At the end of the semester, since the students had now been enrolled for nearly sixteen weeks in a course designed with a decentered approach, I wondered how this design and their course activities had shaped their understanding of and level of comfort with this approach, again, without my deliberate use of that term. By the end of the semester, five of the respondents indicated that they did not know how to define the term, and three students, fewer than at midsemster, still associated decentered teaching with online learning environments specifically, claiming, “Decentered teaching means to me that you are not face to face with your instructor,” and “Decentered teaching is teaching beyond the classroom. I need to attend another online course in order to make a decision as to whether I am comfortable with this style otherwise I have nothing to make a comparison.”
And yet another respondent associated decentered teaching with those actually doing the teaching: “The teacher doesn't actually teach. We teach ourselves.” Overwhelmingly, however, survey responses suggested that after being enrolled in the course and participating in the activities that I had facilitated for the semester, study participants associated the term with some shift in the instructor role within the course:
- "Decentered Teaching means that the traditional teacher figure is displaced and it is up to the student to learn what he is being asked to learn. I like this style very much due to the self drive the method implies. I like the creativity it offers and the fact that it can be very efficent."
- "Decentered teaching, to me, means that I am learning on my own, with a little but of guidence from my instructor. They [sic] are there to help me if I need it and to add tips. I am very comfortable with it."
- "Decentered teaching takes the focus off of the teacher and lectures, and allows for a community approach to learning. I'm very comfortable with this technique."
- "[. . .] students are able to learn from the instructor by the instructor providing all the resources necessary, but allowing the students to tackle things on their own with an easy way to contact the instructor if they need help. I am very comfortable with this style."
Responses to each of these sruveys reveal that students certainly were aware of a shift in what might be termed a traditional instructor role yet did not identify an equal shift in their own responsiblities from students to co-teachers.