Student-centred learning and motivation

The"shift from teaching to learning" has been recommended for university teaching since the 1990s. This means that university teaching should not focus on the teacher-centred transfer of content. Instead, learners should be encouraged to actively initiate learning processes themselves. The teacher's task is to create meaningful learning environments and situations and to support the students.

Students and their learning processes are the focus of teaching, which is why we speak of student-centred teaching. Characteristics of student-centred teaching are

  • active and self-organized learning
  • target group-oriented teaching
  • choice
  • interaction

The following event recordings will provide you with more detailed information and explanations on the topics of student-centred learning.

Five students with learning materials sitting on the floor ©Yuri Arcurs peopleimages.com - stock.adobe.com
More than knowledge transfer - activating students (video in German)

Speaker: Anja Centeno-Garcia
More learning, less teaching? UK perspectives on learning and teaching in higher education

Speaker: Richard Bale
Designing effective student-centered learning environments (video in German)

Speaker: Sabine Hoidn
Role-playing and simulation games to promote active learning among students (video in German)

Speaker: Wolfgang Gruber
A young woman and a young man give each other a high five and symbolize good teaching ©AdobeStockPhotos

Motivating students

As Martin Daumiller and Lisa Bäukle explain in their presentation "Motivation and procrastination in higher education" (High Noon - Didaktik zu Mittag as of 17.11.2021), student motivation depends on personal factors on the one hand and on the context of the teaching and learning situation on the other. While the individual motives and approaches of students can only be influenced to a limited extent, the design of the teaching and learning context lies with the teachers.

According to Ryan & Deci's self-determination theory (2000), people are intrinsically motivated when they

  • can act autonomously
  • feel socially integrated
  • feel competent

These needs can be met by designing student-centred and target group-oriented teaching that promotes self-organization, interaction and activation.

You can find further suggestions on how to design motivating teaching and learning arrangements, how to deal with procrastination and how to deal constructively with mistakes in the linked event recordings.

Motivation and procrastination at university (video in German)

Speakers: Lisa Bäukle, Martin Daumiller
Procrastination - why we put off important tasks and how to stop it

Speaker: Gayannée Kedia
More examination activity through motivation building and small incentives (video in German)

Speaker: Gerhard Furtmüller
Learning motivation despite or through performance assessment? Why performance assessments are essential for learning motivation (video in German)

Speaker: Olivia Vrabl
Dealing with mistakes, the consequences of mistakes, fear of making mistakes and the risk of mistakes (video in German)

Speaker: Silke Kruse-Weber
Developing potential: promoting talent and excellence at the university (video in German)

Speakers: Astrid Fritz, Florian Schmid
Back to the topic page

Teaching techniques in higher education