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Blog entries written by Prof. Jonathan Acuña
A Student-Centered Learning Activity
in Literature
Student-centered learning requires an instructor to become more of a guide
that helps support student knowledge building and provides ample chances for
learners to become autonomous. In spite of the traditional teacher role of
controlling the entire learning process, the instructor must give room for students
to take control of their learning in his/her course. Yet it is important for instructors
to maintain some control in the design and development of the student-centered
lessons, assignments, and activities to guarantee learner autonomy.
Having in mind this teaching and learning philosophy, let us take a look at
an activity designed for an Introduction to Literature course in the ELT major at
Universidad Latina in Costa Rica that endorses autonomous and blended learning.
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Blog entries written by Prof. Jonathan Acuña
Week #11 American Literature / 19th Century American Poets: Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman is praised for being, according to many literary scholars, the best
19th Century poet in the United States and the best poetic representative of the
Transcendentalists. In his poetry, Whitman addressed many different types of
themes and wrote with a great array of personas and moods.
Your task is to read two pieces of poetry by Whitman and explain what message
is being conveyed by the poem persona.
1. One’s Self I Sing [page 14]
2. I Hearn America Singing [page 33]
Save your homework as a word or pdf document in this way: lastname_first
name initial_Whitman01.doc [Ex. Acuña_J_Whitman01.doc].
Your homework needs to be published by [day], [month 00] by [time of day].
After that time you won’t be allowed to upload any document.
Additional Resources:
Leaves of Grass by W. Whitman
http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/whitman/leaves-of-grass6x9.pdf
The Walt Whitman Archive http://www.whitmanarchive.org/
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Blog entries written by Prof. Jonathan Acuña
Traditionally, in a F2F class students and the instructor will discuss
Whitman’s ars poetica and the literary movement he belongs to, and the teacher
will provide students with his formalistic or/and historical/biographical approach
interpretation on the selected pieces of poetry. Then, students will probably be
asked about the same poems on quizzes or mid-term examinations, and they will
possibly end up reproducing the very same discourse they heard in class without
really exercising their critical thinking and learner autonomy.
Although in my particular Intro to Lit course there is a class where Whitman’s
ars poetica is indeed presented to the students and discussed for them to
understand his literary movement and his historical period, they are encouraged
to discuss among themselves and consult additional online resources to find a way
to validate their poetic interpretations rather than to “replicate the same discourse
they were exposed to in class.” And that is basically what this activity intends to
do by following the structure in which it has been phrased following a IBP
(Internet-Based Project) and PBL (Project-Based Learning) model.
Proposed IBP / PBL Structure
1. Week of the term
2. Theme or topic identification
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Blog entries written by Prof. Jonathan Acuña
3. Introduction to reading task
4. The task
5. Way in which homework/project needs to be saved to be uploaded to the
class LMS
6. Homework/project’s deadline
7. Additional resources
a. eBook where to find the material for analysis
b. any other valuable site for students
The usual literary analyses yielded by students are a good reflection of their
training in terms of critical thinking and use of Internet sources to validate their
interpretations. Additionally, student self-reliance in their “own” analysis grows
with the use of the IBL and PBL learning philosophies to empower students to
really attain autonomy in their learning with the guidance of their instructor.
Folsom, E. & Price, K. (n.d). The Walt Whitman Archive. Retrieved from
http://www.whitmanarchive.org/
Whitman, W. (2007). Leaves of Grass. Retrieved from Penn State University Site: http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/whitman/leaves-of-grass6x9.pdf
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Blog entries written by Prof. Jonathan Acuña
To fully comprehend the scope of this teaching reflections, it is highly advisable that
the following topics must be expanded further:
Autonomous Learning
Internet-Based Projects
Project-Based Learning
How to teach literature in online scenarios
Professor Jonathan Acuña-Solano
ELT Trainer, Instructor & Curriculum Developer based in Costa Rica
Active NCTE – Costa Rica Member
Resource Teacher & Curricular Developer at CCCN
Senior ELT Instructor at Universidad Latina, Costa Rica, since 1998
Contact Information:
Twitter @jonacuso
Email: [email protected]
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Blog entries written by Prof. Jonathan Acuña
Article published on Wednesday, May 7, 2014
How to quote this blog entry:
Acuña, J. (2014, May 4). A Student-Centered Learning Activity in Literature. Retrieved from Reflective Online Teaching Website: http://reflective-online-
teaching.blogspot.com/2014/05/a-student-centered-learning-activity-in.html
