Understanding student-centred learning in higher education: students’ and teachers’ perceptions, challenges, and cognitive gaps Jose Eos Trinidad Department of Interdisciplinary Studies/Institute for the Science and Art of Learning and Teaching, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines ABSTRACT Student-centred learning (SCL) is often understood differently by people, and the differences are even more salient in higher education, where there are some very strong advocates and vocal critics. Theoretical research on SCL in higher education often highlights five key aspects but these have not been empirically scrutinised. Qualitative research with students and faculty from a large private university in the Philippines shows that there are particular facets of SCL that faculty and students eagerly subscribe to, particularly in terms of class engage- ment, skills building, and having motivated students. However, they fail to readily question how assessments and power relations between tea- chers and students are part of SCL. It suggests that SCL is viewed and reduced to effective classroom practices that have little to do with more foundational aspects of the teacher–student relationship and manifold possibilities for learning. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 20 March 2019 Accepted 21 June 2019 KEYWORDS Student-centered learning; higher education; pedagogy; student engagement; implementation constraints Introduction With the rise of cognitive and learning sciences in recent years, there has been increasing interest in determining how best to teach students and promote their learning (Sawyer 2005). As informa- tion becomes more readily available, competition more prominent and technology more pervasive, learning itself becomes more important in order to participate in the present knowledge economy. But the economy also becomes more complex since it is no longer just about the accumulation of knowledge and information. Many education theorists and researchers have tried to explore the best ways students learn, retain ideas, improve skills, and create innovative projects, with the goal of improving engagement and instruction (Slavich and Zimbardo 2012). Student-centred learning (SCL) offers an umbrella term to describe efforts for students to become actively engaged in their learning and for teachers to design and facilitate the learning process (Hoidn 2017). Often, SCL is understood in terms of classroom practices that involve students experiencing, collaborating, testing, creating, and directing their own learning (O’Neill and McMahon 2005). There have been many variations, definitions and terms that relate to SCL, and these have at times led to confusion. For example, active learning involves students reading, writing, discussing, analyzing, evaluating, and creating to exercise higher-order thinking skills (Ott et al. 2018). On the other hand, collaborative learning involves students working with their peers: students do not only participate in content and knowledge-building but also learn skills in cooperation and commu- nication (Ralston, Tretter, and Kendall-Brown 2017; Zheng et al. 2014). Experiential learning involves CONTACT Jose Eos Trinidad jtrinidad@ateneo.edu JOURNAL OF FURTHER AND HIGHER EDUCATION https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2019.1636214 © 2019 UCU