Letting Go of the Lesson Plan: Spontaneity and Flexibility in a Learner-Centered Approach to Maximize Learning in a Graduate School Setting

abstract:As college classrooms become more diverse, university faculty members need to find more effective ways to increase student-learning outcomes. Research suggests that to do so, faculty members take a more learner-centered approach. This article highlights a graduate course in an urban, diverse East Coast institution rooted in a learner-centered pedagogy. It examines what transpired after the professor “let go of her own lesson plan,” allowing her students to assume full ownership in order to create a meaningful experience for themselves and undergraduate teacher education students.