Resumen de Impact of effective pedagogy oninformation technology students withweak academic backgrounds
In India today, many students in STEM disciplines at technical institutions below the top rank are seriously lacking in prerequisiteknowledge and skills and motivation to learn. This paper reports on the implementation of a learner-centered teaching approach in aninformation technology program in such an academic setting. Learning objectives covering the full spectrum of Bloom’s Taxonomy ofEducational Objectives were used to guide the preparation of lessons, assignments, and examinations, and active and inquiry-basedlearning were used for lectures and assignments. Compared with previous students who had been taught traditionally, the studentstaught in this manner showed dramatically improved performances in analytical problem solving and critical and creative thinking, andthey reported a greater interest in the subject and a greater level of enthusiasm about the lectures. Although there is still considerableroom for improvement, the results indicate a great potential for proven learner-centered pedagogies to improve the chances of successfor STEM students who are at high risk of failure in developing countries.
