Journal of Engineering Education Transformations

Abstract

Abstract: Inadequate experience in handling Student- Centred Learning (SCL) approaches may hinder teachers from demonstrating the full spectrum of the facilitation as proposed in the Heron facilitation model. Therefore, this study was undertaken to investigate the utility of the Heron facilitation model in SCL among teachers and students of higher educational institutions who are relatively inexperienced in SCL. The participants were 177 teachers from a higher engineering educational institution, and a survey using questionnaires was carried out to gauge their experience with the SCL facilitation methods. The results obtained by using the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) indicate the presence of four new dimensions instead of six, as proposed in the Heron model, namely planning, shared decision-making, flexible teamwork, and shared outcome. The first construct indicates teacher-empowered teaching, while the other three indicate students’ empowered learning. The finding provides a set of new guidelines for novice teachers in planning the facilitation of SCL.

Keywords: dimension of facilitation, facilitator, heron facilitation model, higher education, mode of facilitation, student-centred learning