Student centered instruction
Student centered instruction or student centered classrooms is one of Iowa's Characteristics of Effective Instruction or CEI. It is described in this way:
"In student-centered classrooms students construct their own knowledge based on experiential, holistic, authentic, and challenging experiences. Teachers take what students want to learn and infuse all the skills, knowledge, and concepts that the curriculum requires. Teachers help students learn to think about their own thinking and learning. Curriculum and assessment is centered on meaningful performances in real-world contexts. Classrooms are organized for collaboration. A student-centered classroom is a characteristic of Teaching through Problem Solving, Teaching through Inquiry, and Teaching through Inductive Thinking."
See more about this attribute of effective instruction at these sites specifically directed at mathematics classrooms:
- Student-Centered Classrooms Brief describing this characteristic in some detail.
- CEI at the Iowa DE - click on Student-Centered Classrooms to find videos illustrating different aspects of this Characteristic. And for High School teachers, there are several rich tasks given here.
PowerPoint from Day 3 of class.