Developing Learner–Centered Teaching: A Practical Guide for Faculty

“In this book, Blumberg encourages self-assessment and uses case studies throughout to immediately answer the question of just how to apply recommended techniques to classroom material. Blumberg’s publication is a valuable contribution to learner-centered teaching because of her twenty-five years of experience and more than fifty publications, but also because of what she draws from others. Blumberg masterfully incorporates learner-centered methodologies into the workbook itself and this is probably what makes her book most effective. Although written primarily for faculty, advisors who believe the student learning process is integral to the advising relationship could especially benefit from this book… I found the case studies more than helpful and insightful and I believe that I will turn back to this text to apply learner-centered techniques to my own courses.” — NACADA Journal, Issue 29(2)

Developing Learner-Centered Teaching

Developing Learner-Centered Teaching offers a step-by-step plan for transforming any course from teacher-centered to the more engaging learner-centered model. Filled with self-assessments and worksheets that are based on each of the five practices identified in Maryellen Weimer’s Learner-Centered Teaching, this groundbreaking book gives instructors, faculty developers, and instructional designers a practical and effective resource for putting the learner-centered model into action.

Praise for Developing Learner-Centered Teaching

“Developing Learner-Centered Teaching is an immediately usable book that provides a clear-cut framework for transitioning to learner-centered teaching. As a college teacher and teacher of teachers, Blumberg skillfully takes the reader step-by-step through a practical system, replete with practical, classroom-tested strategies, for making a course more learner-centered. I’m looking forward to adapting a range of valuable strategies for my own classroom and sharing them with my colleagues.”
—Mary Deane Sorcinelli, associate provost for faculty development, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

“Faculty are hungry for practical teaching approaches, based on sound theories, that they can apply to their classrooms and online learning environments. This book squarely addresses the need for transforming courses to a learner-centered approach. Building on Maryellen Weimer’s groundbreaking work, Phyllis Blumberg offers faculty a series of directed rubrics allowing them to work through all levels of the Weimer model. Best of all, because she recognizes that change must be incremental, she has designed rubrics that encourage faculty to progress as their comfort levels allow. This is a ‘must-have’ book for faculty, administrators, and faculty developers!”

—Barbara J. Millis, director, TEAM Center at the University of Texas, San Antonio, and coauthor, The Course Syllabus: A Learning-Centered Approach, Second Edition

“More and more faculty see the value of becoming learner-centered teachers. As they do, this excellent book by Phyllis Blumberg will offer them both a rubric for assessing their progress and specific practical suggestions for transforming their teaching—and student learning!”

—Dee Fink, Dee Fink & Associates Consulting Services; author, Creating Significant Learning Experiences; and former president, Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education