First Day Questions for the Learner-Centered Classroom or getting Student Buy-In

A recent issue of National Teaching & Learning FORUM has an excellent article entitled the First Day Questions for the Learner-Centered Classroom by Gary A. Smith, University of New Mexico.

Faced with some disappointing student ratings, Gary realized that  although he  had adopted a more successful pedagogy than straight lecturing, his students were so used to that sort of approach, they really did not know what he was doing or, why he was doing it. Student resistance is often the biggest impediment to pedagogical innovation, but starting with this question, he engaged students in a conversation that put his teaching and their learning in synch the next time he taught the course:

"Thinking of what you want to get out of your college education and this course, which of the following is most important to you?

1. Acquiring information (facts, principles, concepts)

2. Learning how to use information and knowledge in new situations

3. Developing lifelong learning skills."

Read the complete story and sign up (click here  http://www.ntlf.com/list ) for the FORUM's list to receive additional stories and other material from the publication.