Learner-Centered Psychological Principles: A Framework for School Redesign and Reform

American Psychological Association's Board of Educational Affairs (1997, November). Learner-Centered Psychological Principles: A Framework for School Redesign and Reform. Retrieved June 2006 from http://www.apa.org/ed/cpse/LCPP.pdf

During the last few decades, science education has been highly influenced by constructivism and constructivist approaches to teaching and learning science has been widely promoted. This perhaps can be attributed to the trend that school curricula tend to be based on learner-centered constructivism to promote students who can function successfully in real-world contexts. As learner-centered psychological principles provide a framework for developing and incorporating the components of new designs for schooling, it has been widely acknowledged that learning is influenced by environmental factors including technology and instructional practices and is most effective within the context of real-world learning situations. The learner-centered approaches are associated with learner control characterized by learners making choices in the pacing, sequence and selection of instructional materials. Intrinsic motivation, which is proved as associated with high educational achievement and enjoyment by students, can be facilitated on tasks that are comparable to real-world situations and meet needs for choice and control. This article provides constitutive/operational definition for learner-centered concepts that can be supportive to my study.