Kember (1997): A learning environment in which knowledge is constructed by students and the teacher is a facilitator of learning rather than (merely) the presenter of information.

Rogers (1983) identified the important precondition for student-centred learning as the need for: "... a leader or person who is perceived as an authority figure in the situation, is sufficiently secure within herself (himself) and in her (his) relationship to others that she (he) experiences an essential trust in the capacity of others to think for themselves, to learn for themselves."

1.Reliance on active rather than passive learning
2.Emphasis on deep learning and understanding
3.Increased responsibility and accountability on the part of the student
4.Increased sense of autonomy in the learner
5.Interdependence between teacher and learner
6.Mutual respect within the learner-teacher relationship
7.Reflexive approach to the teaching and learning process on the part of both teacher and learner

• Portfolios
• Projects
• Diaries, logs & journals
• Group work
• Peer/self Assessment
• Profiles
• Learning contracts
• Skills and competencies

Active Learning

• Active Learning (Kathleen McKinney, Sociology)

Citing Meyers and Jones (1993), McKinney points out that active learning "derives from two basic assumptions: (1) that learning is by nature an active endeavor and (2) that different people learn in different ways." Includes a brief overview of different active learning strategies.

• Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom (Charles C. Bonwell & James A. Eison)

Bonwell and Eison define active learning as "instructional activities involving students in doing things and thinking about what they are doing." A simple Q&A format addresses issues of how to create more "active" classroom spaces and what barriers teachers should be aware of.

• Navigating the Bumpy Road to Student-Centered Instruction

(Richard Felder & Rebecca Brent) Offers suggestions for dealing with resistance from students as teachers attempt to move their classes from spaces where students only "receive" knowledge to spaces where students are co-creators of knowledge.

Motivating and Engaging Students

• Examining Student Engagement at Illinois State (Val Famer-Dougan & Kathleen McKinney)

Farmer-Dougan and McKinney define engagement, report on empirical evidence at ISU, and conclude that class format, grade satisfaction, task identity, computer use, and peer relationships have significant impact on student engagement.

• Faculty Perceptions of Student Engagement (Lana Berardi & Tom Gerschick)

The authors report that faculty tend to share an intuitive definition of student engagement, and they note that faculty "may incorrectly assess the relationship among race and ethnicity, social class, gender and student engagement."

• Strategies for Engaging Students (Val Farmer-Dougan & Kathleen McKinney)

Several brief suggestions for making students more active and engaged participants in their own education, including connecting class topics with students' lives, offering students choices in their learning, as well as using writing and various technologies.

Collaborative/Cooperative Learning

• Collaborative v. Cooperative Learning (Ted Panitz)

Panitz distinguishes between collaborative learning (which he refers to as a "personal philosophy" that involves the "sharing of authority") and cooperative learning (which he defines as a "set of processes" designed to assist learners in accomplishing a particular task).

• Cooperative Learning: Increasing College Faculty Instructional Productivity (David W. Johnson & Others)

Defines cooperative learning as "the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning."

• Issues to Consider and Decisions to Make When Using Cooperative or Collaborative Assignments (Kathleen McKinney, Sociology)

McKinney offers teachers a series of heuristic questions to help guide them in making up-front decisions that will affect the outcomes of their forays into cooperative/collaborative pedagogies.

• Stages of Group Development (Susquehanna U)

This site covers several aspects of groups working together, including how to establish effective groups.

• What is the Collaborative Classroom? (Tinzman et al.)

The collaborative classroom is a space of shared knowledge and shared authority. The authors explain the roles that teachers and students can play in collaborative learning.

• Working in Groups: There is no “I” in Groupwork (San Francisco State)

Working in a group can be a challenge. Make the most of your group learning experience and learn ways to deal with conflict or avoid it altogether.

Collaborative/Cooperative Learning

• Problem-Based Learning: An Introduction (James Rhem)

Explains the basics of problem-based learning, defined here as "an instructional strategy in which students confront contextualized, ill-structured problems and strive to find meaningful solutions."

• Problem-Based Learning Initiative @ Southern Illinois School of Medicine

A useful site which includes information on how to structure micro- and macro-level PBL.

• Using the Internet to Promote Inquiry-Based Learning (David Jakes et al.)

This e-paper "describe[s] a structured approach to inquiry-based learning that uses the World Wide Web as a primary information resource. Specifically, we address an intuitive 8-step process that begins with an essential question and ends with a knowledge product produced by students, typically completed in a cooperative setting."