A shift towards learner-focused, developmental approaches to learning

As previously indicated (see 3.1.4), there is a concern over whether students entering university study in the UK, Australia and NZ have mastered the academic competencies needed to successfully approach undergraduate-level assessment tasks (Bruce, 2008a; Jansen & van der Meer, 2012; Weimer, 2003; Wilson et al., 2004). A number of students enter university with technological competencies, but this may give a false sense of preparedness, as discussed in section 2.5. While some students may be aware of the academic research and writing process, many others will enter their programmes of study with no formal introduction to IL and academic literacies, and will struggle to learn these on their own. Furthermore, university instructors expect a skill set distinctly different from high school requirements (Jansen & van der Meer, 2012). Supporting students to become effective learners requires tertiary instructors to re- conceptualise the acquisition of tertiary academic conventions as developmental (Angier & Palmer, 2006; Husain & Waterfield, 2006); it requires awareness-raising about essential IL and academic literacy competencies, complemented with practice and repetition, embedded in courses throughout their degree.

A shift to learner-focused pedagogy creates a better balance between teaching and learning (Weimer, 2003) and encourages deeper learning approaches (Trigwell et al., 1999). Bruffee (1999) argues that effective learning occurs when both instructors and students engage in a continual conversation to construct and maintain knowledge. This requires instructors to rethink and question assumptions about the roles of both themselves and students in the learning process (Huba & Freed, 2000; Weimer, 2003). Often interchangeably referred to as ‘student-centred’, ‘learner-centred’, ‘student-focused’ or ‘learner-focused’,

this approach to learning draws on constructivist learning principles (see 3.3.4) and suggests that “learning is not a spectator sport” (Radloff, 2006, p. 249). I have selected to use the term ‘learner-focused’ in this research for two main reasons. The first is because it recognises the joint responsibility between the teacher and the student in the learning process as promoted by the NZ Ministry of Education (n.d) Te Kete Ipurangi8 (TKI) guidelines, which suggest:

the success of teaching and learning is founded on the quality of the relationship built between the teacher and the student. The teacher manages the motivational climate of the classroom to foster a learning- focused relationship with students, with a shared ownership of and responsibility for learning. This provides students with the maximum opportunity to build their own motivation to learn. (Ministry of Education, n.d)

The second reason for referring to learner-focused, rather than student-centred, learning is that Brabazon (2007) warns:

if inexperienced students are expected to be independent learners, responsible for their own time and scholarship, then there will be consequences. Failure rates will be high. Because of ‘student-centred learning’, the blame for this failure is the individual, not the institution. (p. 87)

Learner-focused approaches to teaching and learning recognise that what the students do in the classroom is more important than what the teacher does (Radloff, 2006; Shuell, 1986, as cited in Biggs & Tang, 2007). A learner-focused approach recognises that students’ learning needs and development relate to the academic competencies courses demand (Gosling, 2003), and focuses on the students discovering the meaning behind the content and making decisions about what is important. This mode of learning is more likely to give students more power over the learning process and encourage them to take more responsibility for their learning (Fry et al., 2003; Weimer, 2003).

The instructor also learns from the students in a learner-focused learning context (Biggs & Tang, 2011; Fry et al., 2003). Rather than being the bearer of knowledge, the instructor provides a map that enables students to navigate

8

Te Kete Ipurangi – the online knowledge basket – is the NZ Ministry of Education’s bilingual education portal, which provides New Zealand schools and students with a wealth of information, resources, and curriculum materials to enhance teaching and learning, raise student achievement, and advance professional development (http://www.tki.org.nz/About-this- site/About-Te-Kete-Ipurangi).

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around the content and discover their own interpretations and meanings. While this may be what many lecturers desire, unfamiliarity with teaching pedagogies beyond the transmittal lecturing approach, and time constraints inherent in a semesterised teaching schedule, may provide challenges for instructors to modify teaching and curricula to focus on the learner and what is learned, rather than the teacher and what is taught (Biggs & Tang, 2011).

Learner-focused approaches also rely on the creation of opportunities for students to engage actively in learning tasks (Entwistle, 2000; Huba & Freed, 2000; Weimer, 2003). Such opportunities include creating activities that foster critical thinking, encourage open discussion, and support students to encourage and peer-teach each other in a collaborative learning situation (as will be discussed in section 3.3.4). These opportunities cannot be achieved if the instructor dominates the dialogue and students sit passively in class taking notes, but rather are facilitated through discussion and reflection, and a clear understanding of intended learning outcomes (Biggs & Tang, 2011). However, students may not be prepared for a learner-focused approach to learning. Coonan (2011) explains:

many students’ experience of school learning will have been grounded in the model of knowledge transfer, in which learning is parcelled into discrete chunks, communicated by instruction and demonstration, and tested by a means of memorisation and repetition which rewards rote or regurgitate answers. (p. 10)

Therefore, supporting students towards learner-focused approaches should ideally begin throughout secondary education and continue from the moment they enter university.

3.3.4 The complexity of a collaborative teaching and learning