A Fresh Look at Independent Learning

Phil Race: Programme Director: University of Durham Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education (1996)

Objectives

1. to remind you about how your students learn best;
2. to put independent learning into perspective;
3. to remind you of the many possibilities that learning resource materials take;
4. to pose one or two problems regarding independent resource-based learning;
5. to suggest some directions which may yield solutions to the problems.

How do people really learn?

• wanting to learn (motivation, thirst for knowledge);
• learning by doing (practice, trial and error, getting one's hands dirty);
• learning from feedback (other people's comments, seeing the results);
• digesting (making sense of what has been learned; getting a grip on it).

• at their own pace;
• at times and places of their own choosing;
• often with other people around, especially fellow-learners;
• when they feel in control of their learning.

Who can help independent learners?

• providing learners with resource materials;
• whetting learners appetites to learn;
• providing learners with chances to test out their learning;
• giving learners feedback on their progress;
• helping learners to make sense of what they have learned.

• helping each other to keep a sense of perspective;
• explaining difficult ideas and concepts to each other;
• helping each other to find out which resource materials work best;
• learning from each other's mistakes.

When designing systems, processes and resources to help students to learn most effectively, it is worth remembering all of the factors mentioned above. At a time when student numbers are much higher than they used to be, and when the unit of resource to support learning is less than it once was, we need to be concentrating on the learning side of the teaching-learning equation, rather than only on the quality of our performances as teachers.

What sorts of independent learning are there?

• When students learn from our lectures, much of the actual learning takes place after the events, in ways that have all the hallmarks of independent learning.
• When students learn through practical work, most of their learning is done under their own steam, even while using the people around them (fellow students, tutors and support staff) as resources to help in their learning.
• When students learn from learning resource materials, whether in libraries, learning resource rooms, or at home, most of their learning is done independently, at their own pace, and in their own way.
• When students learn from open learning materials, they are essentially learning at their own pace and in their own ways from materials specially prepared to activate their want to learn, giving them the chance to learn by doing, and providing them with fe edback on their efforts.
• When students learn from each other, they can still be regarded as learning independently in many respects; they are not then dependent on the presence of tutors. Indeed the ways in which students learn from each other have all the hallmarks of independen t learning, in that students have choice of how to use each other, and how to structure the times, places and rates at which such learning takes place.

How can learning resources help students to learn?

• It is important that students have sufficient motivation (want) to learn that they take on responsibility for learning independently. Learning resource materials need to be sufficiently attractive and sufficiently interesting to whet students' appetit es for learning. The medium is part of the message - resource materials which look tacky or home-made may not be taken seriously by learners.
• Independent learning depends on learning by doing. It is little use just reading or looking at learning resource materials; students need to do things with the materials to get their learning under way. Effective learning resource materials provide st udents with carefully-chosen tasks and exercises which will give them the sort of practice that will help their learning to be successful.
• Students need feedback on how their independent learning is going. Often, this feedback can be built into the learning resource materials from which they are learning, as responses to the activities they engage in as they learn.
• Students learning independently need opportunities to make sense of what they have learned, or 'digest' it as I've said elsewhere in Deliberations. They can get such help from tasks and exercises in learning packages, and from the feedback they receiv e when they have had a go at these. They can get even more help in making sense of their learning when given opportunity and encouragement to work with fellow students.

What kinds of learning resources?

In the same way that it can be argued that most learning is independent learning, it can be said that most learning is also resource-based learning. Learning resources take many forms, and include human resources (tutors, mentors, fellow-students), and in formation-type resources (books, databases, on-line databanks, learning packages, lecture notes, handouts, manuals, and so on).

Historically, the most important kinds of learning resources were paper-based, particularly books, journal articles, handout materials and students' own notes. These were the easiest ways to package up information from which students would develop their k nowledge. Paper-based media were also the primary means of getting students to learn by doing, from tasks, exercises and assignments.

Nowadays, the range of media available to support student learning is extended by many technological developments, and includes:

• interactive computer-based packages, using a variety of formats including interactive video, CD-ROM, and hypermedia;
• interactive computer-based communications media, including computer conferencing, electronic mail, on-line databases, and the Internet;
• media-based resource materials, including videotapes, audiotapes, and practical kits.

• telephone tutoring, teleconferencing, and video-conferencing.

Are there any problems?

Getting the assessment right
Another dimension of the problem lies with assessment. It is only too easy for assessment to continue to measure the learning that has accrued from the more traditional approaches to teaching, and forget to pay equal attention to assessing everything that has been learned in the 'new' ways.

Towards solutions

• Many hands...
  In an age of learning technology, the subject expert can not afford to remain an island. It usually takes some additional hands and brains to translate subject expertise into learning resource materials using a variety of media. The people with the media expertise need help in rediscovering how learning happens successfully.
• Many voices...
  Subject experts and media experts need to learn to communicate with each other in the language of learning. High-quality use of media is not just a matter of expert computer programming or impressive on-screen images and graphics. High quality learning re sources are ones which help people to learn, and make the learning enjoyable, memorable, and deep.
• Towards the right ends...
  In particular, the design of learning resource materials needs to be firmly-based on intended learning outcomes, so that the media are not allowed to run away from the message.
• Keeping learning in sight...
  Probably the most effective way of ensuring that media play an optimum role in learning is to start by looking at how each medium will relate to the want to learn, the actions of learning by doing, the provision of feedback to learners, and the ways that learners can be helped to make sense of their learning. All of this needs to be underpinned by keeping firmly in sight the ways that the learning will in due course be measured.