Dr. Upham invites students to choose their topics for in-depth study and to decide for themselves how they should be evaluated.  “Giving students more control over their own learning leads to opportunities to explore many areas from the context of the course.  Will their evaluation be structured around a rubric, a test, a presentation with a handout?  It’s up to the students to decide for themselves.” 

            How do students react to this new learning situation?  “For the first four weeks they are looking for direction,” Dr. Upham reports.  “They need time to feel comfortable with the idea.  When they trust that the professor will not change the rules on them, they feel empowered about their learning and about how the evaluation will take place.”

            Dr. Upham builds trust in her classroom through one-to-one meetings with her students as they explore topics.  In Dr. Upham’s classes, students form their own study groups which provides for more social interaction and trust building.  As the class progresses Dr. Upham’s role becomes more complex.  “I am more of a facilitator than a lecturer,” she explains.

            Once trust is established between the class and their professor, the students assume responsibility for their education.  “The results are amazing,” Dr. Upham observes.  “The students do twice as much work with much greater depth of content.  They will do a much wider search for types of content, incorporating interviews, books, journals, many types of sources for their research.  They design rubrics for themselves and for other student groups.  They become involved in setting standards and in the grading process.  The students move beyond the ‘give a test-get a grade’ process that they are used to.”

            “Give as much power back to the students as you can to make them responsible for their own learning,” Dr. Upham advises.  “If you are willing to let go of the lecturer role and become a facilitator, you will see how much the students know from the backgrounds they are bringing to the class.  The students will take the class in a new direction.  They will take more ownership in the class and show more depth in their learning.”

            Will this student-oriented method of teaching be effective in your diverse classroom?  Dr. Upham found it took a few weeks to adjust to teaching this way, but that the rewards were quickly apparent.  Although the student-oriented approach to teaching may seem like a big change for the instructor, Dr Upham finds it is worth giving up the lecturer role for another important reason, “It’s more fun to teach this way-more fun for the professor, and for the class.”