{"id":983,"date":"2015-06-16T13:56:17","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T17:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/?p=983"},"modified":"2015-06-16T14:07:11","modified_gmt":"2015-06-16T18:07:11","slug":"is-your-case-teaching-learner-centered-its-harder-than-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2015\/06\/16\/is-your-case-teaching-learner-centered-its-harder-than-you-think\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Case Teaching Learner-Centered? It&#8217;s Harder Than You Think"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Amanda Reilly<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It might seem self-evident that teaching is learner-centered, but the traditional lecture and rote memorization model actually doesn\u2019t put students first.\u00a0 To address this issue, Dr. Maryellen Weimer wrote <em>Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice.<\/em> Dr. Weimer, professor emerita at Penn State Berks and 2015 keynote and guest presenter at Simmons College\u2019s Center for Excellence in Teaching spring seminar uses innovative teaching practices to develop students\u2019 independence and empower them to take responsibility for their own learning.<\/p>\n<p>During her presentation at Simmons College, Dr. Weimer, who has been described as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facultyfocus.com\/topic\/articles\/teaching-professor-blog\/\">\u201cone of the nation\u2019s most highly-regarded authorities on effective college teaching,\u201d<\/a> explained the five characteristics of learner-centered teaching:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Students should do the hard, messy work of learning.\u00a0<\/strong>Teachers too often take on many of the learning activities that students should be doing. For example, students should engage in the process of summarization before the end of class instead of the teacher recapping important points. It is essential for students to do more than just listen. They must be fully engaged in reading, writing, discussing and problem solving.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Students need to be explicitly taught \u201clearning skills.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>Teachers must create an intellectually robust climate for learning. That is done by teaching students \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facultyfocus.com\/articles\/effective-teaching-strategies\/five-characteristics-of-learner-centered-teaching\/\">how to think, solve problems, evaluate evidence, analyze arguments, generate hypotheses\u2014all those learning skills [are] essential to mastering matters in the discipline,\u201d<\/a> says Weimer. Dr. Weimer argues that educators should not cover all the content, but instead uncover part of it and help students discover the rest by guiding the caliber of the discussion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Students must have some control over learning processes.\u00a0<\/strong>Typically, educators make all the learning decisions for students and have the power and authority on the content, pace, calendar, and learning method. Dr. Weimer poses the question: What is really left for the students to decide? Dr. Weimer posits that offering students a choice of conditions under which they learn will increase students\u2019 feelings of empowerment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Students benefit from reflecting about what and how they are learning.\u00a0<\/strong>Learning potential is maximized through review and debrief. Dr. Weimer advocates that educators should offer assignments that allow students to reflect, analyze, and critique what and how they are learning. This places more of the responsibilities of learning on the students. Weimer says, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facultyfocus.com\/articles\/effective-teaching-strategies\/five-characteristics-of-learner-centered-teaching\/\">\u201cMake them aware of themselves as learners and \u2026 make learning skills something students want to develop\u201d<\/a>\u2014 not something they just have to do.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Students and teachers should have a collaborative learning relationship.\u00a0<\/strong>Whether in traditional classroom settings or flipped classrooms with an online component, Weimer says that students and teachers learn from and with each other. She asserts that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facultyfocus.com\/articles\/effective-teaching-strategies\/five-characteristics-of-learner-centered-teaching\/\">\u201cthe teacher has the expertise and an obligation to share it, but teachers can learn from students as well.\u201d<\/a> Learner-centered educators need to develop a community of learners to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facultyfocus.com\/articles\/effective-teaching-strategies\/five-characteristics-of-learner-centered-teaching\/\">\u201cpromote shared commitments to learning,\u201d<\/a> such as highlighting a \u201cgood\u201d answer during classroom discussion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As students are grounded in their individual learning experiences, educators play the crucial role of fostering and facilitating students\u2019 learning. Learner-centered teaching takes courage: many students would rather you tell them what they need to know, and may be reluctant to engage in this practice. However, students who acquire these learning skills improve their critical thinking, analysis, synthesis of course concepts, and are more able to evaluate their own learning.<\/p>\n<p><em>Dr. Maryellen Weimer has a loyal following of educators from law, medicine and business programs. More than 15,000 educators subscribe to her <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.magnapubs.com\/newsletter\/the-teaching-professor-2907-1.html?st=FFweb\"><em>newsletter<\/em><\/a><em> and read her weekly weblog <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.facultyfocus.com\/articles\/teaching-professor-blog\/let-students-summarize-the-previous-lesson\">The Teaching Professor Blog<\/a><em>. If you are curious about incorporating learner-centered policies, practices, techniques and approaches to your classroom, check out Dr. Weimer\u2019s teaching resources and strategies at <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.facultyfocus.com\"><em>www.facultyfocus.com<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Amanda Reilly is the Program Associate for HLS Case Studies.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Amanda Reilly &nbsp; It might seem self-evident that teaching is learner-centered, but the traditional lecture and rote memorization model actually doesn\u2019t put students first.\u00a0 To address this issue, Dr. Maryellen Weimer wrote Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2015\/06\/16\/is-your-case-teaching-learner-centered-its-harder-than-you-think\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6207,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4CR8M-fR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":999,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2015\/07\/14\/keys-to-facilitating-successful-student-group-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":983,"position":0},"title":"Keys to Facilitating Successful Student Group Work","author":"Elizabeth Moroney","date":"July 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Amanda Reilly Working in teams is an important part of being an effective learner and employee, yet students from high school through professional schools tend to groan when teachers assign a team project.\u00a0 How can teachers foster positive attitudes before, during and after group experiences? \u201cIt\u2019s not about loving\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1200,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2017\/03\/16\/using-case-study-method-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":983,"position":1},"title":"Why and How: Using the Case Study Method in the Law Classroom","author":"Lisa Brem","date":"March 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Photo by: Brooks Kraft Post by: Jackie Kim and Lisa Brem Why should legal educators use case studies and other experiential teaching methods, such as role plays and simulations, in their classes?\u00a0 Hasn\u2019t the Langdell method served legal education well these last 140 years?\u00a0 Certainly creating and using experiential materials\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"person walking by langdell","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2017\/03\/2237550-R6-019-8-1024x659.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2017\/03\/2237550-R6-019-8-1024x659.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2017\/03\/2237550-R6-019-8-1024x659.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":673,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2013\/12\/17\/5-questions-with-dr-lisa-rohrer\/","url_meta":{"origin":983,"position":2},"title":"5 Questions with Dr. Lisa Rohrer","author":"Elizabeth Moroney","date":"December 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Lisa Rohrer will tell you that she\u2019s \u201cdrunk the case studies Kool-Aid.\u201d She has been writing and teaching case studies for years, and as the newly appointed executive director of the Case Development Initiative, she\u2019ll be overseeing the biggest source of case studies at Harvard Law School. We sat down\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Development Initiative Blog Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Development Initiative Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/category\/case-development-initiative-blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2012\/12\/20\/information-law-and-policy-advanced-problem-solving-workshop\/","url_meta":{"origin":983,"position":3},"title":"Information Law and Policy: Advanced Problem Solving Workshop","author":"Lisa Brem","date":"December 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"HLS Visiting Professor Susan Crawford taught the Information Law and Policy: Advanced Problem Solving Workshop this fall at HLS. The course combines case studies with mini lectures, classroom exercises and guest speakers to provide an interactive, participant centered experience for students. The case studies were developed in last spring's Advanced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Problem Solving Workshop Blog Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Problem Solving Workshop Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/category\/problem-solving-workshop-blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2012\/12\/10.16.12Crawfrd0771-300x200.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":750,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2014\/04\/15\/law-professors-still-stuck-in-the-same-old-classroom\/","url_meta":{"origin":983,"position":4},"title":"Law Professors: Still Stuck in the Same Old Classroom?","author":"Lisa Brem","date":"April 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Last summer and fall, the Case Studies Program at Harvard Law School set out to learn more about what kinds of teaching methods and materials law school professors used. We sent out surveys to approximately 1,000 faculty and deans at law schools throughout the country and received about 290 responses.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Study Program Blog Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Study Program Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/category\/case-study-program-blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2014\/04\/methods.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2014\/04\/methods.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2014\/04\/methods.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2014\/04\/methods.png?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2014\/04\/methods.png?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":974,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2015\/05\/26\/top-challenges-for-case-study-programs\/","url_meta":{"origin":983,"position":5},"title":"Top Challenges for Case Study Programs","author":"Elizabeth Moroney","date":"May 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"What gets in the way of case study adoption? The Case Studies Affinity Group, a consortium of Harvard-affiliated case programs, took up this question during its quarterly meeting on May 12. The Affinity Group welcomed as panelists Carolyn Wood, Assistant Academic Dean\u00a0& Director of SLATE and the Case Program, Harvard\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=983"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":985,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983\/revisions\/985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}