Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice

In this second edition of the classic work Learner-Centered Teaching, Maryellen Weimer—one of the nation’s most highly regarded authorities on effective college teaching—offers a comprehensive introduction to the topic of learner-centered teaching in the college and university classroom. This thoroughly revised and updated edition includes the most current examples of practice in action from a variety of disciplines and contains new information on the research support for learner-centered approaches. Weimer also includes a more in-depth discussion of how students’ developmental issues influence the effectiveness of learner-centered teaching. Learner-centered teaching focuses attention on what the student is learning, how the student is learning, the conditions under which the student is learning, whether the student is retaining and applying the learning, and how current learning positions the student for future learning. To help educators accomplish the goals of learner-centered teaching, this important book presents the meaning, practice, and ramifications of the learner-centered approach and how this approach transforms the college classroom environment. Learner-Centered Teaching shows how to tie teaching and curriculum to the process and objectives of learning rather than to the content delivery alone. The book also offers well-researched advice for educators who want to transition to a learner-centered approach in their classrooms and identifies the steps to take to put into place learner-centered policies and practices. Learner-Centered Teaching provides a theoretical foundation for the learner-centered approach and outlines a positive way to improve teaching.

Table of Contents:
Preface to the Second Edition vii Acknowledgments xiii The Author xiv PART ONE: FOUNDATIONS OF THE LEARNER-CENTERED APPROACH 1 1. Learner-Centered Teaching: Roots and Origins 3 2. Research: Evidence That Learner-Centered Approaches Work 28 PART TWO: THE FIVE KEY CHANGES TO PRACTICE 57 3. The Role of the Teacher 59 4. The Balance of Power 88 5. The Function of Content 114 6. The Responsibility for Learning 143 7. The Purpose and Processes of Evaluation 168 PART THREE: IMPLEMENTING THE LEARNER-CENTERED APPROACH 197 8. Responding to Resistance 199 9. Taking a Developmental Approach 218 APPENDIXES 239 1. Syllabus and Learning Log Entries for Speech Communications 100A 239 2. Resources That Develop Learning Skills 249 References 259 Name Index 275 Subject Index 279

About the Author :
MARYELLEN WEIMER is a well-known writer, speaker, and proponent of effective teaching practices with more than thirty-five years of experience. She was the director of the Instructional Development Program at Pennsylvania State University for ten years and served as associate director at the National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. The editor of The Teaching Professor, a monthly newsletter on college teaching, Weimer is also the author of numerous books, including Inspired College Teaching and Enhancing Scholarly Work on Teaching and Learning.