Running Header:​ ​ENHANCING STUDENT LEARNING THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS 1

Enhancing Student Learning Through Learning Centers

Kelsey Cornelio

Franciscan University of Steubenville

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One of the biggest misconceptions that teachers have is that reading only being taught

during English Language Arts. Reading skills and fluency are key to learning experience of all

students because if a student is not fluent, they will have a hard time comprehending what they

are reading whether it be a passage they are reading or question on a test. One way to help

students enhance their reading and fluency development is through learning centers, also referred

to as learning stations. Typically, learning centers are stations specifically placed around the

room which students will move between in small groups (Suprabha & Subramonian, 2014)​.

Station teaching gives students the chance to complement each other’s teaching and they are able

to better understand certain concepts, which promotes deeper learning and clarity ​(Suprabha &

Subramonian, 2014)​. It is pivotal that teachers conduct learning centers in their classroom often

to help students develop reading fluency, and ultimately, comprehension skills.

Purpose

Learning centers have been a tool to use in the classroom for many years. But what

makes learning centers effective to those students who have a disability, have English as their

second language, the struggling reader, or even the typically developing student? If there is no

thought put into the learning centers that teachers set up in their classrooms, then students will

not have any takeaways from the activity stations. Learning centers are a good tool to utilize for

differentiating instruction (​Nzai & Reyna, 2014)​. Teachers must have a purpose for everything

they do in the classroom with their students. The time in the classroom is for learning, so

teachers being intentional with the activities they choose. The students have the opportunity to be

in an environment that allows them to work at their own pace, work with others, and find their

place in the classroom (​Nzai & Reyna, 2014)​. In order for learning centers to be fully effective,
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teachers need to carefully think about the activities they plan to put at the stations (​Edgier, 2011)​.

The assignments need to be thought through thoroughly in terms of being relevant to the subject

that they are set up for, helping the students develop some interest in learning, motivating the

students on the current unit, and giving the students the opportunity to showcase their skills and

talents (​Edgier, 2011)​. The question posed for this study is, h​ow do learning centers help enhance

all students’ learning?

To find out if these claims are effective in the classroom, other existing studies were

conducted and analyzed carefully when conducting the current study. This study will consist of a

survey given to teachers in Connecticut on how they utilize learning centers in their own

classroom. The participants of this study taught grades K-5 and the classes had a diverse group

of students including students with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), 504 Plan, or students

who are English Language Learners (ELL).

Previous research has proven that partner reading and group work that incorporate

students with disabilities or students who are ELLs develop better reading and fluency skills. I

hypothesize based off information gathered from pre existing studies, that learning centers will

help ELL students and students with disabilities become more engaged in the classroom

activities, as well as helping all students develop fluency. The ultimate goal of this research is to

see what effect learning centers have on student reading fluency and learning the information

presented to them. I hypothesize that teachers utilize learning centers to help students who are

struggling readers in their classroom, centering their learning centers around literacy.
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Review of Literature

In many school systems, teachers like to use learning centers as a tool to engage students

in hands-on activities that will help them understand the content they are learning. Something

that is becoming more popular is the use of learning centers as tools to help with language

learning. Learning centers, according to Suprabha and Subramonian (2014), are helpful to all

students, particularly ELLs, because teachers can deliver differentiated instruction to their

students, which is very important. These learning centers “can focus on reading, writing, or

social skills depending on the targeted needs of individual students while also providing support

for a wide range of skills for all students” (Suprabha & Subramonian, 2014) In this article, there

are pointers listed and explained on how to conduct station teaching in a classroom to

accommodate all students, and the main purpose is to show that teachers need to put a lot of

effort and planning into the stations and monitor them so students can get the most out of them.

Learning centers bring together a lot of different learners, those who are excited about their work

and those who are not. This will help prepare students to enter the workforce since they will be

working with all different types of people throughout their lives. Suprahba and Subramonian

(2014) concluded that with a model of teaching and co-teaching, there will have been enough

time to instruct smaller groups of students, especially students who are language learners, and

teachers are able to provide the help and support their students needs when learning new content.

The authors of this article did not necessarily conduct research with data collection, but

they provided a lot of helpful information and tips for teachers to help all of their students,

mostly on how to accommodate ELLs. The list of benefits to ELLs are very explicit and show

the areas that most ELLs struggle in. Although it might have been more helpful to have actual
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data to interpret and look at, this article is easy to read and good for teachers to look at and see

the importance of station teaching in their classrooms. If the article had more of an explanation

of where the authors got their data, it would have made a lot more sense to the reader. The

definition the authors provided for station teaching was clear and explained what they are in a

simple way.

One of the most significant developments in education in recent years is that teachers

now like to focus on full inclusion in the classroom. This goes along with the topic of the article

written by Yasin, Toran, Tahr, Tahir and Nawawi’s (2014) about using the learning station

method for special education students and students with learning disabilities. The authors this

study looked to see how effective the learning station method would be in making students more

motivated, to help students master skills, and to help with behavioral issues. This particular study

was quasi-experimental that used control and treatment groups. This study also used pre and post

tests to get the most accurate results. The participants were sixteen students in Malaysia who

were diagnosed with a developmental delay, and were from the Special Education Learning

Disabilities Program in Astana Primary School. The ages of the students were different but there

was little to no difference in cognitive ability. Eleven of these students were male and five of

them were female. In both the control and experimental groups were eight students, five that

were 8-10 years old, nine were from 11-13 years old, and two were from 14-16 years old. There

were three stages of data collection. The first stage was the pretest, the second stage was the

sixteen weeks of the implementation of learning stations, and the final stage was the post-test.

The authors concluded that the learning stations method was very efficient in helping students

master skills, get students interested, and help the students have a positive behavior.
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In this particular article, I really liked how the authors laid out everything for the reader

in a fashion that was organized and easy to interpret. The tables are a little complex and hard to

understand with the interpretation of the data, but they explained the difference between the

control and experimental group. The abstract and conclusion of the article helps the reader to see

how the students progressed with the learning stations method. This article really helped with the

special education portion of this research. The purpose of this study is to show how learning

stations benefit all students. This article provides solid evidence with data on how the students

improved over a sixteen week period with learning centers as their method of teaching.

In 2010, Gurbuz Ocak conducted a study in Turkey on the effect of learning centers and

student success. The participants in this particular study included 40 fifth grade students, chosen

from two different classes. The students were 11 or 12 years old, and they all came from

different socioeconomic backgrounds. The female to male ratio was equal, 20:20, and the

students’ cognitive abilities were all equal. Ocak (2010) decided to make a pre-test for the

students so the students being tested would all be on the same pace developmentally. This study

consisted of two groups: a control group that was taught traditionally, and an experimental group

that was taught using learning stations. Ocak used the pre-test-post-test method to see the effect

the teaching styles had on the students success rate. Ocak found that the 20 students who were in

the experimental group did significantly better than those who were in the control group. The

learning stations revolved around active learning, and promoting that students work at their own

pace. For the experimental group, the group that was taught using learning centers, the mean

success rate was 87.00, as opposed to the control group or traditional teaching, which had a mean

success rate of 65.25.

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This article contributes a great deal to this research. Ocak organized all of the information

very carefully, which allows the reader to interpret what is happening in the study. The data

tables are very clear and concise, which makes it very easy to see the findings and the impact the

learning centers had on the experimental group. This article is clear evidence that learning

centers promote student learning, no matter where the students are cognitively. The article

provides evidence that students working collaboratively and learn from each other through the

constructivist approach. The article suggests that learning stations should be used consistently in

elementary classrooms because they help students with confidence. Since this study was very

clear and concise, it is suggested that the study is done in more schools around the world to see

the impact on other students to help prove that learning stations are an effective learning

enhancement tool to classrooms. ​Although the study was very organized and well done, it would

have helped my research to see if this experiment worked in other grades. In this study, only fifth

grade classes were tested, but if there were other grades that were included in the experiment, it

would show the effectiveness that learning centers have on all ages.

Methodology

The research methodology for this study was an informal survey, which was sent out to

teachers in Connecticut. The teachers that participated in this study taught grades K-5 (Figure 1).
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Figure 1

The point of this informal survey was to see how these teachers use learning stations in their

classrooms, and to see how effective they are for their students with disabilities and/or ELLs.

The informal survey consisted of thirteen different classrooms from a school district in

Connecticut. The teachers that participated in this survey have teaching experience as early as

their first five years, to 15+ years.

Figure 2
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The survey had seven required questions, with an eighth optional questions if the participant

chose to answer it. The first four questions of the survey ask the participants basic questions,

about how long they have been teaching, what grade they teach, how many students have a 504

or an IEP in their class (Figure 3), and how many, if any, students in their classroom are ELLs

(Figure 4). The purpose of having the participants answer these questions was to get a feel for the

experience the teachers had. For the purpose of this study, since it is mainly focused on how

learning centers enhance student learning, it is pertinent to know how many students have a

learning disability or are ELL students, since a lot of the research found beforehand revolved

around the students. The rest of the questions in the survey ask the participants how involved

their classroom is with learning centers.

Figure 3
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Figure 4

The data collected in this survey was to be able to see how the different teachers used

learning centers, what they purpose of the learning centers were. The majority of the teachers

who participated in this study use learning centers frequently in their classrooms, but there were

some who did not (Figure 5).

Figure 5
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Because the participants to this survey were from the same school district, it is not

representative of the population as a whole. The participants were chosen because it is known

that the schools that the teachers work in have used learning centers in the past.

Findings

The research done for this study contributes to finding out how teachers use learning

centers in their own classrooms, and how the learning stations have impacted their students. The

teachers were asked questions to provide background information, but the questions that pertain

to this specific research included asking what subjects the teachers used learning centers.

Figure 6

From the data collected as seen in Figure 6, the subject that is used for learning centers amongst

the teachers who participated is English Language Arts. This particular question was styled

where the teachers could pick more than one subject. Math, Other, and science centers are the
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second most frequently used, at 38.5%. The teachers who participated in this study used Social

Studies learning centers the least frequently, at 15.4%.

The teachers were also asked how they have seen their students benefit from the learning

centers conducted in the classroom (Figure 7).

Figure 7

As one can see from Figure 7, the teachers who participated in the study said that their students

benefit most from active participation and engagement (61.5%). Despite my hypothesis, the

teachers who participated in this study never conduct learning centers in which their students

participate in literacy and fluency activities. However, along with fluency comes with vocabulary

development and the teachers said that their students have benefited from vocabulary

development in their learning centers. Collaboration and differentiated instruction were also very

common in which the teachers see that their students benefit from.

The eighth optional question asked the participants if they wanted to share anything else

from their experience as a teacher with learning centers that could contribute to my study. Six
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out of the thirteen participants chose to respond, and some of the information that the teachers

gave was very helpful. One of the participants responded: “Learning centers help foster

independence for students own learning. It also allows students to collaborate and strengthen

their listening and speaking skills.” This response from one of the teachers reinforces the point

that students who participate in learning centers benefit greatly from them because of the

collaboration aspect. This response highlights speaking skills as well, and this pertains directly to

ELL students. A study done by Nzai and Reyna (2014) centered on Mexican American students

in South Texas, and how they learn vocabulary best. The study found that the vocabulary center

that was most effective to Mexican American students (Campbell’s (1991) learning centers (​Nzai

& Reyna, 2014).​ These learning centers were based off of Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory,

which focuses on students’ intrapersonal and interpersonal differences in regards to how ready

the student is, culture, language, intelligence, learning style, developmental level, and

experiences (​Nzai & Reyna, 2014).​ These learning centers are useful to those students who are

ELLs. They are practical educational tools utilized for individualized instruction, since they give

the students the opportunity to share a little bit about themselves and work at their own

developmental pace (​Nzai & Reyna, 2014).​ The teacher that gave this free response gives

professional evidence that learning centers are cognitively useful for all students who are

developing language skills, and the study done by Nzai and Reyna (2014) reinforces this claim.

Recommendations

In order to move forwards with this research, a couple of things need to be taken into

account. From the research completed for this study, I found that it is not common that teachers

use learning centers for literacy activities. This was very interesting to me because of how
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effective learning centers can be to students who a developmentally behind or who do not speak

English. I think that future research should be done to see how effective literacy and fluency

learning centers would be on all students. Since learning centers can be used to integrate other

subject areas and build student interest, the possibilities for learning centers are up to the

teacher’s imagination (​Jarrett, 2010). ​Thus, teachers can orient learning centers to help their

students who are struggling readers become more fluent.

One of the limitations to my methodology was the amount of responses that were

received. I would have liked to get more than thirteen responses to see more of a variety of

answers. I also think it would have been beneficial to send the survey to teachers from different

school districts to see if there was a difference in the region as to whether certain areas used

learning centers more than others. I also should have added a part to the seventh question where

the participants could elaborate a little more on the learning centers they use in their classrooms,

to get more specific details and information. Another thing I could have done with this question

is allow the participants to check multiple boxes on how they see their students benefit from the

learning centers in their classrooms.

Raw Data

1. How many years have you been teaching?

a. 1-5
b. 6-10
c. 11-15
d. Above 15
2. What grade level do you teach?
a. Preschool
b. Kindergarten
c. First grade
d. Second grade
e. Third grade
f. Fourth grade
g. Fifth grade
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3. How many students in your class have a learning disability that qualifies for an IEP or a
504 Plan?
a. 1-5
b. 6-10
c. Above 10
d. None
4. How many, if any, English Language Learners do you have in your classroom?
a. 1-5
b. 6-10
c. Above 10
d. None
5. How often does your class participate in learning centers
a. Once a week
b. More than once a week
c. Once a month
d. 2-3 time a month
e. Everyday
f. Never
6. For what subject(s) do you use learning centers? For this survey, learning centers are
defined as several stations around the room in which students get to move through in
small groups (Subramonian & Suprabha, 2014) (can select multiple)
a. English Language Arts
b. Math
c. Science
d. Social Studies
e. Other
7. How have you seen your students benefit from the learning centers conducted in your
classroom?
a. Active Participation/Engagement
b. Fluency Development
c. Vocabulary Development
d. Collaboration
e. Other
8. Is there anything else you would like to share that would help with my research?
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References

Donegan-Ritter, M. (2015). STEM for all children: Preschool teachers supporting engagement of

children with special needs in physical science learning centers. ​Division of Early

Childhood, 20​(1).

Edgier, M. (2011). Learning centers in the social studies. ​College Student Journal, 45​(1).

Jarrett, O. (2010). Methods and strategies: “Inventive” learning stations. ​Science and Children,

47​(5), 56-59.

Nzai, V., Reyna, C. (2014) Teaching english vocabulary to elementary mexican american

students in south texas: some responsive modern instructional strategies. ​Journal of

Latinos and Education, ​13: 44-53.

Ocak, G. (2010). The effect of learning centers on the level of academic success and retention of

elementary school students. ​New Educational Review​, ​21​(2) 146-156.

Suprabha, K. & Subramonian, G. (2014). How does station teaching effect language learning?

I-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, 4​(3).

Yasin, M., Toran, T., Tahr, M., Tahir, M., & Nawawi, S. (2014). Learning station method in

special education programs for students with learning disabilities. ​Pertanika Journals,

22​(3), 717-728.
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Appendix
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Is there anything else you would like to share that would help with my 
research?

● Learning centers help foster independence for students own learning. It also allows
students to collaborate and strengthen their listening and speaking skills.
● Small groups are a great way to reteach skills and practice them in an individualized way.
● I don’t use centers or stations anymore as I have moved to a workshop model. This
consists of the teacher teaching a mini lesson and students trying it out on their own
during independent working time. They partner up to share and the teacher pulls small
groups and confers during workshop.
● I teach K-12.
● In addition to vocabulary development, they also work on collaboration skills.
● Grade level and 'have you seen' question items might be better a mult-response
('checkbox') items