10.02.06
R.M. Felder and R. Brent, (1996). “Navigating The Bumpy Road to Student-Centered Instruction.” College Teaching, 44(2), 43-47
R.M. Felder and R. Brent, (1996). “Navigating The Bumpy Road to Student-Centered Instruction.” College Teaching, 44(2), 43-47
A FAQ type piece about student centered learning (SCL) (which includes cooperative learning) but this time about student resistance specifically. It also addresses how to react to student resistance and group problems, social loafing within groups, and whether cooperative learning is effective for minorities.
I found it funny that they compared the process of student acceptance of SCL with that of grief (Shock, Denial, Strong emotion, Resistance and withdrawal, Surrender and acceptance, Struggle and exploration, Return of confidence, Integration and success). Later on the author mentioned a student who rated his class poorly because he “makes us think”. I think these are the same issue in part. Some students may not like change of any kind, especially this dramatic. However, by college they’ve been exposed to many teachers with different methods of teaching so they shouldn’t have this severe of a reaction to mere change. Making learning more difficult by making them think might be a better reason. It’s a paradigm shift (something that few people are comfortable with). They are taught that learning is one thing, that lectures are a place where fonts of knowledge spout information upon them, and that assignments can be completed from a formulaic combination of key words or algorithms.
