Student-centered learning: What does it mean for students and lecturers?

Research paper by: Geraldine O’Neill and Tim McMahon, University College Dublin The term student-centred learning is widely used in the teaching and learning literature. Many terms have been linked with student-centred learning, such as flexible learning (Taylor 2000), experiential learning (Burnard 1999), self-directed learning and therefore the slightly overused term “student-centred learning” can mean different things to different people. In addition, in practice it is also… Read More ›

OECD’s Brain Research Website

OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) – Brain and Learning | Learning Sciences and Brain Research project website The culmination of the Brain and Learning project is the publication “Understanding the Brain: The Birth of a New Learning Science”  This enlightening publication is essential reading for all those involved in education as parents, teachers, researchers, policy makers and… Read More ›

Forum for Youth Investment

The Forum for Youth Investment is a nonprofit, nonpartisan “action tank” dedicated to helping communities and the nation make sure all young people are Ready by 21®: ready for college, work and life. Informed by rigorous research and practical experience, the Forum forges innovative ideas, strategies and partners to strengthen solutions for young people and… Read More ›

A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform

A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, A Report to the Nation and the Secretary of Education United States Department of Education, The National Commission on Excellence in Education, April 1983 A Nation at Risk: The Imperative For Educational Reform is the title of the 1983 report of American President Ronald Reagan‘s National Commission on Excellence… Read More ›

MDRC: Transforming the High School Experience

MDRC: Transforming the High School Experience MDRC was created to learn what works in social policy—and to make sure that the evidence we produce informs the design and implementation of policies and programs. Created in 1974 by the Ford Foundation and a group of federal agencies, MDRC is best known for mounting large-scale evaluations of… Read More ›

Pathways to Postsecondary Success

Pathways to Postsecondary Success, a project of UC/ACCORD, is a five-year set of mixed-methods studies focused on maximizing opportunities for low-income youth to earn higher education credentials. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the project aims to advance research on poverty; produce useful tools that improve educational opportunities and inform the U.S. policy agenda on the relationship between poverty and education.… Read More ›

Universal Design for Learning

National Center on Universal Design for Learning Universal Design for Learning is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone–not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for… Read More ›

Measuring Student Engagement in Upper Elementary Through High School

This 2011 report from The Regional Education Laboratory SouthEast (REL Southeast) identifies tools for measuring student engagement in upper elementary through high school. These instruments were pulled from a variety of disciplines and assess the behavioral, emotional, and/or cognitive nature of engagement. They are divided into three types: Student self-report questionnaires at either the school or class level… Read More ›

Mind, Brain and Education

What does brain research tell us about how we learn and how learning, in turn, shapes the architecture of the brain? What is the connection between the stress of poverty and the impact of emotions on learning? To answer such questions, this paper draws on recent brain research and research in cognitive science, highlighting the… Read More ›