Context of SCL in Selected General Education Subjects in Writing

I. Introduction
a. Background
i. Definition of SCL
- Student-Centered Learning, or commonly known as SCL, engages a
student to be involved in class and brings them to discover knowledge
for themselves to produce learnings. It gives the students the
opportunity to make decisions and to be responsible of their learnings.
Student-centered learning promotes a deeper understanding to improve
the student’s skills in writing and reading.
- Student-centered learning, as the term suggests, is a method of
learning or teaching that puts the learner at the center. With the
application of an SCL approach in higher education, there is
necessarily a shift in focus from academic teaching staff to the learner
(Attard et al., 2010)
ii. Learning Paradigm vs. Instruction Paradigm
- There are two educational paradigms according to Robert B. Barr and
John Tagg, the learning paradigm and the instruction paradigm. The
learning paradigm’s goal is to produce learning. The method
(instruction) of the teacher and the product (learning) of the students
are different. On the other hand, the instruction paradigm’s goal is to
teach. The method and the product are and should be the same.
iii. Definition of Feedback
- According to Hattie and Yates, feedback serves as a guide on how can
students improve their work. It keeps them in track whether what
they’re doing is right or wrong.
iv. Definition of Implicit Learning
- According to Hattie and Yates, Students learn without actually
knowing that they are learning. This process is called implicit learning.
 When a student does something that doesn’t even intend to learn, the
brain takes more information that can be indexed by the conscious
mind.
b. Context
i. Context of using SCL in FEU
- Far Eastern University aims to be a top 3 university in the whole Asia.
It aspires students of FEU to become future-ready when they graduate
from the university. It strongly believes that students are not born with
innate intelligence, talents, and skills because they believe in the
possibility of great change studying hard. Thus, in order for FEU to
reach its aspirations, it started to practice SCL in teaching.
ii. Context of SCL in General Education Subjects
- In our experience, not all subjects uses the SCL method. Our major
subjects uses the traditional way of teaching, while our minor subject
practices SCL.
iii. STS, WKL, and CASE
- We have different subjects in our curriculum especially in our first
year, yet we only chose three subjects to compare and analyze. These
three subjects has a similarity, which are to teach us how to write
effectively and correctly.
c. Summary of Evidences
i. In this paper, we will compare and analyze the different approaches used
by the selected general education subjects such as Science, Technology,
and Society (STS), Wika, Kultura, at Lipunan (WKL), and College
Academic Skills in English (CASE). We will dissect each subject by its
instruction, writing process, and feedback process to deeply understand
how it is effective in improving one’s writing skills.
ii. Usually, in the selected GE subjects, the teacher would give us a reading
one week beforehand to study and read. After discussing it in class, we
would be writing our own reflection paper based on what we understood
in the reading.
 d. Thesis Statement
- The method used in CASE was the most effective approach in SCL in
improving one’s writing skills.
II. Body
a. Science, Technology, and Society
i. Instruction
- In STS, our teacher doesn’t spoon-feed us with information. She
would give us a reading a week before we’d discuss it. She usually
would group us to brainstorm on the given question to each group. She
doesn’t mind the groupings, it could be by friends, as long as it follows
the maximum members per group. At the remaining 20 minutes of the
class, we would present our answers by group or by the chosen
representative. She usually would just nod throughout the presentation
and give her feedback after everyone in the class has presented. And
then she would tell us to write a reflection paper based on the
questions given. Sometimes, she would send us a format on Canvas on
how to make one but doesn’t really discuss it in the classroom.
ii. Writing Process
- We would write our papers based on the format she sent us. We are
usually given a week or half a week to finish it.
iii. Feedback Process
- Our teacher doesn’t usually give us feedbacks. On our experience, we
only received a negative feedback when she didn’t understand the
thesis statement we sent her. Other than that, she didn’t give any
comments on our papers. She doesn’t even return it to us, leaving us
clueless with our performance on the paper we wrote.
iv. Analysis
- Our teacher uses the learning paradigm. She doesn’t feed us with her
own learnings of the text, instead she lets us have our own learnings.
 - Student’s work must be corrected, and mistakes therein can be
manifest, numerous and highly visible. Negative feedback can be
problematic. Students may feel the tasks set were unreasonable. They
may believe they were taught poorly or were expected to go beyond
what had been thought. They may believe that the level of effort they
put in was substantial, but has gone by unrecognized. (Hattie & Yates,
2010, p. 65)

b. Wika, Kultura, at Lipunan

i. Instruction
- In WKL, we are also given a week or half a week to analyze and
understand a reading. We would also be grouped but our teacher
doesn’t let us pick our own groups, instead she would group us
randomly by counting off. We would either answer the questions
assigned to us by writing it on a paper and presenting it in front of the
class. Our teacher doesn’t really correct us with our thoughts because
she strongly believes that everything we say are our opinions which
we are entitled to. She would often give us the assignment to write a
reflection paper about what we learned in our discussion, but would
announce it in Canvas only. Not all are not notified by Canvas that’s
why a lot of my classmates fail to submit one on time. They would be
flabbergasted when other of my classmates would mention it and
they’d be like “There was an assignment?”
ii. Writing Process
- There are no formats given. Our teacher doesn’t really help us with the
writing process. As long as we write our papers and our content is
relevant to the guide question given. She often gives us a sufficient
time to write our own papers like a week or half a week.
iii. Feedback Process
- She doesn’t give us personal feedbacks, instead she would announce
her general feedback on our papers in the classroom like her overall
 thoughts on all of our papers combined. We have no way of knowing
which papers is/are she is pertaining to when she gives her feedback.
One example is when she told us that she gives those who submitted
their papers on time a high grade, except on some people who
constantly wrote irrelevant information based on the questions given.
She implied that is shows how the student didn’t really read and
analyze the reading she gave us.
iv. Analysis
- It follows the learning paradigm as it lets student to develop its own
understanding and produce its learning inside the classroom while
brainstorming with its groupmates.
- For many students, classroom can be akin to video games without the
feedback, without knowing what success looks like, or knowing when
you attain success in the key tasks. Lack of engagement is an
understandable reaction. Feedback is powerful if students know what
success looks like, appreciate it is aimed at reducing the gap between
where they are and where they need to be, and when it is focused on
providing them information about where to next (Hattie & Yates,
2010, p. 67)

c. College Academic Skills in English

i. Instruction
- Our teacher in CASE gives us our reading in advance. For example
she would be sending us the copy of our readings for the next 3 weeks
for us to read in advance and to avoid cramming. Different from the
two subjects mentioned earlier, she would divide us into three different
groups and would assign each group a corresponding question which
we will be reporting and presenting on the next meeting. This enable
us to definitely read before the discussion because it’s always
presentation first before the discussion. By this method, she expects
 that everyone have read the text she gave us before the discussion.
This way, students can be engaged in discussions and be able to share
its learning to his/her classmates. After the discussion, she would give
us a task to write a reflection paper based on what we learned in
reading the text and during the discussion in class.
ii. Writing Process
- Our teacher gives us a format and an example on how to write a
reflection paper. She would discuss it class and give us tips on how we
could write correctly. After submitting it, she’d give us an opportunity
to revise it to improve our outputs to make it more correct and for us to
learn.
iii. Feedback Process
- Our teacher never fails to give us feedbacks on our papers. She would
also provide an information on how we would improve it. She also lets
us to peer review our classmate’s work. She believes that in this way,
we would learn other’s common mistake in writing and we would be
able to avoid committing that mistake.
iv. Analysis
- Out of the three subjects, CASE most represents the learning
paradigm. This requires a student to think to be able to produce its own
learning. In other subjects, some doesn’t really read the text, instead
they would just listen to their classmate’s understanding during the
discussion.
- This subject allows us to revise our paper, it unconsciously teaches us
on how to write a paper properly, since we’d have to write our papers
all over and over again. For example, we’d be surprised that we could
write things and organize our thought easily in writing the second
revision paper.
- Most researchers suggest that implicit learning does not really exist as
a separate form. Instead, it is simply learning that is incomplete, or has
yet to become fully conscious. (Hattie & Yates, 2010, p. 139)
 - Students may feel the standard expected of them is being applied
unfairly, or is differentially applied across class members. They may
believe that they did a little better than their mate and that this is
enough. Within the classroom, social comparison is rife. After all, just
who is to say what is a ‘good essay’ and what is a ‘poor essay’.
Furthermore ‘we all know some teachers are unfair’ is a familiar
mantra. (Hattie & Yates, 2010, p. 65) With peer review, the student
could avoid thinking that the teacher is biased since it was reviewed by
two people.
III. Conclusion
- The method used in CASE was the most effective approach in SCL in
improving one’s writing skills. This is because gives us positive and
negative feedbacks, even letting us to peer review our classmates’
work. It also allows us to revise our paper for us to practice writing
and to correct the mistake we committed on the previous paper.
- The reason why SCL in CASE was so effective in the writing process
is because the subject’s main purpose is for students to improve their
academic skills in English. In other subjects, improving one’s writing
lies only on its secondary goal because the main purpose of it is for
students to learn the subject being taught.
IV. Bibliography
- Hattie, J., & Yates, G. (2014). Visible Learning and the Science of
How We Learn. The Role of Feedback. p. 64-71.
- Attard, A., Di loio, E., Geven, K., & Santa, R. (2010). Student
Centered Learning: An Insight into Theory and Practice. p. 6.
- Barr, R., & Tagg, J. (1995). From Teaching to Learning. A New
Paradigm for Undergraduate Education. p. 13 – 25
- Hattie, J., & Yates, G. (2014). Visible Learning and the Science of
How We Learn. Does Learning Need to be Conscious, and what The
Hidden Role Played by Gesture is. p. 136-145