SELF-DIRECTED STUDY IN THE CLASSROOM

Harvard Professor Dustin Tingley, Faculty Founder of ABLConnect, shares a few quick tips about student leadership in the classroom. The full ABLConnect Research…

Self Directed Learning - life-long learning, keeping a journal, setting goals, planning and taking action are key objectives. Self-improvement, personal development and the development of character are central themes of SDL.

Successful self directed learning requires certain traits. How well do these 15 describe you, your students, your children, or your friends and colleagues?

Contents: introduction · Knowles and self-direction · understanding self-directed learning · a critique of self-directed learning · the characteristics of self-direction · conclusion · further reading and references · Stephen D. Brookfield · acknowledgements · how to cite this piece

Video made by Stomping Ground. An overnight camp dedicated to self-direction and growing empathy and possibility through play https://www.campstompingground....

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Peter is a school principal with a radical solution, no school bell...

Shelley Wright is a teacher/education blogger living in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Currently, she serves as the high school learning consultant for Prairie Sou...

Growth of the freelance & gig economy makes self-direction imperative. Check out these ideas for teachers & admins trying to develop self-directed learners.

Programs like Hands On Technologies, Villa Monte, and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship demonstrate the positive outcomes of letting children choose their own learning paths.

In this article, we discuss how the promotion of self-directed learning can be a benefit to every student of every level.

The ability of a student to become a self-directed learner relies on the development of their metacognitive skills, or the ability to reflect and assess their own learning and thinking.   Ambrose et al. 2010 states “to become self-directed learners, students must learn to assess the demands of the task, evaluate their own knowledge and skills, plan their approach, monitor their progress, and adjust their strategies as needed” and that this process is cyclical and dependent on the student’s beliefs about intelligence and learning.  Some students may develop these skills on their own but many will benefit from guided (but not forced) instruction geared towards developing these metacognitive skills.  Specifically, Ambrose et al. suggests a number of techniques in the classroom for developing each of the steps within the cyclical metacognitive process:

Education is about more than setting up a fish (knowledge) distribution center and handing fish out to all who come to the institution. Education is about fishing lessons, equipping people with the competence and confidence to fish (learn) for the rest of their lives. This is not simply about job preparation. This is preparation for life: family, church, community, work, avocations, leisure time, and relationships. That is the liberal arts vision behind education. As such, an education that simply disseminates knowledge is a limited one.

High school reading teacher Deidra Gammill describes what happened when she decided to put aside one class period a week and let students explore topics of their own interest.

“Learning is most effective when it’s personalised; it means something to the learner. That happens when people feel they are participants and investors in their own learning, shaping what and how they learn, and able to articulate its value to them.” — Leadbeater, Charles

Student choice and research projects have empowered these middle schoolers to commit to self directed learning.

Since 1971, Bishop Carroll High School has been offering students in Calgary and the surrounding area a self-directed personalized program of studies.

Teachers need to motivate students to pursue self-directed learning principles to have a lifelong learning desire. Young students need to be taught ...

Explore and apply this valuable toolkit that features 10 anywhere/anytime self-directed learning questions for everyone who loves to think and learn.

We hear the charge for more student-directed, inquiry-based learning, but it can seem like a load of pie-in-the-sky hooey without instructions for how to do it.

Goal setting and action plans help students become more confident learners.

To provide opportunities for self-direction, middle-school educators must offer an orchestrated development plan aimed at the acquisition of attitudes and skills that allow and promote self-direction. Self-direction and self-help are becoming increasingly necessary as "high-tec" cultures move forward. Self-directed learners exhibit initiative, independence, and persistence in learning; accept responsibility for their own learning; are capable of self-discipline and have a high degree of curiosity; possess a strong desire to learn and to change; are self-confident; are able to use basic study skills and organize their time; and enjoy learning and have a tendency to be goal oriented. Movement toward an increase in self-directed learning is a viable task. Directed discourse/discussion is an effective tool for the implementation of an effort to make students aware of the options, goals, and objectives of self-directed learning. Students need opportunities to act on decisions

 
Three weeks into the school year, a student in our Optimized Learning math pilot raised his hand and said to a teacher, “I think I am behind.”

Lesson Plan | Supporting student-centered learning on a small, medium or large scale, and reflecting on the learning process.

Become a better self-directed learner by setting clear goals, making your own learning plan and tracking your results.

Self-directed learning can be challenging, even for the brightest and most motivated students. As a means of better understanding the processes involved in this mode of study, this tip sheet outlines key components of four key stages to independent learning – being ready to learn, setting learning goals, engaging in the learning process, and evaluating learning – and offers some tips for both faculty members and students.