With the goals and content in place, appropriate instructional activities can be selected. We define effective activities and assignments as those which require students to generate questions, summarize new and previous knowledge, and demonstrate the uses of that knowledge. Precious classroom time should be reserved largely for these types of interactions between individuals, groups and the instructor. Students can be assigned outside projects that help them to discover new information at an individualized pace. These outside projects allow students to help each other assimilate new knowledge, while expanding the time available for students to discover enriching content.
Implementation is often the most difficult step in instructional change.
Methods don't always translate from one discipline to another. The Learning-Centered Syllabus addresses these challenges by supporting the process of instructional change. A version of this article appeared in The Teaching Professor, Feb. 1998, Vol. Reprinted with permission.