Student-centred learning: the role and responsibility of the lecturer

Abstract

A student-centred approach to learning encourages students to have more responsibility for their learning and is a process that relies heavily on professional confidence to ‘let-go’ of traditional teaching responsibilities. This paper describes the introduction of a student-centred approach within one further education college in Ireland, explores the facilitation role of the lecturer and identifies strategies that have enabled effective transition from traditional pedagogical practice. The research incorporated semi-structured interviews with five lecturers who adopted student-centred learning in their teaching, focus group sessions with 36 students who engaged in a student-centred module and two classroom observations. The research identified some common understanding of a student-centred approach, although the emphasis differed slightly between lecturers and students, highlighting some implications for on-going practice.

Keywords:

• student-centred learning
• facilitator
• pedagogical practice
• higher education