LEARNER AUTONOMY

Learner Autonomy



Learner Autonomy

Introduction

“Student-centred learning”, “open learning”, “resource-based learning”, “experiential/active learning”, “problem-based learning”, “service learning”, “independent learning”, “e-learning”, “performance-based learning” and “lifelong learning” are all terms with which anyone interested in higher education pedagogy is likely to be familiar. In the UK and elsewhere, they have become essential ingredients of pedagogic discourse in institutions of higher education. While the nuances of each may vary, underlying them is the belief that students should be active participants, as opposed to passive bystanders, in the learning process.(Slate,1998) Indeed, they can be said to encapsulate one of the defining characteristics of higher education, namely the expectation that students will exercise some responsibility for the management of their own learning. Here the term used to express this responsibility is “self-managed learning”.

Discussion

Arguably, the performance of students in higher education is determined more by their ability to meet the demands of self-managed learning than anything else. Indeed, as a result of financial constraints and an increasing emphasis on equipping students with the skills and attributes that they need to become effective lifelong learners, self-managed learning has become an even more important aspect of higher education. Yet, there are grounds for suggesting that students are less capable of rising to the challenges involved than might have been the case in the past. Hence, the justification for claiming that student self-managed learning is a cause for concern.(Candy,1994)

In what follows, attention is given to this concern by addressing, from the perspective of full-time undergraduates on campus based courses, three questions that relate to the nature and contingencies of self-managed learning. They are:

(1) What does self-managed learning contribute to student learning as a whole?

(2) What are the responsibilities of academic staff (faculty members) with respect to the provision of support for self-managed learning?

(3) What are the implications of self-managed learning for institutions of higher education?

Consideration of these questions leads to the conclusion that self-managed learning is too significant an aspect of the student learning experience to be left to chance. Although the need for support and intervention by academic staff is likely to vary within and between colleges and universities, they should all ensure that priority is given to self-managed learning in the development of their learning and teaching strategies.

The nature of student self-managed learning

In looking at the relationship between self-managed learning and student learning as a whole, a helpful analogy is that of the iceberg. For illustrative purposes, the iceberg represents total learning, with its size being determined by the amount of learning time that students have at their disposal. In some UK institutions of higher education, learning time is formally prescribed and precisely quantified. Thus, for a 20 credit unit (i.e. module or subject) students are expected to devote 200 hours of learning time, spread over one or two semesters. Generally, students take six units a year, worth 120 credits, and are required to obtain 360 credits over three years (120 credits at each of three levels) in order to graduate. This represents a very large iceberg!

As Candy et ...