. Every effort should be made to make it difficult for students to become passive during the
simulation. Every student must assume a role that they may or may not know before the
simulation. Often it is not known until the simulation.

3. Post-Simulation Debrief: Post-simulation discussion with students leads to deeper learning. The
instructor should:

a. Provide sufficient time for students to reflect on and discuss what they learned from the simulation.
b. Prepare question to ask during the debrief to ensure students see alignment between the
simulation and the course goals.

LABORATORY
Laboratory teaching assumes that first-hand experience in observation and manipulation of the
materials of science is superior to other methods of developing understanding and appreciation. Laboratory
training is also frequently used to develop skills necessary for more advanced study or research.

Lab-Based Teaching Strategies

Developing and teaching an effective laboratory requires as much skill, creativity, and hard work as
proposing and executing a first-rate research project.

1. Identify the goals/purposes of your lab

Before you begin to develop a laboratory program, it is important to think about its goals. Here are a
number of possibilities:

 Develop intuition and deepen understanding of concepts.


 Apply concepts learned in class to new situations.
 Experience basic phenomena.
 Develop critical, quantitative thinking.
 Develop experimental and data analysis skills.
 Learn to use scientific apparatus.
 Learn to estimate statistical errors and recognize systematic errors.
 Develop reporting skills (written and oral).
 Ensure that these goals are communicated clearly to students. As well, communicate success criteria to
students prior to the lab and offer students the opportunity to ask questions about and clarify these
expectations.

2. Prepare for your lab

Preparation, prior to the start of the semester, should include being acquainted with the storeroom of the
lab so that time won’t be lost during a lab looking for necessary equipment or materials. As well, it is vital to
know and share the location of the first aid kit, basic first aid rules, and procedures for getting emergency
assistance.

3. Ask and answer questions strategically

Asking questions
Engaging with students helps to ensure that students are not only on track, but also feel comfortable
reaching out for support if they encounter challenges in the future. Questions can be used to guide students
in the right direction by prompting them to reflect on their progress, the direction they are headed in, and to
consider the implications of their findings both for their immediate academic writing and for real-world
contexts. Examples of such leading questions include:
 What are you currently working on? How is it going?
 This looks good. What are you going to do next?
 Why do you think that happened?
 What sort of thing did you take notes on?
 Have you thought about how you will write up this project/experiment?
 Were the results expected or unexpected? How so?
 Other people have said such-and-such. Do you agree?
 How do you think this fits in with the rest of the course?
Answering questions
No matter how long you teach or how thoroughly you prepare, there will always be questions that take you
by surprise. Below are three approaches to answering questions:

 Encourage the student to figure out the answer independently. Direct them to resources (e.g.,
textbook, sites). Ask open-ended questions that compel them toward reflecting upon the
information they have and making inferences/guesses, and guide them in exploring those guesses.

 If you aren't sure about the answer, let the student know that you will find the information
and provide it to them as quickly as possible. For example, "Can I think about that? I will get
back to you by the end of class."

 Tackle the question with the student or have students work together to find the
answer. Suggest to the student that they investigate one resource while you (or another student)
investigate another. Regroup and share findings.

4. Reflect on and evaluate your lab


As the lab section draws to a close, assess your success as well as that of your students in the lab. Ask
students how they experienced the lab (e.g., highlights, challenges, takeaways) and note any feedback that
can inform and improve future labs.

WORKSHOPS

A workshop is a single, short (although short may mean anything from 45 minutes to two full days)
educational program designed to teach or introduce to participants practical skills, techniques, or ideas
which they can then use in their work or their daily lives. Most workshops have several features in common:

 They're generally small, usually from 6 to 15 participants, allowing everyone some personal
attention and the chance to be heard.
 They're often designed for people who are working together, or working in the same field.
 They're conducted by people who have real experience in the subject under discussion.
 They're often participatory, i.e. participants are active, both in that they influence the direction of the
workshop and also in that they have a chance to practice the techniques, skills, etc. that are under
discussion.
 They're informal; there's a good deal of discussion in addition to participation, rather than just a
teacher presenting material to be absorbed by attentive students.
 They're time limited, often to a single session, although some may involve multiple sessions over a
period of time (e.g. once a week for four weeks, or two full-day sessions over a weekend).
 They're self-contained. Although a workshop may end with handouts and suggestions for further
reading or study for those who are interested, the presentation is generally meant to stand on its
own, unlike a course, which depends on large amounts of reading and other projects (papers,
presentations) in addition to classroom activities.

Procedure
PLANNING

1. Consider your topic. Do your homework, so that you're confident you can deal with most questions and
issues that might come up.

2. Consider your audience. Understanding them and their needs will do more than anything else to help
you decide what to do and how to do it.

3. Consider the workshop size. If the group is an ideal size for most purposes (about 8-12) you can arrange
activities that involve participants as individuals, in small groups (2-4), and in the whole group.

4. Consider the time available. It 's important that your goals for the workshop match the time available.

5. Plan a break. This will speak to the attention-span issue and allow participants a chance to attend to their
errands, without disturbing the flow of the workshop.

6. Consider the purpose of the workshop. Workshops are given for many purposes, and each implies some
specific methods of presentation and other details.

7. Consider your presentation. The style of your presentation both your personal style and the actual
methods of presentation you employ will do much to determine the effectiveness of your workshop.

PREPARATION

1. Find out about the space you'll be using, if possible.

2. Bring everything you need.

3. Arrange well beforehand for any equipment you'll need (overhead projector, VCR and monitor, computer,
etc.) or plan to bring it yourself.

4. Make materials and hand-outs as attractive and interesting as possible so that participants will return to
them.

5. Make up an evaluation form that people can fill out quickly at the end of the workshop, but that covers
the areas you really want to know about.

IMPLEMENTATION

Introduction

1. Setting the tone. There are some steps you can take to make participants comfortable as soon as they
walk in, and to establish the workshop as a community of learners.

2. Personal introductions. Especially if your workshop involves a lot of hands-on and group activities, it will
go better if people are comfortable with one another.
3. Agenda and plan for the session. It's helpful to either hand out, or to have visible in the room, and to go
over with participants, an agenda for the workshop.

Substance of the Workshop

1. Keep track of time. This doesn't mean that you should be a slave to your agenda, but rather that you
should be aware when you're deviating from it.

2. Match the presentation to the content and philosophy of the workshop.

3. Try to present material in a number of different ways.

4. Try to be, and to make your activities, entertaining.

5. Be enthusiastic.

6. Encourage participants to relate the workshop content to their reality.

7. Allow ample time for reflection and discussion in all activities.

Closure

1. Sum up and review agenda.

2. Revisit expectations.

3. Give participants a chance to sum up.

4. Ask for feedback on the ideas, techniques, methods, etc. that you presented.

5. Collect evaluation forms.

DEMONSTRATION

A demonstration is the process of teaching someone how to make or do something in a step-by-


step process. As you show how, you “tell” what you are doing. A demonstration always has a finished
product. The key to a good demonstration is for the audience to be able to go home and do what you have
taught hem how to do. In this method of teaching, the teacher performs the experiment before the class
and simultaneously explains what the teacher is doing. The teacher also asks relevant questions to
maintain the interest and attention of students. The students are compelled to observe carefully because
they have to describe each and every step of the experiment accurately and draw conclusion. After
thorough questioning and cross-questioning, the class draws conclusion.

Procedure

1. Carefully plan the demonstration:

Like all other methods of teaching, the teacher must know exactly what s/he is doing. This is
particularly true of the demonstration, where precision and clarity are crucial to the students’ ability to
understand what they see. Careful thought and research are needed to make sure that all phases of the
demonstration are accurately and logically presented.

2. Practice the demonstration:

Once a well thought out plan has been developed, ample time should be set aside to practice the
demonstration. It is very risky to give a demonstration without having practiced it beforehand, especially
when the procedure or topic is relatively complex or unfamiliar.

3. Develop an outline to guide the demonstration:

To ensure that the demonstration goes smoothly it is a good idea to have an outline that lists the steps to
follow, the materials to use, the questions to ask and the important points to make. Developing such an
outline provides the teacher not only a guide for carrying out the demonstration but also with a well
designed framework into which spontaneous ideas can be incorporated as the situation demands.

4. Make sure everyone can see the demonstration:

It seems obvious that the teacher would make sure that all students can see the demonstration.
Unfortunately, teachers sometimes fail to do this causing a situation which results in student’s loss of
interest and misbehavior.

5. Introduce the demonstration to focus attention:

Students are likely to be interested in the demonstration and to understand it if they have at least a general
idea of what to look for as it proceeds. A few introductory comments emphasizing the essential features
and key terms of the demonstration can serve this purpose as an outline or diagram on the chalkboard. It is
however unproductive to use a worksheet as a means of orienting students because it tends to draw their
attention away from the demonstration.

6. Ask and encourage questioning:

“Students should be encouraged to ask questions so that their verbal experiences are integrated with their
visual ones” (Crawford, 1938). Also students should be asked questions at key points as a way of
assessing how well they understand the demonstration.

7. Plan a follow up to the demonstration:

A demonstration should be followed by activities that help students interpret and further understand the
important points that were presented. Such activities could include a discussion or a writing exercise in
which students can describe what they have observed.

INDEX CARDS

The index or note card can support learning in the classroom by helping instructors gather names,
prior knowledge, misconceptions, and more. Through well-planned activities, instructors can
gather formative feedback on student progress towards achieving particular learning outcomes with note
cards, as well as obtain other useful information on their students. Such data on student learning can be
used to design future instruction that addresses student misconceptions and learning challenges (Angelo
and Cross, 1993). Some evidence even suggests that use of note cards in large lectures can promote
student engagement and preparation for class (Broeckelman-Post, et. al 2016). Ultimately, instructors can
consider where note cards may help them gather the most effective information for improving learning
outcomes in their students.

Examples and Recommendations


 General Student Feedback - On the first day of class a teacher can use index cards to collect basic
information from students such as their reasoning behind taking the course, learning goals, and any
questions that they have about the course after reviewing the syllabus. The teacher can address
anonymous questions during subsequent classes, and ask the students at the end of the course to revisit
their learning goals to determine whether they have been achieved.
 Immediate Feedback - Index cards can be used as audience responses systems. By using different
colored card sets with the multiple choice letters A, B, C and D, etc., teacherss can ask questions in class
and have students hold up the card responding to their answer choice. Students might be asked to bring
their card sets to each class. Instructors can also use simpler options such as ABC note cards for classes
made up of students that lack access to more complex response systems. Note cards can also be used as
a backup if clicker technology does not work. This strategy is additionally beneficial in that index cards can
be prepared at the beginning of the semester and saved for subsequent classes.

 Muddiest Point – A teacher can ask students to write on a note card their “muddiest point,” or the topic or
concept for which they are most confused. These cards can be collected and the instructor can sort them
into groups and use them for feedback purposes. When patterns are evident within students’ responses,
the teacher can consider designing future classroom sessions to address these conceptual challenges.
This technique fosters student metacognition.

 Group Assignments - Index cards are also an easy way for a teacher to assign groups. Random groups
can be generated by passing out note cards corresponding to different group numbers.

 Student Selection - If a student is needed to volunteer for a particular course assignment or activity, the
teacher may consider using note cards with student names, and randomly pulling out one at a time to
select students.

 Student Voting - If a teacher would like for students to anonymously vote on a particular class issue, they
can ask their learners to indicate their position on index cards and tally the responses.

INQUIRY-BASED
The Inquiry-based Learning Model emerged in the 1960s, during the “discovery learning”
movement and relies upon the idea that individuals are able to learn by investigating scenarios and
problems, and through social experiences. Rather than having to memorize information from printed
materials, instructors encouraged their students to conduct investigations that would satisfy their curiosity,
help them broaden their knowledge base and develop their skills and mental frames.

It’s important to remember that inquiry-based learning is not a technique or practice per se, but a process
that has the potential to increase the intellectual engagement and deep understanding of learners, urging
them to:

 Develop their questioning, research and communication skills


 Collaborate outside the classroom
 Solve problems, create solutions, and tackle real-life questions and issues
 Participate in the creation and amelioration of ideas and knowledge

Procedure

1. Ask questions
2. Probe into various situations
3. Conduct analyses and provide descriptions
4. Communicate findings, verbally or in writing
5. Think about the information and knowledge obtained

MENTAL MODELS
Mental models are any organized pattern (often a visual representation) consisting of both
structure and process (a flow chart of sorts) that helps a student comprehend content knowledge and/or
solve problems relative to the principle being taught. Advance organizers are often thought of as mental
models.
Mental models (often known as advance organizers) can help teachers to plan with the end in mind:
teachers must clarify the big ideas students will be exploring, identify what students already know, and
develop links between the two. Additionally, mental models can help students to organize their thinking in a
way that is more consistent with how expert problem solvers organize their knowledge. Students who have
been taught with the use of mental models in mind, or learn on the basis of advance organizers, have
demonstrate much better understanding and comprehension.

Example of a Mental Model


PROJECT BASED-LEARNING
Project-based learning (PBL) involves students designing, developing, and constructing hands-on
solutions to a problem. The educational value of PBL is that it aims to build students’ creative capacity to
work through difficult or ill-structured problems, commonly in small teams. Typically, PBL takes students
through the following phases or steps:

1. Identifying a problem
2. Agreeing on or devising a solution and potential solution path to the problem (i.e., how to
achieve the solution)
3. Designing and developing a prototype of the solution
4. Refining the solution based on feedback from experts, instructors, and/or peers
Depending on the goals of the instructor, the size and scope of the project can vary greatly.
Students may complete the four phases listed above over the course of many weeks, or even
several times within a single class period.

Because of its focus on creativity and collaboration, PBL is enhanced when students experience
opportunities to work across disciplines, employ technologies to make communication and product
realization more efficient, or to design solutions to real-world problems posed by outside organizations or
corporations. Projects do not need to be highly complex for students to benefit from PBL techniques. Often
times, quick and simple projects are enough to provide students with valuable opportunities to make
connections across content and practice.

Implementing Project-Based Learning

As a pedagogical approach, PBL entails several key processes: (1) defining problems in terms of
given constraints or challenges, (2) generating multiple ideas to solve a given problem, (3) prototyping —
often in rapid iteration — potential solutions to a problem, and (4) testing the developed solution products or
services in a “live” or authentic setting.

Defining the Problem

PBL projects should start with students asking questions about a problem. What is the nature of
problem they are trying to solve? What assumptions can they make about why the problem exists? Asking
such questions will help students frame the problem in an appropriate context. If students are working on a
real-world problem, it is important to consider how an end user will benefit from a solution.

Generating Ideas

Next, students should be given the opportunity to brainstorm and discuss their ideas for solving the
problem. The emphasis here is not to generate necessarily good ideas, but to generate many ideas. As
such, brainstorming should encourage students to think wildly, but to stay focused on the problem. Setting
guidelines for brainstorming sessions, such as giving everyone a chance to voice an idea, suspending
judgement of others’ ideas, and building on the ideas of others will help make brainstorming a productive
and generative exercise.

Prototyping Solutions
Designing and prototyping a solution are typically the next phase of the PBL process. A prototype
might take many forms: a mock-up, a storyboard, a role-play, or even an object made out of readily
available materials such as pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, and rubber bands. The purpose of prototyping is
to expand upon the ideas generated during the brainstorming phase, and to quickly convey a how a
solution to the problem might look and feel. Prototypes can often expose learners’ assumptions, as well as
uncover unforeseen challenges that an end user of the solution might encounter. The focus on creating
simple prototypes also means that students can iterate on their designs quickly and easily, incorporate
feedback into their designs, and continually hone their problem solutions.

Testing

Students may then go about taking their prototypes to the next level of design: testing. Ideally,
testing takes place in a “live” setting. Testing allows students to glean how well their products or services
work in a real setting. The results of testing can provide students with important feedback on the their
solutions, and generate new questions to consider. Did the solution work as planned? If not, what needs to
be tweaked? In this way, testing engages students in critical thinking and reflection processes.

PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which complex real-world problems are
used as the vehicle to promote student learning of concepts and principles as opposed to direct
presentation of facts and concepts. In addition to course content, PBL can promote the development of
critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and communication skills. It can also provide opportunities
for working in groups, finding and evaluating research materials, and life-long learning (Duch et al, 2001).
PBL can be incorporated into any learning situation. In the strictest definition of PBL, the approach
is used over the entire semester as the primary method of teaching. However, broader definitions and uses
range from including PBL in lab and design classes, to using it simply to start a single discussion. PBL can
also be used to create assessment items. The main thread connecting these various uses is the real-world
problem.
Any subject area can be adapted to PBL with a little creativity. While the core problems will vary among
disciplines, there are some characteristics of good PBL problems that transcend fields (Duch, Groh, and
Allen, 2001):

 The problem must motivate students to seek out a deeper understanding of concepts.
 The problem should require students to make reasoned decisions and to defend them.
 The problem should incorporate the content objectives in such a way as to connect it to previous
courses/knowledge.
 If used for a group project, the problem needs a level of complexity to ensure that the students
must work together to solve it.
 If used for a multistage project, the initial steps of the problem should be open-ended and engaging
to draw students into the problem.

Procedure
The problems can come from a variety of sources: newspapers, magazines, journals, books,
textbooks, and television/ movies. Some are in such form that they can be used with little editing; however,
others need to be rewritten to be of use. The following guidelines from The Power of Problem-Based
Learning (Duch et al, 2001) are written for creating PBL problems for a class centered around the method;
however, the general ideas can be applied in simpler uses of PBL:

 Choose a central idea, concept, or principle that is always taught in a given course, and then think
of a typical end-of-chapter problem, assignment, or homework that is usually assigned to students
to help them learn that concept. List the learning objectives that students should meet when they
work through the problem.
 Think of a real-world context for the concept under consideration. Develop a storytelling aspect to
an end-of-chapter problem, or research an actual case that can be adapted, adding some
motivation for students to solve the problem. More complex problems will challenge students to go
beyond simple plug-and-chug to solve it. Look at magazines, newspapers, and articles for ideas on
the story line. Some PBL practitioners talk to professionals in the field, searching for ideas of
realistic applications of the concept being taught.
 The problem needs to be introduced in stages so that students will be able to identify learning
issues that will lead them to research the targeted concepts. The following are some questions that
may help guide this process:
 What will the first page (or stage) look like? What open-ended questions can be
asked? What learning issues will be identified?
 How will the problem be structured?
 How long will the problem be? How many class periods will it take to complete?
 Will students be given information in subsequent pages (or stages) as they work
through the problem?
 What resources will the students need?
 What end product will the students produce at the completion of the problem?
 Write a teacher's guide detailing the instructional plans on using the problem in the course. If the
course is a medium- to large-size class, a combination of mini-lectures, whole-class discussions,
and small group work with regular reporting may be necessary. The teacher's guide can indicate
plans or options for cycling through the pages of the problem interspersing the various modes of
learning.
 The final step is to identify key resources for students. Students need to learn to identify and utilize
learning resources on their own, but it can be helpful if the instructor indicates a few good sources
to get them started. Many students will want to limit their research to the Internet, so it will be
important to guide them toward the library as well.

The method for distributing a PBL problem falls under three closely related teaching techniques: case
studies, role-plays, and simulations. Case studies are presented to students in written form. Role-plays
have students improvise scenes based on character descriptions given. Today, simulations often involve
computer-based programs. Regardless of which technique is used, the heart of the method remains the
same: the real-world problem.

DISCOVERY LEARNING
Discovery Learning was introduced by Jerome Bruner, and is a method of Inquiry-Based
Instruction. This popular theory encourages learners to build on past experiences and knowledge, use their
intuition, imagination and creativity, and search for new information to discover facts, correlations and new
truths. Learning does not equal absorbing what was said or read, but actively seeking for answers and
solutions.
The 5 Principles of Discovery Learning Model

The Discovery Learning Model integrates the following 5 principles:

 Principle 1: Problem Solving. Instructors should guide and motivate learners to seek for solutions by
combining existing and newly acquired information and simplifying knowledge. This way, learners are the
driving force behind learning, take an active role and establish broader applications for skills through
activities that encourage risks, problem-solving and probing.
 Principle 2: Learner Management. Instructors should allow participants to work either alone or with
others, and learn at their own pace. This flexibility makes learning the exact opposite of a static sequencing
of lessons and activities, relieves learners from unnecessary stress, and makes them feel they own
learning.
 Principle 3: Integrating and Connecting. Instructors should teach learners how to combine prior
knowledge with new, and encourage them to connect to the real world. Familiar scenarios become the
basis of new information, encouraging learners to extend what they know and invent something new.
 Principle 4: Information Analysis and Interpretation. Discovery learning is process-oriented and not
content-oriented, and is based on the assumption that learning is not a mere set of facts. Learners in fact
learn to analyze and interpret the acquired information, rather than memorize the correct answer.
 Principle 5: Failure and Feedback. Learning doesn’t only occur when we find the right answers. It also
occurs through failure. Discovery learning does not focus on finding the right end result, but the new things
we discover in the process. And it’s the instructor’s responsibility to provide feedback, since without it
learning is incomplete.

Q & A SESSION
Planning Questions
Effective questioning sessions in classroom require advance preparation. While some instructors
may be skilled in extemporaneous questioning, many find that such questions have phrasing problems, are
not organized in a logical sequence, or do not require students to use the desired thinking skills.
Levels and types of questions
Questioning should be used to achieve well-defined goals. An instructor should ask questions that
will require students to use the thinking skills that he or she is trying to develop. Bloom's Taxonomy is a
hierarchical system for ordering thinking skills from lower to higher, where each level requires a student's
mastery of the skills below it. It is not essential that an instructor be able to classify each question at a
specific level. The taxonomy is introduced as a tool which is helpful for defining the kinds of thinking skills
instructors expect from students and for helping to establish congruence between the instructor's goals and
the questions he or she asks.
People often refer to "lower-level" and "higher-level" questions or behaviors, rather than assigning a
specific level to those questions or behaviors. Lower-level questions are typically at the remember,
understand, and apply levels of the taxonomy and are most appropriate for:

 evaluating students' preparation and comprehension


 diagnosing students' strengths and weaknesses
 reviewing and/or summarizing content
Higher-level questions involve the ability to analyze, evaluate, or create, and are most appropriate for:

 encouraging students to think more deeply and critically


 problem solving
 encouraging discussions
 stimulating students to seek information on their own

Steps for Planning Question

a. Decide on your goal or purpose for asking questions. Your goal should help you determine what
levels of questions you will ask.
b. Select the content for questioning. Choose material which you consider important rather than
trivial. Students will study and learn based on the questions you ask. Do not mislead them by
emphasizing less important material.
c. Ask questions that require an extended response or at least a "content" answer. Avoid questions
that can be answered "yes" or "no" unless you are going to follow with more questions to explore
reasoning.
d. Until you are quite skilled at classroom questioning you should write your main questions in
advance. This is called "scripting." Arrange your list in some logical sequence (specific to general,
lower level to higher level, a sequence related to content). Should you think of additional or better
questions during the questioning process, you can be flexible and add those or substitute them for
some of your planned questions. However, having a prepared list of questions will help to assure
that you ask questions appropriate for your goals and representative of the important material.
e. Phrase your questions so that the task is clear to students. Questions such as "What about foreign
affairs?" do not often lead to productive answers and discussion. "What did we say about chemical
bonding?" is too general unless you are only seeking a review of any material the students
remember.
f. Your questions should not contain the answers. Avoid implied response questions when you are
genuinely seeking an answer from the class. A question such as "Don't we all agree that the author
of the article exaggerated the dangers of agent orange to strengthen his viewpoint?" will not
encourage student response.
g. When planning your questions, try to anticipate possible student responses. Anticipating student
responses should help in your planning by forcing you to consider whether the phrasing is
accurate, whether questions focus on the goal you have in mind, and whether you have enough
flexibility to allow students to express ideas in their own words. You might consider the following:

 What are some typical misconceptions that might lead students to incorrect answers?
 Am I asking an open or closed question?
 What type of response do I expect from students, a definition? Example? Solution?
 Will I accept the answer in the students' language or am I expecting the textbooks' words
or my own terms?
 What will my strategy be for handling incorrect answers?
 What will I do if students do not answer?

Strategies to use when students respond

 Reinforcement: The instructor should reinforce student responses and questions in a positive way in order
to encourage future participation. The instructor can reinforce by making positive statements and using
positive nonverbal communication. Proper nonverbal responses include smiling, nodding and maintaining
eye contact, while improper nonverbal responses included looking at notes while students speak, looking at
the board, or ruffling papers. The type of reinforcement will be determined by:
 The correctness of the answer. If a student gives an answer that is off-target or incorrect,
the instructor may want to briefly acknowledge the response, then think of ways to help
the student provide a correct answer. The instructor could use strategies such as probing,
paraphrasing, or asking the question in a different way.
 The number of times a student has responded. Instructors may want to provide a student
who has never responded in class with more reinforcement than someone who responds
often.

Be sure to vary reinforcement techniques between various verbal statements and nonverbal
reactions. Try not to overuse reinforcement in the classroom by overly praising every student comment.
Students begin to question the sincerity of reinforcement if every response is reinforced equally or in the
same way.

 Probing: The initial response of students may be superficial. The instructor needs to use a questioning
strategy called probing to make students explore initial comments. Probes are useful in getting students
more involved in critical analysis of their own and other students' ideas. Probes can be used to:
 Analyze a student's statement, make a student aware of underlying assumptions, or justify
or evaluate a statement. Teacher: What are some ways we might solve the energy
crisis? Student: I would like to see a greater movement to peak-load pricing by utility
companies. Teacher: What assumptions are you making about consumer behavior when
you suggest that solution?
 Help students deduce relationships. Instructors may ask students to judge the implications
of their statements or to compare and contrast concepts. Teacher: What are some
advantages and disadvantages of having grades given in courses? Student 1: Grades
can be a motivator for people to learn. Student 2: Too much pressure on grades causes
some students to stop learning, freeze, go blank. Teacher: If both of those statements are
true, what generalizations can you make about the relationship between motivation and
learning?
 Have students clarify or elaborate on their comments by asking for more
information. Teacher: Could you please develop your ideas further? Can you provide an
example of that concept? Student: It was obvious that the crew had gone
insane. Teacher: What is the legal definition of insane? Student: It was a violation of due
process. Teacher: Can you explain why?
 Adjust/Refocus: When a student provides a response that appears out of context, the teacher can refocus
to encourage the student to tie her response to the content being discussed. This technique is also used to
shift attention to a new topic. Teacher: What does it mean to devalue the dollar? Student: Um—I'm not
really sure, but doesn't it mean that, um, a dollar doesn't go as far as it used to? Does that mean it's
devalued? Teacher: Well, let's talk a little bit about another concept, and that is inflation. How does
inflation affect your dollar?

Strategies for responding to student questions


There are many ways in which an instructor can respond to questions from students. However, all
strategies begin with this important step: Listen to the student's question. After you are certain that you
understand the question, be sure that other students have heard and understood the question. Then
proceed with one of the following strategies:
 Answer the question yourself. This strategy is best when you have little time remaining in class.
The disadvantage of this approach is that you do not encourage student-to-student interaction or
independent learning.
 Redirect the question to the class. This strategy helps to encourage student-to-student interaction
and to lessen reliance on the instructor for all information.
 Attempt to help the student answer his own question. This may require prompting through
reminders of pertinent previously learned information. Or this strategy may require you to ask the
student a lower-level question or a related question to begin his thought process. The advantage of
this strategy, as in redirecting, is that the student may learn the process of searching for answers to
his own questions rather than relying on the teacher. The risk is that the process can be
embarrassing or so threatening that the student will be too intimidated to ask questions in the
future. Obviously some human compassion is called for when using this strategy.
 Ask the student to stop after class to discuss the question. This strategy is most appropriate when
a student raises complicated, tangential questions or when a student is obviously the only one who
does not understand a point and a simple answer does not clarify it for the student. Even in these
situations there are risks in using this strategy. Students may be intimidated from raising questions
in class. The instructor may think that only the questioning student does not understand when
actually a number of students are having the same problem.
 Refer the student to a resource where she can find the answer.
 Defer the question until a more appropriate time if the question is not connected to the material
you're covering. Be sure to note the question and the student, and to return to the question at a
more appropriate time.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media promotes self-directed learning, which prepares students to search for answers and
make decisions independently. When reinforced in a classroom setting, these social media skills can be
guided and refined to produce better learning outcomes and critical awareness. Social media also allows
students more freedom to connect and collaborate beyond the physical classroom, which means students
anywhere can start to experience the globally connected world long before they enter the workforce.
Types of Social Medial Tools
Teachers may use any of the following social media platforms as learning tools:

• Blogs with comment functionality to share and discuss information;


• Twitter and course hashtags to encourage open forum and debate;
• Skype to engage more deeply with the material and each other;
• Pinterest for sharing clever ideas, inspiration, and valuable resources amongst students:
• Google Docs, Wikis and other collaborative document tools to store and refine data;
• Project Management Apps to foster and streamline collaboration;
• LinkedIn and other social networks to build connection;
• YouTube to create both course and student presentations.

GAMES OR GAMIFICATION

Game-based learning uses games, whether virtual or physical, and game-like


simulations/role playing to create learning experiences that can engage students and effectively
teach classroom content. Game-based learning can take multiple forms depending on the needs of
the classroom. These may include such formats as:

 board games

 card games

 word games

 video games

 simulations

 role-playing games

 puzzles

Diana Oblinger (2006) also breaks down video games further into adventure games, puzzle
games, role-playing games, strategy games, sports games, and first-person shooter games. There
are also numerous ways to classify board or card games into further meaningful subdivisions. Board
games can be race games, conquest games, turn-based strategy, abstract strategy, and many
others. Card games include matching games, trick-taking games, and so on. This list is by no means
exhaustive, as different types of games are invented all the time. Some games, such as the card
game Fluxx, even play with the conventions of games themselves; in these games the rules and
goals of play change with nearly every player turn.

Why use games?

Games can be used to 1) reinforce concepts learned in class, 2) to create greater


engagement with course material, and 3) to provide multiple methods of approaching course
material. James Paul Gee has long been the standard bearer for identifying the usefulness of games
for producing effective learning experiences. He has identified numerous principles of video games
that make them ideal for education. Some of these include (Gee, 2005):

 interaction—video games require a player to take part in order to play the game, unlike many
learning experiences which allow the learner to take an inactive role

 risk taking—video games provide a low risk environment in which to try different approaches
to problem solving; if one approach does not work the player can simply try another

 agency—players have an ownership in the outcomes and course of the game

 well-ordered problems—video games present problems in a way such that the difficulty level of
what the player must solve starts at an easy level and becomes progressively more
challenging

 situated meanings—all knowledge and experience in a video game is connected to the


context in which the player finds him or herself
 systems thinking—players of a video game receive information and undergo challenges that
are always mindful of the context of the whole game; all the learning is connected to the
entirety of the system; there are no parts that exist in isolation

 performance before competence—players of a video game are taught skills that they use at
a low level and practice over and over again until they achieve mastery at these skills

DEBATE
Debates can be an effective and engaging way for students to analyze different concepts and to
develop critical thinking and public speaking skills. They are also a useful technique for achieving greater
participation in class and for discussing controversial issues in a structured environment. The Kaneb Center
recently hosted a workshop on using debates in the classroom; below are some of the highlights from the
workshop:
Choosing a Debate Question
To have a fruitful debate, choose an open question with two (or more) sides that can be reasonably
supported with academic evidence. A great place to start is with major debates and schools of thought in
your discipline or a moral or ethical question involving the subject matter you are teaching. The question
should be simple enough for a non-expert to debate, yet complex enough that students will be able to
develop multiple arguments to support their side of the issue. Another helpful way to choose a topic is the
fact-value-policy framework. Here are some examples:
 Fact: “Genetically modified foods are safe to eat.” This is a disputed statement that allows
students to debate the definition of “safe to eat” and the science behind whether the foods are
harmful to humans or not.
 Value: “Preemptive war can be morally justified.” In this statement, students could draw on
different societal values and principles to discuss the morality of war.
 Policy: “Public universities should allow funding for student groups that promote a specific
religion.” Policy debates include questions about whether the policy in question is desirable or
effective and whether the policy-enacting agency should be the one to make the policy.
Of course, these three types of debate questions often overlap. Use this flexibility to choose a question
that is most relevant to your particular course and to your students.
Setting up the Debate
It is important to keep your learning goals in mind as you decide what type of debate to conduct,
what question(s) you will use, what roles the students will have, how they will be assigned to teams, and
how the debate will be graded. Once you have everything planned, be sure to clearly communicate the
information to the students to allow them to fully prepare for the debate. You may also want to provide your
students with assigned reading, directions for researching the topic on their own, and the debate rules and
etiquette guidelines.
Debate Formats
Classroom debating is an extremely flexible teaching method, so there are many different formats
you can follow, depending on your own learning goals and objectives for the class. We’ve outlined several
(for individual students, small groups, the full class, or online) in our workshop handout, and many more
format suggestions are available online.
Most debates begin with a short period of individual or group preparation, which is a great time for
the teacher to listen in on the preparations the group is making and offer suggestions or answer questions
before the debate starts. It is also helpful to end the debate with a debriefing stage when the arguments
made by both teams can be assessed and students can discuss their ideas independent of the side they
were assigned to or chose to argue.
The debate also often includes a time for teams to make opening and closing statements, where
they have uninterrupted time to develop their arguments. Other potential debate components include a
rebuttal, where Team B can respond to the arguments made by Team A, or a cross-examination, when
teams can question each other in a more free-flowing style. In debate styles with smaller teams, this could
also be a time for students in the audience to question their peers on the evidence they have used to
support their arguments.

APPLICATION

Annotated E-Portfolio

After reading abstraction, you are tasked to compile an annotated e-portfolio that showcases a
range of different learner-centered teaching methods and strategies that are responsive to learners’ needs
and diversity. Each strategy will be annotated. The annotations will include a short description, procedure
(how to implement the strategy) and an explanation of how the strategy illustrates responsiveness to a
particular contextual background. Each strategy should also be accompanied by an excerpt from a lesson
plan that illustrates how the strategy can be incorporated in a lesson. (Minimum of 5 teaching strategies)

Eduvlog

You'll be assigned to a teaching method or strategy to create a 3-minute short video


presentation about the topic. To step it up I want you to start your own educational video channel on youtube, as
a first entry, you are going to upload your very first (if not) eduvlog. Therefore, the video must be a vlog style
video. Therefore, you are only directed to send a link to the video for your submission. The file provided is the
list of names with your assigned teaching method or strategy. Some of you might have the same topic but you
need to work separately. Happy vlogging!
REFLECTION

In 100-150 words, write your reflection about the topic in your journal notebook.

----------------------------------------------------------
GROUP 9 ( combined topic)
Module 3 Lesson 1
Module 4 Lesson 1
LESSON I
LEARNING DELIVERY MODALITIES

UNIT LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the unit, students are expected to perform the following:
 Discuss the different Delivery Modalities and Structures of Facilitating Learner-centered Teaching
 Reflect on the best practices of the different Delivering Modalities and Structures of Facilitating
Learner-centered Teaching

ACTIVITY

In this activity, you will have a non-stop writing for 5 minutes. Jot down words or statements that comes to
your mind when you hear the word learning delivery modalities. Time starts now!

ANALYSIS

After performing the activity, let’s process your answers.


1. Have you encountered the statement “learning delivery modalities? If yes, from whom?
2. Ask some of your classmate’s answer, what are the words or statement you are in common?
3. What makes your common answer connected with learning delivery modalities?
4. Based on your answers in the activity, create your own definition of learning delivery modalities.
ABSTRACTION

Learning Delivery Modality comprises means and resources used to structure the learning
experience.
Types of Learning Delivery Modalities
Face-to-Face
Face-to-face learning is an instructional method where course content and learning material are
taught in person to a group of students. This allows for a live interaction between a learner and a teacher. It
is the most traditional type of learning instruction. Learners benefit from a greater level of interaction with
their fellow students as well. In face-to-face learning, students are held accountable for their progress at the
class’s specific meeting date and time. Face-to-face learning ensures a better understanding and
recollection of lesson content and gives class members a chance to bond with one another.
Blended Learning
Blended learning is the use of traditional classroom teaching methods together with the use of
online learning for the same students studying the same content in the same course. It is a “thoughtful
fusion of face-to-face and online learning experiences” (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008). In other words,
blended learning is a term applied to the practice of providing instruction and learning experiences through
some combination of both face-to-face and technology-mediated learning. During the technology-mediated
components of these learning experiences, students are not required to be physically together in one place
but may be connected digitally through online communities. For example, one blended learning course
could involve students attending a class taught by a teacher in a traditional classroom setting while also
completing online components of the course independently, outside of the classroom, on an online learning
platform.
Models of Blended Learning
The first model, blended presentation and interaction, has classroom engagement as its primary
component, with support from out-of-class, online exercises. The flipped classroom or flipped curriculum
approach is a common example of this model, with students viewing podcasts or other online resources
independently, followed by classroom-based tutorials or seminars for group learning based upon these
resources.
The second is the blended block model (sometimes called a programme flow model), in which a
sequence of activities, or “blocks,” is structured to incorporate both face-to-face learning and online study,
usually with consideration for both pedagogical goals and practical constraints. For example, a course for
geographically distributed learners or working professionals may have limited opportunities for classroom-
based learning and therefore begin with a block of intensive face-to-face sessions, followed by blocks of
online study and collaboration through online tutorials, possibly followed by a further block of face-to-face
learning or group presentations.
The third model is fully online but may still be considered blended if it incorporates both synchronous
learning (for example, online tutorials) and asynchronous activities (for example, discussion forums). Thus,
blended learning covers one or more of the following three situations:
 Combining instructional modalities (or delivery media).
 Combining instructional methods.
 Combining online and face-to-face instruction.
MODEL 1 MODEL 2 MODEL3
Blended presentation and Blended block Fully online
Interaction
Activity-focused face-to-face Combination of: Combination of:
sessions blended with online  Intensive face-to-face  Short lecture podcasts
resources. sessions as one day or with online resources
half days and learning activities
For example, the flipped  Weekly online  Online tutorials
curriculum model combines: tutorial/seminars for (synchronous)
 Short lecture podcast, activities and  Interaction via online
online resources with interaction collaboration,
 Face-to-face  Online content and discussion forums
tutorial/seminars for resources and/or group work
interaction and
presentation of group
work.
Source: Commonwealth of Learning 2018

E-Learning
Intentional use of electronic media and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in
teaching and learning process (Naidu 2006) is referred to as e-learning, where “e” denotes “electronic”. It
can also be described by many other terms including online learning, virtual learning, distributed learning,
network and web based learning. e-learning includes all educational activities carried out by
individuals/groups working online/offline and synchronously/asynchronously through network/standalone
computers and electronic devices. In essence, e-learning is a computer based educational tool or system
that enables you to learn anywhere and at any time. Today e-learning is mostly delivered though the
internet, although in the past it was delivered using a blend of computer-based methods like CD-ROM

Distance Learning
According to National Reporting System (NRS) Implementation Guidelines, “Distance education is
formal learning activity where students and instructors are separated by geography, time or both for the
majority of the instructional period. Distance learning materials are delivered through a variety of media
including, but not limited to, print, audio recording, videotape, broadcasts, computer software, web-based
programs and other online technology. Teachers support distance learners through communication via
mail, telephone, email, or online technologies and software.”
Elements of Distance Education/Learning
One of the leading authorities in distance education is Desmond Keegan and his description of
distance education which lists its defining elements is one of the most cited definitions in the literature. His
book, The Foundations of Distance Education, first published in 1986 and translated to Italian and Chinese
is widely regarded as a basic reference. The defining criteria which he proposed in 1986, a revision of one
he made in 1980, are:
1. The quasi-permanent separation of teacher and learner throughout the length of the learning
process: This distinguishes it from conventional face-to face-instruction
2. The influence of an educational organization both in planning and preparation of learning
materials and in the provision of student support services. This distinguishes it from private study and
teach-yourself programs.
3. The use of technical media, print, audio, video, or computer, to unite teacher and learner and
carry the content of the course.
4. The provision of two-way communication so that many benefit from or even initiate dialogue.
This distinguishes it from other uses of technology in education.
5. The quasi-permanent separation of the learning group so that people are usually taught as
individuals and not in groups, with the possibility of occasional meetings for both didactic and socialization
purposes.
Verduin and Clark revised the first criterion listed by Keegan into the “separation of teacher and
learner during at least a majority of the instructional process.” The amount of time that teacher and learner
are physically present in a specific place varies in different practices of distance education. Advances in
technology have vastly improved communication between two physically distant individuals so that the
physical presence in the same place of teacher and learner is becoming de-emphasized in new distance
education programs.
The second criterion about the presence of an organization responsible for planning, organizing,
supporting and carrying out the program of instruction and the evaluation of students is considered as an
indispensable part of distance education. The learning and teaching activities in distance education are
purposeful, planned and deliberate. The educational organization finds and organizes resources and
determines strategies to enable students to achieve learning goals. It also organizes the process of
assessing and reporting the extent to which students achieve these goals.
As in any educational process, the learner and the teacher must be brought together, as does the
learning programs and the teaching programs. In distance education, various media may be employed
depending on what is appropriate and/or what may be available or accessible. Developments in information
and communication technology have broadened the choice of means by which the interaction between
learning and teaching is carried out. It is possible to bring together several groups of learners located in
different places, both synchronously so that they see and hear each other in real time, or asynchronously
where the interaction or communication between teacher and learners or among learners are done at their
choice of time. In some cases, however, the choice of technology is limited by the cost of using the more
modern means of communication and information exchange.
Verduin and Clark omitted the fifth criterion in Keegan’s 1986 list in their own version thinking that
there should not be any restriction for group study in distance education programs. With modern means of
communication, there are, in fact, many ways that learners can form learning groups, carry out group
activities and even accomplish group tasks.
Structures of Facilitating Learner-centered Teaching
Formal Education
This refers to the education which normally takes place within the four walls of the classroom with
the presence of teachers, guided by a set of organized activities that are intended to transmit skills,
knowledge, and values as well as to develop mental abilities. This is otherwise known as schooling as this
type is associated with schools. This kind of education is controlled since the time (length of education) and
place of teaching are fixed, and students have to arrive at a specific time to receive education under a
predetermined curriculum and syllabus. At each level, the student needs a certification in order to enter or
advance to the next grade or year level.
Alternative Learning System
This refers to a learning system, which can be a practical option for those who do not want to be
trained under the formal schooling, due to various impeding circumstances in life. This type of education
can cover both non-formal and informal sources to obtain knowledge and skills based on one’s needs and
conditions in life.
a. Nonformal Education
This refers to organized instruction that takes place outside school settings (e.g. girl
scouts, music lesson, sports), such as workplace, factories, shops, and similar venues meant to
upgrade skills of workers or provide new skills to Out-Of-School Youths (OSYs) and adult
illiterates. In other words, it is any planned, well-ordered learning activity, or educational procedure
conducted outside the structure of the school system in which specific types of practical knowledge
and skills are taught to a particular group of population like the OSYs.
b. Informal Education
This refers to incidental learning derived from home, church, mass media, peers, Internet,
and other educative agencies, and social institutions which are not organized, specified,
anticipated, or predicted. It is an endless acquisition of knowledge, skills and values derived from
daily life activities at home, church, market, mall, workplace, or insights obtained from life itself.
c. The Mobile Teacher
Mobile Teachers are “specialized” teachers who live among the people in
remote barangays of the country to conduct the BLP for illiterate out-of-school children, youth
and adults who are willing to learn basic literacy skills and proceed to Continuing Education
program: Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) for those who left formal school system or have
no access to schools.
Alternative Delivery Modes
a. Home Schooling
Home schooling provides learners with access to formal education while staying in an
out-of-school environment. Authorized parents, guardians, or tutors take the place of the
teachers as learning facilitators. While learners are expected to meet the learning standards of
the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum, the learning facilitators are given flexibility in learning
delivery, scheduling, assessment, and curation of learning resources. The program aims to
cater to learners who may require home schooling because of their unique circumstances,
such as illness, frequent travelling, special education needs, and other similar contexts.
Moreover, the program allows parents and guardians to maximize their involvement in their
children’s education as a matter of parenting philosophy..

b. Modified In-School Off-School Approach (MISOSA)

In order to address limitations in classrooms, teachers, and learning materials, DepEd


schools may offer the Modified In-School Off-School Approach (MISOSA). This delivery mode
specifically caters to Grades 4,5, and 6 classes with at least 50 learners. Learners are divided
into two groups. During class hours, except on designated days for assessment, only one of
the groups will be in school, while the other will be at another location near the school or will
meet online through a platform prepared by the school, depending on the agreement set by the
class. The in-school group will proceed with formal instruction facilitated by their regular school
teachers, while the out-school group will have independent learning using the materials
provided by the school, with the assistance of a para-teacher or learning facilitator. The groups
will switch arrangements periodically (e.g. a week, or a month), depending on the agreed time
between the learners and the teacher. The two groups shall meet together for assessment
and for enrichment.

c. Enhanced Instructional Management by Parents, Community, and Teachers (e-


IMPACT)
In order to address these problems in education in the public school system, the
Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Innotech designed the
Enhanced Instructional Management for Parents, Community and Teachers (e-IMPACT), a
technology-enhanced alternative delivery mode of learning wherein a peer-led approach is the
main process that allows pupils to learn, interact with each other and develop to their fullest
potential.

In the e-IMPACT system, every single pupil has access to modules and Instructional Materials
to guide them in their education. More than being trained on how to become facilitators of the
learning process, the school faculty learns new perspectives about children and child
education. Parents and members of the community become actively engaged in sustaining the
system and making it work. Their support is crucial in ensuring that the learning process
continues in their homes. Thus, in the process of learning with the child, a whole community is
transformed.

e-IMPACT is a technology based alternative method of learning that is fueled by student


interactions. Every student is given access to online modules and online guides to learning
materials. The modules will open a window into how children are able to learn and communicate
with each other and will allow parents and school faculty to become increasingly involved in
ensuring that the e-IMPACT positively transforms the community. Everyone in the community will
be engaged and learning with the students.

d. Open High School Program (OHSP)


The Open High School Program (OHSP) is an alternative mode of delivering secondary education
that puts a premium on independent, self-paced and flexible study to reach learners who are
unable to start or complete secondary education due to limited time, geographical inaccessibility of
schools, physical impairment, financial difficulties, and/or social or family problems.

APPLICATION

Reflective Research Essay


Search for a research article (each one for learning delivery modalities and structures of facilitating
learner-centered teaching) in e-journals for education. Reflect on its best practices, advantages and
disadvantages, relevance, and significance in this contemporary education milieu. Write your reflective
research essay in 100-150 words for each research article.

REFLECTION

In 100-150 words, write your reflection about the topic in your journal notebook.

LESSON I
THE LEARNER-CENTERED LESSON PLAN

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the unit, students are expected to perform the following:
 Discuss the different types of learner-centered lesson plan.
 Synthesize the instructional learning processes.

ACTIVIY

Take a look into the word wall. Select at least three (3) words (adjectives) that you think related to
lesson planning. Take time to think about it.
ANALYSIS

After performing the activity. Answer the following questions:


1. Have you encountered the word lesson plan? If yes, from who?
2. What are the words that you had selected?
3. Why did you choose those words? Explain briefly.
4. Given those characteristics that you had selected, what makes a lesson plan important?

ABSTRACTION
The format of learning plan (commonly called a lesson plan) had been evolving to be at pace with
the influx of the demands of the society, diverse learners, and classroom set up. Time to time, DepEd had
framed lesson plan's that would ensure the success of the teaching-learning process. A lesson plan is the
instructor’s road map of what students need to learn and how it will be done effectively during the class
time. Then, you can design appropriate learning activities and develop strategies to obtain feedback on
student learning. Having a carefully constructed lesson plan for each 3-hour lesson allows you to enter the
classroom with more confidence and maximizes your chance of having a meaningful learning experience
with your students.

A successful lesson plan addresses and integrates three key components:

 Learning Objectives
 Learning activities
 Assessment to check for student understanding

A lesson plan provides you with a general outline of your teaching goals, learning objectives, and
means to accomplish them, and is by no means exhaustive. A productive lesson is not one in which
everything goes exactly as planned, but one in which both students and instructors learn from each other.

Every teacher is required to prepare a lesson plan because this is considered as guide for the
day’s lessons. Lesson planning is important because it gives the teacher a concrete direction of what the
teacher wants to take up for the day. Research has shown that student learning is correlated to teacher
planning. One major explanation is that when plan is ready, teachers can focus on its implementation.
When teachers do not have to think so much about what they need to do next they are able to focus on
other parts of the lesson.
Before you start writing your lesson plan, I want you to read DepEd Order No. 42., series of 2016 for the
new policy and guidelines of lesson plans for K to 12 to have an overview of a lesson plan being used in
the field. Also, I have provided you some sample of lesson plans (English and Filipino) for your guidance.
Types of Lesson Plan
Detailed Lesson Plan
Detailed Lesson Plan (DLP) is a teacher’s “roadmap” for a lesson. It contains a detailed description
of the steps a teacher will take to teach a particular topic. A typical DLP contains the following parts:
Objectives, Content, Learning Resources, Procedures, Remarks and Reflection. It provides mastery of
what to teach, and gives the teacher the confidence when teaching. In this plan, both teacher’s and
students’ activities are presented.
Semi-detailed Lesson Plan
A semi-detailed lesson plan is less intricate than the detailed lesson plan. It is having a general game plan
of what you wanted to cover for that subject on that particular day.
Understanding by Design
Understanding by Design (UbD) is a framework for improving student achievement. Emphasizing the
teacher's critical role as a designer of student learning, UbD works within the standards-driven curriculum to
help teachers clarify learning goals, devise revealing assessments of student understanding, and craft
effective and engaging learning activities.
Specific Parts of a Lesson Plan
(DepEd Order No. 42. S. 2016)
I. Objectives
This part of the lesson plan includes objectives related to content knowledge and competencies. According
to Airasian (1994), lesson objectives or instructional objectives describe the behavior or performance
teachers want learners to exhibit in order to consider them competent. The objectives state what the
teacher intends to teach and serve as a guide for instruction and assessment.

II. Content
This is the topic or subject matter pertains to the particular content that the lesson focuses on. In a
Curriculum Guide, a particular topic can be tackled in a week or two.

III. Learning Resources


This part of the lesson plan asks the teacher to log the references and other learning resources that the
teacher will use for the lesson. The references include the particular pages of the Teachers Guide(TG),
Learners Module (LM), textbooks and the additional materials from the Learning Resource Portal. The
other learning resources refer to materials such as those that are teacher-made, authentic, and others not
included in the references. This can also include the supplies, equipment, tools and other non-print
materials needed for the activities before, during and after the lesson.

IV. Procedures
The procedure details the steps and activities the teacher and learners will do during the lesson towards
the achievement of the lesson’s objectives. The procedure describes the learning experiences that learners
will go through in understanding and mastering the lesson’s content. Teachers may utilize procedures that
are generally recognized and accepted in the field of specialization. The procedure will also depend on the
above mentioned instructional strategies and methods that a teacher will use to teach the lesson. Flexibility
is encouraged in the implementation of this procedure. Changes in the procedure are allowed on time
constraints or when adjustments in teaching are needed to ensure learner’s understanding.
This part of the lesson plan contains ten steps:
1. Reviewing Previous Lesson/s or Presenting the New Lesson
This part connects the lesson with learners’ prior knowledge. It explicitly teaches the learners how the new
lesson connects to previous lessons. It also reviews and presents new lessons in a systematic manner.
2. Establishing a Purpose for the Lesson or Motivation
It motivates the learners to learn the new lesson. It encourages them to ask questions about the new topic
and helps establish a reason for learning a new lesson.
3. Presenting Examples/ Instances of the New Lesson or Presentation of the Lesson
It shows instances of the content and competencies. This is also where the concept is clarified.
4. Discussing New Concepts and Practicing New Skills # 1 or Discussion
Discussing new concepts leads to the first formative assessment. Teacher shall prepare good questions for
this part. The teacher will listen to the answers of learners to gauge if they understood the lesson. If not,
then they reteach. If the learners have understood the lesson, the teacher shall proceed to deepening the
lesson.
5. Discussing New Concepts and Practicing New Skills #2 or Discussion
This is the continuation of the discussion of new concepts leading to the second formative assessment that
deepens the lesson and shows learners new ways of applying learning. The teacher can use pair group,
and teamwork to help learners discuss the lesson among themselves. The learners can present their work
to the class and this serves as the teacher’s way of assessing if the concepts are solidifying and if their
skills are developing.
6. Developing Mastery (Leads to Formative Assessment 3) with Guided and Independent Practice
Developing mastery which leads to the third formative assessment, can be done through more individual
work activities such as writing creative ways of representing learning, dramatizing, etc. The teacher shall
ask learners to demonstrate their learning through assessable activities such as quizzes, worksheets, seat
works, and games. When the students demonstrate learning, then proceed to the next step. The teacher
can add activities as needed until formative assessment shows that the learners are confident in their
knowledge and competencies.
7. Finding Practical Applications of Concepts and Skills in Daily Living or Application
It develops appreciation and valuing for students’ learning by bridging the lesson to daily living. This will
also establish relevance to the lesson.
8. Making Generalizations and Abstractions About the Lesson or Generalization
This concludes the lesson by asking learners good questions that will help them crystalize their learning so
they can declare knowledge and demonstrate their skills.
9. Evaluating Learning
Evaluation is a way of assessing the learners and whether the learning objectives have been met.
Evaluation should tap into three types of objectives.
10. Additional Activities for Application or Remediation
This will based on the formative assessments and will provide children with enrichment or remedial
activities. The teacher should provide extra time for additional teaching activities to those learners
demonstrating that they have difficulties with the lesson.
Flexibility is allowed in the delivery of these procedures. Teachers do not need to go through all ten parts
in every lesson. Teachers need to ensure that the procedures of the lesson lead to the achievement of the
stated objectives. The formative assessment methods to be used by the teacher should determine if the
objectives of the lesson are being met. These ten parts should be done across the week.

V. Remarks
This is the part by which the teachers shall indicate special cases including but not limited to continuation of
lesson plan to the following day in case of re-teaching or lack of time, transfer of lesson to the following day
in cases of class suspension, etc.

VI. Reflection
This part of the lesson plan requires teachers to reflect on and assess their effectiveness. In this part, the
teacher should make notes of the number of learners who earned 80% in the evaluation, the number of
learners who require additional activities for remediation and those who continue to require remediation, the
effectiveness of the remedial lesson, the teaching strategies or methods that worked well and why, the
difficulties encountered that the principal or supervisor can help solve, and the innovation or localized
materials that the teachers which to share with other teachers.

APPLICATION

Activity 1. Gallery Walk


There will be a set of sample lesson plans to be presented. Based on what you have learned in this
module, evaluate the components of the lesson plans vis-à-vis principles and characteristics of learner-
centeredness, noting similarities and differences. Write your insights based on the link provided.
https://www.hws.edu/academics/ctl/pdf/critique.pdf

Activity 2. GRASP Activity


The Department of Education Regional Office announced its annual Lesson Planning Competition among
all teachers. As a beginning teacher, you were given an invitation to participate in the said event. The
mechanics state that you are going to design a lesson plan format that will be appropriate for a Grade 9
class. You were given the option to choose what subject, quarter, and topic you are going to make as long
as the major parts of the Lesson Plan are present. All entries will be showcased during the awarding
ceremony. The criteria of the Lesson Plan include (a) curriculum appropriateness, (b) learner-
centeredness, and (c)presentation of work.

REFLECTION

In 100-150 words, write your reflection about the topic in your journal notebook.

Group 10 ( 2 topics )

LESSON III
SELECTING LEARNER-CENTERED INSTRUCTIONAL
MEDIA AND LEARNING RESOURCES

UNIT LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the unit, students are expected to perform the following:
 Apply the principles of selecting learner-centered learning resources and instructional media.

ACTIVITY

Read the comic strip below. Take time to reflect and answer the questions in the analysis.

Source: https://languagelearningactivities.wordpress.com/reading-activities/

ANALYSIS

Read and answer the following questions. Write your answer in your activity notebook.
1. What does the comic strip portray?
2. What is the main issue in the comic strip?
3. Is technology a boon or bane? Why or why not?
4. Do you think it is still practical to teach the learners the conventional materials? Why or why not?
5. How does technology transform our teaching-learning experience?

ABSTRACTION

Principles in Selecting Instructional Media


1. Principle of Appropriateness
It must be either basic or supplementary to the curriculum.
2. Principle of Authenticity
It must present accurate, up-to-date and dependable information.
3. Principle of Cost
It must be economic and cost-efficient.
4. Principle of Interest
It must stimulate curiosity or satisfy the learner’s need to know.
It must have the power to motivate, encourage creativity, and imaginative response among
users.
5. Principle of Organization and Balance
It must be well organized and well balanced in content.
The purpose of the material must be clearly stated or perceived.
There should be logical organization, clarity and accordance with the principles of learning
such as reinforcement, transfer and application in the materials.
Guidelines for Choosing Learning Resources
In selecting learning resources for student use, teachers should keep in mind the following guidelines
provided by Herrington et al. (2001):
 Accessibility – resources are organized in ways that make them easy to access and locate
 Currency – resources are up-to-date
 Richness – resources reflect a variety of perspectives
 Purposeful use of media – appropriate media is used; the usability of the resource is enhanced by the
media used
 Inclusivity – the resources demonstrate social, cultural, and gender inclusivity
Types of Instructional Media
(Click on the link below or see appendices)
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/aaa7/d24cf38f6bbf2b725d5e7138d54059fcdf9c.pdf
https://www.slideshare.net/quengsantos/types-of-instructional-materials-61943972

Types of Learning Resources


Laurillard (2002) provides a classification of learning resources based on the type of media, with
each media type supporting or enabling different degrees of learner activity and engagement.
Media type
Narrative. Tasks where learners are expected to apprehend and/ or assimilate information presented; the
narrative medium is used to present the subject matter.
Examples of Web tools and resources: Web pages and websites eBooks (e.g. Project Gutenberg,
Goodreads) Images (e.g. Flickr) Video files (e.g. National Geographic, TED Talks) PowerPoint slides (e.g.
SlideShare) Animations (e.g. DNA Learning Center)
Interactive. Exploratory or investigative learning tasks; the interactive medium returns information based
on user input.
Examples of Web tools and resources: Hypermedia Search engines (e.g. Google Scholar) Gateways and
portals.
Adaptive. Tasks involving experimentation and practice; the medium continuously adapts to user input.
Examples of Web tools and resources: Virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life) Simulations (e.g. Nobelprize.org
educational games) Models Interactive tutorials.
Communicative. Tasks involving communication between individuals and groups (e.g., discussion,
debate).
Examples of Web tools and resources: Synchronous: Chat (e.g. Google chat) Video conferencing (e.g.
using Skype) Instant messaging (e.g. Chikka.com) Asynchronous: Email Discussion boards.
Productive. Tasks where students articulate or express their understanding of the subject by generating or
constructing their own representations or ‘knowledge products’).
Examples of Web tools and resources: Web and multimedia authoring tools (e.g. Flash) Word processing
tools (e.g. MS Word, iPages, OpenOffice Writer) Image processing tools (e.g. Photoshop) Audio and video
capture and editing tools (e.g. Audacity) Blogs (e.g. Blogger, WordPress) Wikis (e.g. Wikispaces,
WikiEducator) Shared write/draw systems (e.g. google docs)
Existing and Emerging Technology in Teaching and Learning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxYWXCb7RSk
Digital Learning Resources and Open Education Resources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97cCZdmimvQ

APPLICATION

Identify the instructional media and learning resources which you are going to use in your lesson.
Fill in the information being asked in the matrix.
Note: Align your instructional media and learning resources based on your topic that you will demonstrate.
Name:_______________________________________________________________________
Program/ Year Level/ Section: ____________________________________________________

Subject: _____________________________________________________________________
Topic: ______________________________________________________________________
Grade Level:_________________________________________________________________
Learning Objectives: ___________________________________________________________

Stage Part of the Topic Instructional Media/Learning Resources


Before the Lesson 

During the Lesson 

After the Lesson 

REFLECTION

In 100-150 words, write your reflection about the topic in your journal notebook.

LESSON IV
DESIGNING LEARNER-CENTERED LEARNING
ACTIVITIES

UNIT LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the unit, students are expected to perform the following:
 Apply the different concepts of designing learner-centered learning activities.
 Design learner-centered learning activities.

ACTIVITY
In a bullet form, write in the K column the things that you know about designing learner-centered
learning activities. Next, fill in the W column for what are things you want to learn about designing learner-
centered learning activities. Do not answer the L column yet.
Know What Learned
(K) (W) (L)

ANALYSIS

Analyze and answer the following questions below: Write your answers in your activity notebook
1. What comes in your mind when you hear the word “learning activities”?
2. How does it feel when you perform a learning activity?
3. Have you tried facilitating an activity? How about a learning activity in school?
4. Have you tried designing one?

ABSTRACTION
5. What do you think its impact in the teaching-learning process if the teacher doesn’t know how to
design one?

Designing Learning Activities


When planning learning activities you should consider the types of activities students will need to
engage in, in order to develop the skills and knowledge required to demonstrate effective learning in the
course. Learning activities should be directly related to the learning objectives of the course, and provide
experiences that will enable students to engage in, practice, and gain feedback on specific progress
towards those objectives.
As you plan your learning activities, estimate how much time you will spend on each. Build in time for
extended explanation or discussion, but also be prepared to move on quickly to different applications or
problems, and to identify strategies that check for understanding. Some questions to think about as you
design the learning activities you will use are:

 What will I do to explain the topic?


 What will I do to illustrate the topic in a different way?
 How can I engage students in the topic?
 What are some relevant real-life examples, analogies, or situations that can help students
understand the topic?
 What will students need to do to help them understand the topic better?
Many activities can be used to engage learners. The activity types (i.e. what the student is doing) and their
examples provided below are by no means an exhaustive list, but will help you in thinking through how best
to design and deliver high impact learning experiences for your students in a typical lesson.

Activity Type Learning Description


Activity

Interaction with content Drill and Problem/task is presented to


practice students where they are asked
to provide the answer; may be
Students are more likely to retain information presented timed or untimed
in these ways if they are asked to interact with the
material in some way. Lecture Convey concepts verbally,
often with visual aids (e.g.
presentation slides)

Quiz Exercise to assess the level of


student understanding and
questions can take many
forms, e.g. multiple-choice,
short-structured, essay etc.

Student Oral report where students


presentation share their research on a topic
and take on a position and/or
role

Interaction with digital content Game Goal-oriented exercise that


encourages collaboration
Students experiment with decision making, and and/or competition within a
visualise the effects and/or consequences in virtual controlled virtual environment
environments
Simulation Replica or representation of a
real-world phenomenon that
enables relationships,
contexts, and concepts to be
studied
Interaction with others Debate Verbal activity in which two or
more differing viewpoints on a
Peer relationships, informal support structures, and subject are presented and
teacher-student interactions/relationships argued

Discussion Formal/informal conversation


on a given topic/question
where the instructor facilitates
student sharing of responses
to the questions, and building
upon those responses

Feedback Information provided by the


instructor and/or peer(s)
regarding aspects of one’s
performance or understanding

Guest Feelings, thoughts, ideas and


Speaker experiences specific to a given
topic are shared by an invited
presenter

Problem solving and Critical thinking Case Study Detailed story (true or fictional)
that students analyse in detail
Presenting students with a problem, scenario, case, to identify the underlying
challenge or design issue, which they are then asked to principles, practices, or
address or deal with provides students with lessons it contains
opportunities to think about or use knowledge and
information in new and different ways Concept Graphical representation of
Mapping related information in which
common or shared concepts
are linked together

Real-world Planned set of interrelated


projects tasks to be executed over a
fixed period and within certain
cost and other limitations,
either individually or
collaboratively

Reflection Reflection Written records of students’


journal intellectual and emotional
The process of reflection starts with the student thinking reactions to a given topic on a
about what they already know and have experienced in regular basis (e.g. weekly after
relation to the topic being explored/learnt. This is each lesson)
followed by analysis of why the student thinks about the
topic in the way they do, and what assumptions,
attitudes and beliefs they have about, and bring to
learning about the topic.
APPLICATION

With your knowledge about designing learning activities, list down your intended activity for the
stage of your lesson. Write down the title of the activity, the objective of the activity, tools, and resources,
the general guidelines/procedures. You can actually find different learning activities in DepEd modules or
private school textbooks, but I highly encourage you to innovate your own activity for your lesson,
especially if it is more objective-oriented and appropriate for your learners (of course if you created your
own learning activity, you have the freedom to name it). For the objective/s of the activity, this serves as the
expected outcome for the students after performing the activity. List down the essential tools or materials
and resources that your students will provide before, during, and after the activity. Next, write down the
step-by-step procedures that your students will execute for clarity and smooth flow of the activity. Finally,
the evaluation criteria refer to the type of assessment in which you are going to use for the said activity.
Name:_______________________________________________________________________
Program/ Year Level/ Section: ____________________________________________________

Subject: _______________________________________________________________
Topic: ________________________________________________________________
Grade Level: __________________________________________________________
Learning Objectives: ____________________________________________________

Stage Title of the Objective of the Tools and General Guidelines/ Evaluation
Activity Activity Resources Procedures Criteria
Before the K-W-L To identify the K-W-L Chart 1. The students will K-W-L
Lesson Chart/ strenght and Projector create a K-W-L Chart Chart
(Example) Know- weaknesses of with the use of their Rubric
Want- the students paper.
Learned about the topic 2. The student will fill in
Chart the Know column with
the things they
already know about
the topic.
3. Then, the student will
fill in the Want column
for the things they
want to learn with the
new topic.
4. The students will
submit their K-W-L
chart. (the Learned
column will be left
blank, it will be
answered after the
discussion)
Before the
Lesson
During the
Lesson
After the
Lesson

K-W-L Chart
It’s time to go back to the first activity of this module, fill in the “Learned” column on the things that
you have learned in this module.

Group 11

LESSON V
DEVELOPING LEARNER-CENTERED ASSESSMENT
TOOLS AND ASSIGNMENTS

UNIT LEARNING OUTCOMES


At the end of the unit, students are expected to perform the following:
 Apply the different principles of designing a learner-centered assessment tools and assignments.
 Create a learner-centered assessment tools and assignment.

ACTIVITY
Search in the internet a picture that portrays “assessment”. Paste the picture inside the box.

ANALYSIS

Read and answer the following questions. Write your answers in your activity notebook.
1. How does the picture depict assessment?
2. What is your idea about assessment?
3. What do you feel when the teacher assesses your learning?
4. Why do you think there is a need for assessment?

ABSTRACTION

Assessment refers to the different components and activities of different schools. An assessment
can be used to student learning and in comparing student earning with the learning goals of an academic
program. Assessment is also defined as an act or process of collecting and interpreting information about
student learning.
Roles of Assessment in Classroom Instruction
The assessment component of the instructional processes deals with the learning progress of the
students and the teacher’s effectiveness in imparting knowledge to the students. Assessment enhances
learning in the instructional processes if the result provides feedbacks to both students and teachers. The
information obtained from the assessment is used to evaluate the teaching methodologies and strategies of
the teacher. It is also used to make teaching decisions. The result of assessment is used to diagnose the
learning problems of the students.
When planning assessment, it should start when teacher plans his instruction. That is, when writing
learning outcomes up to the time when the teacher assesses the extent of achieving the learning
outcomes. Teachers made decisions from the beginning of instruction up to the end of instruction. The first
is placement assessment, a type of assessment given at the beginning of instruction. The second and third
type of assessment are formative assessment and diagnostic assessment given during instruction and the
last is the summative assessment given at the end of instruction.
1. Beginning of Instruction
Placement Assessment is an assessment procedure used to determine the learner’s
prerequisite skills, degree of mastery of the course goals, and/or best modes of learning.
2. During Instruction
During the instructional process the main concern of a classroom teacher is to monitor the
learning progress of the students. Teacher should assess whether students achieved the
intended learning outcomes set for a particular lesson. If the students achieve the planned
learning outcomes, the teacher should provide a feedback to reinforce learning.
Formative Assessment is an assessment procedure used to determine the learner’s
learning progress, provides feedback to reinforce learning, and correct learning errors.
Diagnostic Assessment is an assessment procedure used to determine the causes of
learner’s persistent learning difficulties such as intellectual, physical, emotional, and
environmental difficulties.
3. End of Instruction
Summative Assessment is an assessment procedure used to determine the end-of-course
achievement for assigning grades or certifying mastery of objectives.

Modes of Assessment
Traditional Assessment is a type of assessment in which the students choose their answer from
a given list of choices. Examples of this type of assessment are multiple-choice test, standard true/false
test, matching type test, and fill-in-the-blank test. In traditional assessment, students are expected to
recognize that there is only one correct or best answer for the questioned asked.
Alternative Assessment is an assessment in which students create an original response to
answer a certain question. Students respond to a question using their own ideas, in their own words.
Examples of alternative assessment are short-answer questions, essays, oral presentation, exhibitions,
demonstrations, performance assessment, and portfolios. Other activities included in this type are teacher
observation and student self-assessment.
Components of Alternative Assessment
a. Assessment is based on authentic tasks that demonstrate students’ ability to accomplish
communication goals.
b. The teacher and students focus on communication, not on right and wrong answers.
c. Students help the teacher to set the criteria for successful completion of communication tasks.
d. Students have opportunities to assess themselves and their peers.
Performance-based Assessment
Performance assessment is an assessment in which students are asked to perform real-world
tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills. It is a direct measure of
student performance because the tasks are designed to incorporate context, problems and solution
strategies that students would use in real life. It focuses on processes and rationales. There is no single
correct answer; instead students are led to craft polished, thorough and justifiable responses, performances
and products. It also involved long-range projects, exhibits, and performances that are linked to the
curriculum. In this kind of assess, the teacher is an important collaborator in creating tasks, as well as in
developing guidelines for scoring and interpretation.
Portfolio Assessment
Portfolio assessment is the systematic, longitudinal collection of student work created in response
to specific, known instructional objectives and evaluated in relation to the same criteria.
Portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress and
achievements in one or more areas over a period of time. It measures growth and development of students.
Guidelines for Effective Students Assessment
Improvement of student learning is the main purpose od classroom assessment. This can be done
if assessment is integrated with good instruction and is guided by certain principles. Gronlund (1998)
provided the general guidelines for using student assessment effectively.
1. Effective assessment requires a clear concept of all intended learning outcomes.
2. Effective assessment requires that a variety of assessment procedures should be used.
3. Effective assessment requires that the instructional relevance of the procedure should be
considered.
4. Effective assessment requires an adequate sample of student performance.
5. Effective assessment requires that the procedures must be fair to everyone.
6. Effective assessment requires specification of criteria for judging successful performance.
7. Effective performance requires feedback to students emphasizing strengths of performance and
weakness to be corrected.
8. Effective assessment must be supported by comprehensive grading and reporting system.
Homework is defined as tasks assigned to students by school teachers that are intended to be
carried out during non-school hours. This definition excludes in-school guided study (although
homework is often worked on during school), home-study courses, and extracurricular activities such
as sports teams and clubs.
Functions of Homework
1. Prelearning. The homework is a preparation for an in-depth discussion of the next lesson by
getting an introduction or a background. It is also a way of finding out what students already know
about ta topic or what they are interested to learn more about the topic by asking the students to
write own questions about what they were assigned to read.
2. Checking for understanding. By way of homework, teachers gain insight into student learning.
Asking students to identify literary devices in a short story shows whether students understood the
lesson on literary devices in a short story shows whether students understood the lesson on literary
devices.
3. Practice. Homework is an opportunity for practice of rote skills such as multiplication tables,
spelling words, or facts that need to be memorized for internalization and mastery. For homework
to yield positive results, practice must be correct and must be distributed.
4. Processing. Homework is used when teachers want students to reflect on concepts discussed in
class, integrate and apply learned concepts and skills in real life, and think of new questions.
A good homework is differentiated in terms of level and purpose, enhances the facilitative role of
parents, observes school policy on homework, has a relevant purpose understood by all, is evaluated and
commented on and requires commitments that are fed back to the learners and parents.
Guiding Principles in the Use of Homework
1. The purpose of homework and outcome of homework should be identified and articulated.
2. Homework tasks should be differentiated by a.) difficulty or amount of work, b) the amount of
scaffolding provided and c) learners’ learning style or interest.
3. Parent involvement in homework should be kept to a minimum.
4. If homework is assigned, it should be commented on.
5. Move from grading to checking.
6. Establish and communicate a homework policy.
7. Establish a homework support program.
APPLICATION
Developing a Learner-centered Assessment Tool
Write your learning outcomes in the first column. Identify the mode of assessment, what will the
student perform with the assessment tool, and the skills developed.
Note: Your answers in this activity must be aligned to the previous activities that you have answered.
Name: ____________________________________________________________________
Program/Year Level/Section: _________________________________________________

Subject: __________________________________________________________________
Topic: ____________________________________________________________________
Grade Level: ______________________________________________________________
Learning Objectives: _______________________________________________________

Learning Outcomes Mode of Assessment Students Will Skills Developed

Developing a Learner-centered Homework


With the guidelines for creating assignments in mind, plan what assignments you will require in
your course. Use the table below to plan these assignments.

Note: Your answers in this activity must be aligned to the previous activities that you have answered.
Name:_____________________________________________________________________
Program/ Year Level/ Section: __________________________________________________

Subject: __________________________________________________________________
Topic: _____________________________________________________________________
Grade Level:________________________________________________________________

Assignment Name Learning Outcomes Task Procedures and Submission Date


Guidelines
REFLECTION

In 100-150 words, write your reflection about the topic in your journal notebook.

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