Modern approach to learning and teaching

2. The student is at the centre of the educational process

The student-centred model of the educational process presumes that knowledge is built through action, collaboration and reflection. It emphasizes active learning, student autonomy and student responsibility for planning and demonstrating learning through authentic tasks, with clear outcomes and evaluation criteria. This model is dominant in higher education teaching today, and it is based on a constructivist learning theory (Hayward, Dewey, Rogers, Knowles). We can say that it is a competency-based approach to teaching.

The essential features of a student-centred approach are active learning, deep understanding, increased student autonomy and responsibility, and interdependence between teachers and students. It is a continuous reflective process with questioning of context, continuous improvement of the learning experience and ensuring that learning outcomes are achieved in a way that encourages critical thinking and generic skills.

The role of the teacher is changing from that of a lecturer to that of a facilitator who sets the framework, offers support and provides timely formative feedback. The digital ecosystem includes a learning management system, interactive content and collaboration tools, and learning analytics are often used to quickly analyse and adapt teaching. Special attention is paid to inclusivity, universal design for learning and transparent assessment using rubrics. There is also an emphasis on self-regulation, clear checkpoints, micro-activities to check understanding and a cycle of feedback, iteration and reflection throughout the semester.

Challenges of applying the model

On the other hand, according to the responses of the participants of the workshop "Student-centred teaching: why and how?" held at the meeting of the Network of Quality Assurance System Units at Higher Education Institutions in Croatia, these are the challenges of implementing a model in which the student is at the centre of the educational process:

• insufficient motivation/resistance of students and teachers
• students not being used to being active
• insufficient resources
• a lot of time to prepare
• insufficient prior knowledge of students
• linking the outcomes of different courses with the aim of achieving study outcomes
• insufficient education of stakeholders
• change in awareness and mentality of teachers and students
• student heterogeneity
• insufficient recognition of teachers' innovation (rewarding)
• poor perception of higher education
• student resistance to collaborative learning
• teachers' resistance to continuous improvement
• low level of self-criticism
• teachers' lack of interest in students.

The vast majority of these challenges must be overcome at the HEI level (especially those of an organisational nature), some of them at the level of individual departments or divisions (spreading examples of good practice and the experience of teachers and students who apply such a model can be of great help), but special efforts need to be made to overcome those challenges that are at the personal level of teachers and students (most often motivation, possible personal resistance and change in awareness/mentality) because they sometimes represent the first and biggest obstacle to a successful transition to such a model, both for HEIs and for individuals in the educational process.