The Effectiveness of Student-centred way of Teaching in helping the Primary

School Year 3 Students to learn better.

CHAPTER 1
1.0 Introduction

The Primary School education system had beginning of the year 2011, as the new system
is called Standard Curriculum for Primary Schools (Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah) or
KSSR. The Standard Curriculum for Primary Schools (KSSR) had been introduced in 2011,
starting with Year 1 Pupils. The KSSR replaced the older Primary School Integrated Curriculum
(KBSR), which was first introduced in 1983, and was reviewed in 2003. Previously KBSR focus
only on reading, writing and calculating, but KSSR add in another element which is logical
consideration. This element focus on how students make decision based on their mind and logic
and also to understand sustain situation based on their logical consideration. So it is important to
train students to be more independent in their learning. Hence student-centred ways of teaching
is very important for students in their learning. As student-centred lesson give more space and
involvement for the students to explore and generate ideas. Thus student-centred ways of
teaching can help students in their learning to fulfil the new KSSR system.
KSSR focused on pupil-centred fun learning, reasoning, critical and creative thinking,
communication, and Information Communication and Technology (ICT), which teacher only
find materials based on pupils interest to allow them to explore themselves (Karen Chapman,
2010). The purpose of the changes is to empower students as well as the teachers and enrich
them with the capabilities to increase their thinking and give them more room and freedom to
exercise their creativity. (Aisyah Sulaiman, 2013). When student-centred lesson occurs in the
classroom students had the chances to involve more in the learning process, this also means that
students have more space and freedom to do their thinking and also exercise their creativity. This

is to ensure students have more space to learn with their own responsibility. The first batch of
students that involved in the changing of curriculum are now currently in Year 3. They are in the
revolution of the education where the ministry try something new in the ways of teaching and
learning for both teachers and students comparing with the traditional system. In the previous
system, teacher-centred ways of teaching already can fulfil the requirement of the system as the
traditional system focus only on reading, writing and calculating. Student can learn all the skills
by following lesson where teacher do all the talking. When the new system had been introduced
student-centred lesson become one of the important ways of teaching and learning to help
students to be able to generate ideas and become a more independent learner. As the new system
require students to students make decision based on their mind and logic and also to understand
sustain situation based on their logical consideration. By viewing at the requirement of the new
system student-centred way of teaching somehow plays an important role in it.
According to Armstrong (2012) the traditional education ignores or suppresses learner
responsibility. In the traditional ways, teachers would go straight in the learning process and
students take for granted of their role in their education. Normally in the traditional way, teacher
ready all the things for the students during the process, because of teacher-based lesson students
sometimes start to forget about their own responsibilities in the learning process. Thus students
take for granted of their role in their education because they are just to receive whatever
information that had been delivered to them during the lesson. If the lesson is conducted in
student-centred way of teaching, students will plays an important role in the learning process as
student-centred lesson means the focus is more on the students. Students will need to complete
the learning more independently by themselves. Based on Chris Brough (2011)s research,
student-centred curriculum integration places students at the centre of their learning. Students
need to be more independent during the learning process and not just depending on the teacher.
When students become more independent in their learning progress, they started to generate
ideas or even their own decision making by them. Thus student-centred ways of teaching should
somehow affect in helping the primary Year 3 students to learn better.

1.1 Background of the study

21st centuries are marked for the advances in knowledge and technology. These advances
had call for a revamp in the world of education, which is about facing novel real-world
problems; nurturing creative thinking skills and cultivating productive ways of teaching (Dr. Paul
L. N. K., Hwa T. Y. & Lau S. H., 2005).In the research study, creative thinking skills and
cultivating productive ways of teaching is very important. It is important because to make
student have creative thinking skills student needs to be more independent and involve more in
the lesson as student-centred teaching can fulfil in it. In attempting to innovate teaching and
learning in order to prepare a new generation for the demands of this new era, the demands are
students nowadays need to be able to construct idea and make logical consideration of decision
making according to their understanding. Thus to this matter many programs have been
introduced, even new education system had been introduced such as KSSR. Huge information
about how student-centred lesson help students learn better is available through the internet.
Reader can get information on how to create a student-centred lesson by just key in studentcentred lesson in the search engine. In order to tap into the potential of such information to foster
success in the education, teacher must try to prepare more student-centred lesson for the students.
In a student-centred classroom, teacher role is to help and encourage students to develop their
skills, but without relinquishing teacher more traditional role as a source of information, advice,
and knowledge. In a student-centred classroom, the teacher and students are a team working
together. Together teacher role is to make sure everyone benefits from the lesson, supporting one
another. (Leo Jones, 2007)
Nowadays, in a lot of country including Malaysia the education system is moving
towards the lesson of constructivism, which allows the students to participate more in the lesson,
and let the students construct the ideas and concept of understanding. This change is focusing on
learning from the behavioural to the constructivist perspective has presented Malaysian
educators with serious challenges as well as opportunities in restructuring their curriculum to
meet the rising demands of the new era (Ken Neo Tse-Kian, 2003). In other words, this means
that more students-centred lesson are needed for creating more quality students. This is because

in the pass, almost most of the lessons were only chalk and talk lesson, where teacher do all the
talking and students just only need to listen and accept. The traditional teacher-centred method of
teaching in our educational system has been modified and enhanced. The modified had been
done by the ministry by changing the old system of KBSR to the new system of KSSR. Although
KSSR system and KBSR system had some similarity but KSSR had been enhanced with new
element. Current modern educational theory is moving from the traditional recall of facts,
principles, or correct procedures into the areas of creative thinking, problem solving, analysis
and evaluation (Bates, 2000). Now, because of this fast forward society, the old style of teaching
and learning is not so suitable for the students of new era. In the fast forward society, students
can get any information as they like through a lot of media like internet, television program and
others. Students sometimes learn and know faster before teacher teaches them in the lesson. In
the context of the research study, to fulfil the areas of creative thinking, problem solving,
analysis and evaluation, student-centred lesson is very important to make all of these happen.
Although our education system is greatly revolutionized, however there are still many
teachers out there who are still teaching in the old ancient way. This means that, teacher still
using teacher-centred way of teaching in the lesson, where teacher doing all the talking and
students just receive whatever had been delivered to them. Nowadays, everything runs very fast.
Information and news from far away will also reach us by only second of times. Students learn
things faster than what we can imagine. Students of the new generation learn things faster
compared to the pass. Conducting student-centred lesson are very important for the students to
bring out their own ideas together with the teachers ideas in the learning process. If teaching was
only in the form of teacher-centred lessons, chances for the students to voice and carry out their
ideas will be demolish. In old education systems the teacher is primarily in control of what
students learn. The teacher makes almost all of the decisions for students. Teacher initiates or
starts most of the conversation. Another way of describing this situation is to say that the role of
teacher is active role and role of students is inactive. This type of way is teacher-centred way of
teaching. Teacher wills kill the creativity of students when teacher doing all the thing for
example demonstrate instead of having students do hand-on practice (Bronson, Po &Merryman,
Ashley, 2010). This show that how important are the student-centred lesson compare to the
teacher-centred lesson.

Student-centred way of teaching methods shifts the focus of activity from the teacher to
the students. These methods contain active learning, in which students solve problems, answer
questions, formulate questions of their own, discuss, explain, debate, or brainstorm during class;
cooperative learning, in which students work in teams on problems and projects under conditions
that assure both positive interdependence and individual accountability; and inductive teaching
and learning, in which students are first presented with challenges (questions or problems) and
learn the course material in the context of addressing the challenges(R. M. Felder, 2007).
Student-centred teaching means, more activities or group work for the students in the lessons.
More activities or group work can help students to learn better and become more curious about
things and situation happen during the lesson in example constantly asking questions about
anything and everything. According to Johnson, D., Johnson, R., and Smith, K. (1991), students
feel more positive about being able to complete a task with others than by working individually.
Therefore more student-centred lesson is believed to be able to help students to learn better.

1.2 Problem statement

The ancient ways of teaching that happen exists in almost every school, do make students
feel bored in learning. The traditional way of teaching is still one of the most common teaching
methods. This approach, of course, rarely allows for interaction and active learning that more
hands-on, practical sessions (Sandi Mann, 2009). Thus the old way of more teacher-centred
lesson often makes students feel bored. Student-centred teaching is another way for teachers to
differ their teaching methods. It emphasizes mixture of different types of teaching methods that
change the position of teachers from givers of information to facilitating students in their
learning (Blumberg, 2008). Teacher can become tutor in the classroom by facilitate student to
have pairing learning, besides that teacher can also involve student to have peer tutoring during
the lesson. Scaffolding teaching is also one of the ways for teacher to conduct student-centred
lesson, where teacher help in the beginning and let student continue the rest of the learning by
themselves.

This research study intends to find out whether students-centred teaching ofdifferent
types of classroom activities will affect primary students learning and do these different types of
activities help in students learning. Teacher can have problem solving task for the students during
the lesson. Other than this, students may ask to work in group and present their ideas and
thinking about some tasks. This is because in the ancient days, there were fewer activities in
lessons since most of the time the teacher does all the talking. In the past students would only
listen and accept the teachers words told to them. Hence, now in the modern days, students learn
differently from the students in the past. Time has change, and the things that the students were
exposed to were different with the students in the past. Students nowadays are in the world of
multimedia, they learn faster compare with the past. Thus, sometimes students of this era they
already had some ideas about the lesson before the lesson begin because of the expose to all the
reached knowledge through technology around them.

1.3 Objective of the research

The objective of this research study is to investigate the effectiveness of student-centred

way of teaching in helping primary school Year 3 students to have a better learning environment.
Therefore, the objectives are defined as follows:
1. To identify ways to make students pay more attention on the lesson, through more
student-centred way of teaching.
2. To identify ways to make more activities that can help students to learn better, through
more student-centred lessons.
3. To help students understand the content better, through more student-centred lesson.

1.4 Research questions

This research attempt to find out the effectiveness of student-centred way of teaching in helping
primary school year 3 students to learn better. Therefore, the research questions are delivered as
follows:
1. How can the student-centred way of teaching get more attention from the students?
2. How can the student-centred lesson with more activities help students to learn more and
achieve better in their lesson?
3. How can the student-centred teaching can help students understand the content of the
lesson better?

1.5 Significance of the research

This research intends to identify the Primary Year 3 students needs to help them improve
in their learning. To fulfil the need of the new introduced system of KSSR. So it is important to
train students to be more independent in their learning. It is also an opportunity for the teachers
that use traditional ways of teaching to have new knowledge and learn more about how
important is student-centred teaching to students nowadays. According to Sparrow, L., Sparrow,
H. and Swan, P. (2000) student-centred way of teaching is important for students to assume a
high level of responsibility in the learning situation and be actively choosing their goals and
managing their learning. They can no longer rely on the teacher for everything. Students must
start to think and generation their own ideas. Thus, student-centred way of teaching is
importance in helping students to learn more by themselves rather than rely all on the teacher.

Besides that, this research study helps the teachers in school to understand the real
context that happens in the school on what students really need. Because many teacher still u old
teaching style which is more teacher-centred lesson. Through this research study, teacher will
start to realize the important of student-centred lesson in helping students to achieve better. Thus,
through the use of student-centred lesson the requirement of the KSSR system can be fulfilled.
Finally, the research study helps teachers to come out with ways to conduct student-centred
lesson for pupils in their learning process. This is because student-centred lesson focus on the
learner rather than the teacher. Student-centred teaching is based on the constructivist model in
which students construct rather than receive or assimilate knowledge.

1.6 Conclusion

The habits of teacherin the classroom bring great effect on how students learn in their lesson
nowadays. Students achievement affected by the quality of the teacher and what the teacher do in the
lesson (Rivkin, Steven G., Eric A., Hanushek and John F. Kain, 2001) . Actionsof the teachers in the
lesson bring huge effect to the students in the future. According to Ferguson (1991) Teacher

qualifications and what teacher does in the classroom may play an important role in what
students learn.These effects include the achievement in examination, understanding and interest
of pupils in the class and a lot more.
In this chapter, introduction and the background of the study were explained thoroughly
to give brief ideas about what is the research study about. This was further elaborated with the
problem statement of the research, objective, research questions and the significance of the study,
to highlight the importance of this study and the achievement that will benefit from this research
study.
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