Self-Directed Learning

Self-directed learning has been a central part of the Ohio’s Science & Engineering Talent Expansion Program (OSTEP) and the Pre-Freshman and Cooperative Education (PREFACE) Program. Through various activities and assignment, students are challenged to become actively involved in their own learning. For example, an independent research project allowed the students to design their own experiments and report their findings. In this way, the students did not learn their knowledge from books or from professors. Rather, they gathered knowledge on their own, which might help improving retention. Reading through the literature on this type of learning, it becomes clear that many people believe that self-directed learning is a better approach than the traditional, teacher-directed learning. However, this approach is not necessarily a good fit for everybody. Self-directed learning is better for students who are willing to take initiative and are interested in the subject, while traditional learning is better for people who are not interested in learning a subject.

In the traditional approach to teaching, the teachers are sole source of knowledge. They decide what the learners need to know and communicate that knowledge from books and from their own experience. In addition, they tell the learner how to learn the materials, and decide on a way to test the learners’ understanding of the subject. The responsibility of the learner is to absorb all of these materials and then demonstrate their understanding in the manner indicated by the teachers. The learners are motivated externally, for example, by grades and other rewards. In addition, the approach assumes that the learners have less experience or that their experiences are less important th...

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...s teacher-directed. What and how the learners study depends mostly on the teachers. The approach works well for novices and people who are not interested in the subject. The approach of self-directed learning, on the contrary, revolves around the learners. It is best for people who are interested and are willing to take charge of their education. Rather than deciding which approach is better in general, the teachers and the students should decide which approach is the most beneficial in their particular situation.

Works Cited

Merriam, Sharan B. "Andragogy and Self-Directed Learning: Pillars of Adult Learning Theory." New

Directions for Adult and Continuing Education 2001.89: 3-14. Wiley Online Library. Web. 24 July

2011. .

"Self-directed Learning by Malcolm Knowles." 1975. PDF file.