According to the Association for Psychological Science, much of the success of the self-directed learning method can be attributed to the cognitive advantages associated with it. In an article published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, researchers Todd Gureckis and Douglas Markant of New York University found that cognitive psychology offers several explanations for the advantages of self-directed learning. For example, self-directed learning “helps us optimise our educational experience, allowing us to focus effort on useful information that we don’t already possess and exposing us to information that we don’t have access to through passive observation.” The active nature of self-directed learning also helps us in encoding information and retaining it over time.
Drawing together research from cognitive and computational perspectives will provide researchers with a better understanding of the processes that underlie self-directed learning and can help bridge the gap between basic cognitive research and applied educational research. Gureckis and Markant hope that this integration will help researchers to develop assistive training methods that can be used to tailor learning experiences that account for the specific demands of the situation and characteristics of the individual learner.
Why Hasn’t Everyone Adopted It?
If it’s been proven so effective, why isn’t every institution preaching self-directed learning? Jennifer Haynes, Brisbane Independent School, says that when she started teaching in the 1990’s, it was the latest buzzword. “Now most schools do not even discuss it anymore,” she says. “The great idea was abandoned.”
How to Pursue More Self-Directed Learning
Now that we’ve covered some of the background and benefits associated with self-directed learning, let’s look at some of the steps we can take to achieve it.
Identify your learning goals: You can’t achieve what you haven’t envisioned. Identifying what you want to learn is the first step of the process.
Question the significance of things: Make a habit of not taking things for face value and you’ll start to ask questions because you acutally care about the answer.
Seek out interesting challenges: Who says challenges are unpleasant by definition? Identify a problem you care about and reward yourself by solving it. That’s what genuine learning is all about.
Monitor your own learning process: Learning is much more enjoyable when you’ve set your own standards. Whether you receive the grade you want or not, try to measure your progress against your own personal learning goals.
Understand your own approach: Many of us assume we know our own learning style and preferences, but do we really? Take a moment to consider what format or medium helps you learn best.
Use game-based motivation strategies: Reward systems can work wonders when it comes to self-directed learning. Give yourself fun reasons to challenge yourself and work hard.
Start with background on a topic: Get to know your topic by reading the Wiki page on it first. It’s important to have context before you dive into details.
Cultivate intrinsic motivation: Intrinsic motivation doesn’t come naturally to everyone, but it can be learned. Help yourself enjoy learning more by collecting interesting facts or planning to share your knowledge with other people.
Share your learning with peers and mentors: Knowing you are going to share what you’ve learned with someone else can make a huge difference when it comes to learning. Your attention and memory both receive a boost when you picture yourself relaying new material to another person.
Create something out of what you’ve learned: Make a habit of creating something–a diagram, a song, a journal entry– with the new material you’ve learned. Not only will it help solidify the material in your long term memory, but it will also help you look forward to future learning endeavors.
Build your own personal learning syllabus: Have you ever looked at a syllabus from a course and wished you had more of a say in it? Now’s your chance. Learn what you want, when you want, how you want.
Use time (or lack thereof) to your advantage: We’re all busy, but sometimes this can be an advantage. Take the thirty minutes you have during your lunch hour or post-work session at the gym to complete a “unit” on a topic of interest.
Pursue knowledge, not good grades: It’s hard to ignore grades when they seem to mean so much to university admissions staff. But it’s important to keep in mind that they aren’t the end-all-be-all. Grades don’t always reflect how much you’ve actually learned, and that’s what counts in the end.
Create your own personal learning record: There are so many great tools out there to help you document your learning. Have some fun with a digital learning portfolio– especially ten years down the road when you’re going through your old notes and projects!
Verbalise your achievements: It’s one thing to know what you’ve learned; it’s quite another to make it known. Verbalising your achievements can be extremely rewarding, and can help you reflect on what you think you’ve learned vs. what you’ve actually learned.
Make a list of topics “to master.”: Creating a list of topics to master is almost as fun as crossing them off. Remember to make concrete, easily-achievable goals as well as more general, overarching ones.
Practise using what you’ve learned: We all value knowledge we can actually use. Sometimes we need to make an effort to use it, though. Create your own opportunities to use your knowledge and you’ll find the results very rewarding.
Value progress over performance: We never stop learning, and that’s one of the many reasons why self-directed learning can be so enjoyable. Countless topics, questions, and problems means countless opportunities to feel stimulated and accomplished.
Keep your goals realistic: One of the major killjoys of self-directed learning is created not by the “system” but by ourselves: unrealistic goals. It’s easy to get discouraged when we don’t achieve what we want to. Try to keep things in perspective and create goals you can reasonably achieve.
Build a network of “learning colleagues.”: We are collaborative learners by nature. Take advantage of online and in-person communities that will support you through your learning journey and help illuminate your path.