A self-directed learner is someone who understands the goals and reasons of his studying, is ready to manage his time to be able to study all the needed materials and knows what he wants to achieve. Self-directed learners are responsible, motivated, and can work on their own, as well as in groups and under the guidance of their instructors. Self-directed learning includes: assessing readiness to learn, setting learning goals, engaging in the learning process, and evaluating learning. Speaking about the essential aspects of self-directed learning, these are self-development, controlling as much as possible in your learning process, learning to challenge yourself, self-management, and motivating your own efforts.
Speaking about me personally, I think that my two biggest strengths as a student are self-motivation and open-mindedness. I like to learn new things, especially if I know what I need them for – I am always very motivated in my studies and it helps to keep up. These two qualities are important to become a self-directed learner and are very helpful in managing time and learning process. My two biggest weaknesses as a student are lack of concentration and suspicion. It is always difficult to stay concentrated on reading or writing – there are so many other interesting things I can do! It might seem strange because I like learning and I have a great motivation but it can happen that I spend several hours on reading instead of just 30 minutes because I will make tea, discuss the text I am reading with someone from my family or friends, seek some other similar materials and so on. My suspicion does not let me trust the other students which is a very bad trait for peer assessment. Sometimes I want more explanation for lower grades or think that my peer was not attentive enough and did not notice some answers I wrote in my work. I try my best to analyze every feedback because I know that other students are my friends and wish me the best but it is always challenging to trust them. Probably it is connected with my previous life experience – anyways, I believe that I need to change this attitude and I am working on it. Because not trusting opinions of other people will lead me to the dead-end where I will not be able to improve simply because I do not take any feedback seriously.
So, what will be the three strategies to become a more self-directed learner and how will I hold myself accountable for my growth as a learner? Well, first of all, I will work on my discipline because now I am definitely lacking it. I will organize a notebook which will contain all information about my weekly plans and assignments as well as plan and write down how many pages and/or videos I should check for my studies. I am thinking of awarding myself with some small gifts if I keep up with the plan – later on, I can add the information about the amount of time that I should actually spend on learning. This will help me to make a special daily schedule and control my progress. Another strategy I want to use is a frequent evaluation of my progress. It will help to understand if I am doing well and show the actual results. There are several online resources for different college courses and subjects, such as Quizlet – there are special flashcards and questions (with answers, where needed) for a self-check. Self-evaluation is very important because it shows you that you actually know something and it motivates a lot! Finally, I will use a deep approach where I should transform the knowledge and apply it to other situations, giving new examples. It helps not only to understand new things better but also makes it easier to remember them. I think that applying the knowledge, understanding, and remembering materials is essential for successful learning.
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References
Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo. (n.d.) Self-Directed Learning: A Four-Step Process. Retrieved from https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/tips-students/self-directed-learning/self-directed-learning-four-step-process
Output Education. (n.d.) The Essential Elements of Self-directed Learning. Retrieved from https://www.outputeducation.com/essential-elements-self-directed-learning/