How to build an effective classroom (student-centered)

From the perspective of students, efficient classrooms are students’ active learning, positive thinking, and self-learning. It is also for students to actively construct meanings for the content they are learning.

From a teacher’s perspective, an effective classroom should have the following three conditions: First, because the goal of teaching is not completely consistent with the actual situation of the classroom, this requires teachers to make timely adjustments to the teaching objectives in the process of teaching. Second, the process of teaching must be the process of students’ active participation. This kind of active participation is mainly reflected in whether teachers can flexibly promote the enthusiasm of students’ learning, actively guide students’ thinking, give students more time and opportunities to cooperate and display, and the whole class students share each other’s learning outcomes. The third is timely feedback in teaching to consolidate students’ learning outcomes in a variety of ways. (Weimer, 2012)

To build an effective classroom, teachers must do the following:

• Students participate in hard, messy learning.
• Provide structure without over-instruction: Student-centered teachers should teach students how to think, evaluate, and analyze problems.
• Establish reflection time: encourage students to reflect on what they have learned and how they learn. This helps students absorb the knowledge they have learned.
• Encourage students by mastering the learning process.
• Encourage cooperation: teachers have professional knowledge and are obliged to share, but teachers can also learn from students. Student-centered teachers focus on learning together, and they believe that individual and group learning is the most important goal of any educational experience.
• Listen and respect the ideas of each student.
• Help students solve problems by asking questions and help them get conclusions or solutions that satisfy them.

References:

Weimer, M. (2012). Five characteristics of learner-centered teaching. Faculty Focus.