Guiding Principles for Learner-Centered Education

Developed by the Arizona Faculties Council and 
Accepted by the Arizona Board of Regents on August 13, 1999

Each university, within the parameters of its individual mission, actively seeks to improve student learning. The Board of Regents, within the parameters of its statewide mission, actively seeks to provide support and oversight for each university's efforts to improve student learning.

Faculty, with administrative support, will strive to:

1. Focus their instructional efforts on achievement of student learning outcomes.
2. Recognize, value, and adapt to the diversity of student learning styles and needs in their community.
3. Understand that no one instructional model is appropriate in every circumstance and select approaches that maximize student opportunities for learning.
4. Match learning goals with pedagogical approaches known to be effective in achieving those goals (such as active learning, problem-based learning, technology- delivered education, alternative schedules, and
   tutorial modes).
5. Optimize the opportunity for quality student-faculty interactions in support of learning.
6. Optimize the opportunity for quality peer interactions in support of learning.
7. Design curricular approaches, which take into, account the potential time investments of both students and faculty.
8. Share information cooperatively on approaches and innovations proven successful in enhancing student learning.

Arizona's public universities, with the participation of the faculty, will strive to:

9. Emphasize a holistic approach to creating a learning community, connecting their courses, curricula, residential, and social environments to broad learning goals for students.
10. Cultivate an environment of experimentation and flexibility in designing learning opportunities for students.
11. As publicly funded institutions, consider the resource requirements of learner- centered education and balance available resources with the educational options provided to students.
12. Through the promotion and tenure, annual review, and merit systems, recognize and promote the kinds of faculty enterprise necessary to support learner-centered initiatives.
13. Provide appropriate support resources and faculty time to enable continuing redesign of curricula using principles, methods and practices that are more learner-centered.
14. Increasingly assess, as appropriate, the effectiveness of different instructional approaches in achieving student learning outcomes.
15. Balance learner-centered education strategies with each institution's other responsibilities.

The Arizona Board of Regents, with input from faculty and the universities, will strive to:

16. Ensure that Board policies and practices are supportive of university efforts to improve student learning.
17. Ensure that current accountability measures and goals do not conflict with the continuing redesign of curricula to be more learner-centered.
18. Promote the development of appropriate definitions and assessments of learning outcomes at the
    individual student level.
19. Promote the development of appropriate measures of learning performance and learning productivity at the program and campus level.
20. Monitor progress on university efforts to assess learning outcomes, improve learning performance and increase learning productivity.

rev. 08/2002

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