ABSTRACT

This chapter describes a learner-centered approach to medical education, a conceptual model for teaching that parallels the patient-centered clinical method. In the learner-centered approach, teachers and learners collaborate in defining the outcomes for learning. These are based on an assessment of two potentially divergent sets of learning objectives. Teachers need to be aware of the students’ background, their life history and personal and cognitive development, and their learning environment. Teachers may speak of making “learning diagnosis” in terms of the gaps in students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes compared with the competencies to be achieved. This may be very helpful, as far as it goes, but it may fail to convey an accurate understanding of what the learner, as a person, really needs. In addition to understanding the cognitive, developmental, and personal struggles of students, a whole-person approach requires the teacher to comprehend the student’s learning context.