Investigating how student-centered and teacher-centered teaching paradigms relate to the academic motivation and learning behaviors of secondary school students in China ( Explorando las relaciones entre los modelos pedagógicos centrados en el estudiante y centrados en el docente y la motivación académica y conductas de aprendizaje de los estudiantes de secundaria en China )

Abstract

To foster the pursuit of a better understanding of how the shift of teaching paradigms from teacher-centred instruction to student-centred instruction might have effects on Chinese students’ learning, this study investigated the associations between teaching paradigms (student-centred and teacher-centred) and students’ academic motivation and learning behaviours in Chinese secondary schools. Measures assessing the teaching paradigms perceived by students and participants’ academic motivation and learning behaviours were administered to 492 secondary school students who were experiencing the paradigm shift. The results of data analyses indicated that student-centred instruction in comparison to teacher-centred instruction presented higher significance levels in relating to students’ academic motivation and learning behaviours in general. However, student-centred instruction was not found significantly related to Chinese students’ autonomous, independent, planning and managing behaviours in learning. Furthermore, it was found that grade significantly moderated the relations between student-centred instruction and learning behaviours of students.