If you are learner‐centered and you know it, raise your hand: Perspectives on and implementation of pedagogical changes by science instructors during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

Students at Minority‐Serving Institutions (MSIs) faced significant hardships while trying to learn through emergency remote teaching (ERT) during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Our research aims to investigate if science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) instructors thought about and enacted more learner‐centered teaching practices to alleviate some of this stress encountered by their students. Using semi‐structured interviews and classroom observations, we utilized inductive and deductive qualitative research methods to examine two questions: (1) To what extent were STEM instructor's perceived pedagogical changes learner‐centered during ERT?; and (2) To what extent were STEM instructor's teaching behaviors and discourse practices learner‐centered during ERT? Our findings revealed that during ERT, STEM instructors described using a variety of pedagogical changes that we identified as learner‐centered under the Weimer framework, including ideas such as enacting flexible late policies and increased usage of formative assessment. Interestingly, we found that many of these learned‐centered changes were happening outside of the classroom. Classroom observations assessing instructor behaviors and discourse demonstrated that STEM instructors enacted practices that aligned with Weimer's five constructs of learner‐centered teaching. Our research highlights implications of learner‐centered teaching practices for STEM instructors as well as researchers.