| Benefits of student-centered learning | | | | Expanded Thinking and Learning |
| environments include dynamic and constantly | | | | Students and learners who are allowed to expand |
| evolving learning through activities that focus on | | | | their thinking and learning beyond the historical |
| underlying cognitive processes which are based in | | | | lock-step environment grow more in their abilities, |
| relevant contexts. Carl Rogers' person-centered | | | | skills and thinking than do their counterparts in less |
| learning theory posits that a person having learned | | | | open environments. Open-ended, student-centered |
| in this manner has learned how to learn and is able | | | | environments properly designed to support |
| to adjust to different types of learning as | | | | learners allow them the best opportunity to |
| required in diverse settings. In open-ended learning | | | | succeed. It also gives them the prospect of |
| environments the learner directs the learning | | | | finding something they want to learn more |
| processby monitoring his or her learning needs | | | | about--serendipity. As learning progresses, |
| and creating an action plan to meet those needs | | | | students are allowed to assess their progress and |
| through projects and reflection. | | | | learning needs, to adjust the learning as |
| Benefits of Student-Centered Learning | | | | necessary. As an example, a student in an online |
| These are true benefits of a student-centered | | | | class can carefully study material that is not |
| learning environment. Learners who really want to | | | | known, or skim material that is known, to meet |
| learn flourish in this environment, while those that | | | | the learning need. |
| are in classes for other reasons (parents sent | | | | More Meaningful Learning |
| them to college, or they had nothing else to do so | | | | In the properly scaffolded environment, |
| came to school) will not fare as well. The dynamic | | | | self-directed learning is far more meaningful than |
| nature of this environment will sometimes change | | | | standardized education. This is true with both |
| a student from an unwilling participant to an | | | | online and face-to-face classes at the university |
| excited learner striving to learn all he or she can | | | | level. To be effective, learning must be meaningful |
| about the subject at hand. In the online course, | | | | to the student. Otherwise, the instructor's time in |
| the learner must direct his or her learning process, | | | | creating the environment and assignments, and |
| since the instructor is not standing next to the | | | | the student's time in taking the course, are both |
| student telling him or her what to do next. | | | | wasted. |