Are young professionals engaging in self-planned learning projects? Twenty-first century implications for self-directed learning among post-four-year undergraduate students (original) (raw)
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The challenges, supports, and strategies of self-directed learning among college students
Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn), 2023
In addition to be proficient at their core subjects, college students need to master the 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, information literacy, and many other skills. Studies on self-directed learning (SDL) have indicated that SDL is a strong predictor for 21st-century skill mastery. This study aimed at exploring the challenges, supports, and strategies of SDL among college students. This qualitative study used interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) to obtain data on SDL. The respondents in this study were college students in a private university. The interview and the focus group discussions were then transcribed, analyzed, and coded to find emerging themes. The results of this study indicate several important points. First, social media can empower students in their learning, but can also distract them from their learning. College students needed support from parents, peer groups, and even alumni to seek knowledge independently. Making priorities and maintaining good relationship with classmates, friends, seniors, and alumni are some of the strategies that college students used.
Exploring Self-Directed Learning among Undergraduate Education Students
International Journal of Law, Humanities & Social Science, 2017
The teaching and learning approach at the University of Namibia call for students to take initiative, responsibility, ownership of own learning and become independent learners. At the time of this research the observation made was that students are dependent on lecturers and do not take responsibility for own learning. Therefore, it is important to explore self-directed learning among students. In this paper, we used an exploratory case study design to explore self-directed learning among students at one of the University of Namibia education campuses. The objectives of the research were: 1) to explore the readiness of first year student teachers to learn independently, 2) to understand student teachers' experiences and challenges they face and that hamper their self-directed learning and 3) to identify various ways of facilitating independent learning, enhancing self-directed learning and fostering opportunities for self-directed learning among student teachers. By exploring self-directed learning among students, this paper provided insights for bridging the gaps between lecturers' teaching strategies and students' self-directed learning. Literature was reviewed to understand the concept of self-directed learning. Data were gathered through focus group discussions with student. Narrative analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings of this research revealed that students depend too much on lecturers. They expect lecturers to give them handouts, notes and slides used during lectures. The findings of this research have implications on the teaching strategies lecturers use during the teaching and learning process and ways to enhance self-directed learning among students.
An Investigation of Self-Directed Learning Skills of Undergraduate Students
Frontiers in Psychology, 2018
The aims of this study were to reveal university students' self-directed learning skills and determine whether these skills vary based on university type, gender, field of study, year of study, academic success, type of university entrance score, income level, and the desire to pursue a graduate degree. Also, this study explored the relationship between university students' self-directed learning skills and their lifelong learning tendencies. The study group of the survey comprised 2,600 first and fourth-year students from same departments of Hacettepe and Başkent Universities. The study collected its data by using "Self-Directed Learning Skills Scale" designed by Aşkin (2015). Moreover, Diker-Coşkun's "Lifelong Learning Tendencies Scale" was used to explore the relationship between university students' self-directed learning skills and their lifelong learning tendencies. The results revealed that university students' self-directed learning scores were above the median score of the scale. Self-directed learning skills were found not to vary based on university, year of study, income level. However, gender, field of study, university entrance score type, academic success and the desire to pursue a graduate degree made a significant difference on university students' self-directed learning skills. Finally, a moderate positive relationship was detected between self-directed learning skills and lifelong learning tendencies. In summary it can be said that, undergraduate students have self-directed learning skills and these skills are related to lifelong learning.
SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING: DEVELOPING READINESS IN GRADUATE STUDENTS
Self-directed learning, characterized by learner autonomy, critical reflection, and student engagement, is presented as a competency for higher education, and the impact of this concept on curriculum is discussed. This mixed method explanatory study examined the impact of intentional curriculum focusing on self-directed learning, including attendance at a self-directed learning conference. Administration of the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale was given to graduate students at the beginning and end of the term, and pre and posttest scores were compared. The qualitative data were derived from six interviews conducted at the end of the course. Both quantitative and qualitative results indicate the potential of intentional curriculum to impact self-directed readiness and competence. Many scholars understand the importance of self-directed learning (SDL) for adult learners, yet not all learners realize their potential to be self-directed. This article examines whether a course exposing graduate students to the educational principles of self-directed learning, including attendance at a self-directed learning conference, has the ability to increase self-directed learning readiness. Pre and posttest scores on the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) will be reviewed, and student feedback about their perceived growth or stability in the area will also be discussed. The purpose of this mixed method explanatory study was to determine whether exposure to the concepts of self-directed learning through both course content and a conference on the topic of self-directed learning could lead to increased self-directed learning readiness according to the SDLRS. We were hopeful that scores on the SDLRS would increase but hypothesized that a statistically significant change would not occur in scores over a short period (i.e., one semester) of time. Further, through interviews with graduate students, we sought to better understand the effects of exposure to and engagement with self-directed learning on students taking a course focused on the topic of self-directed learning. Results from this study will further the understanding of the impact of intentional SDL curriculum.
Facilitating student development in the self-directed approach to learning
Modern academic tuition does not go along the academic lines of mass schooling. Tuition at universities sets up different objectives. It is crucial for the economic growth of countries. Therefore, significant attention is paid to the utilitarian character of academic knowledge. The effects of academic tuition are perceived as focusing on the student individuality. Being a university student implies playing a certain role, where norms of conduct, lifestyle, and professed values result from identification with the academic community, a sense of belonging to the elite of youth, characterized by an autonomy of its activity. Autonomous approach to the students’ own development is expressed by self-directedness, self-directed learning and choosing methods which facilitate constructing one’s own knowledge instead of its non-reflective acquisition. Employing concept maps is a method which facilitates subjective building of cognitive personal knowledge structures. The method uses visual techniques of learning, where the structure, or – more precisely – elements of a phenomenon are recorded, in order to grasp relationships and dependencies existing between them. Becoming conscious of these relations allows understanding them, which is a necessary condition of knowledge.
Evaluating undergraduate students’ self-directed learning experiences during research-based learning
2020
Peer review declaration The publisher (AOSIS) endorses the South African 'National Scholarly Book Publishers Forum Best Practice for Peer Review of Scholarly Books'. The manuscript was subjected to rigorous two-step peer review prior to publication, with the identities of the reviewers not revealed to the author(s). The reviewers were independent of the publisher and/or authors in question. The reviewers commented positively on the scholarly merits of the manuscript and recommended that the manuscript be published. Where the reviewers recommended revision and/or improvements to the manuscript, the authors responded adequately to such recommendations. Research Justification This scholarly book is the third volume in an NWU book series on self-directed learning. It is devoted to self-directed learning research and its impact on educational practice. The importance of self-directed learning for learners in the 21st century to equip themselves with the necessary skills to take responsibility for their own learning for life cannot be over emphasised. The target audience does not only consist of scholars in the field of self-directed learning in Higher Education and the Schooling sector, but it also includes all scholars in the field of teaching and learning in the various education and training sectors. The book contributes to the discourse on creating dispositions towards self-directed learning among all learners and adds to the latest body of scholarship in terms of self-directed learning. Although from different perspectives, chapters in the book are closely linked together around selfdirected learning as central theme, following on the work done in Volume 1 of this series (Self-Directed Learning for the 21st Century: Implications for Higher Education), to form a rich knowledge bank of work on self-directed learning. This book serves as a valuable contribution to the body of scholarship in self-directed learning. In accordance with the requirements of the Department of Higher Education and Training, this book contains original content not published before and no part of the work was plagiarised.
2013
Self-directed learning has been a central topic of discussion in adult education for many years. After analyzing several articles and books regarding autonomous learning, I have taken a stance of my own on the matter. In the sections that follow I have summarized my readings of Gerald Grow and Mark Tennant’s articles regarding self-directed learning, to include an explanation of my position on the topic. I argue that the student, not the teacher, is the judge of ability and propose that emotion is a key component of a learner’s readiness to advance to higher levels of self-directed learning. In addition, I concur that self-directed learning can be taught and learned, but emphasize the importance of constructive feedback as a tool and means to do so. EMPOWERING STUDENTS TO BE SELF-DIRECTED LEARNERS 3 Article Summaries Grow (1991) proposes that learners can advance through stages of increasing selfdirection if they are matched with the proper teaching methods at each stage. He support...