Self-directed learning
Introduction
Self-directed learning (SDL) is described as the process where individuals take the initiative to analyze their learning needs, formulate goals for education, identify potential learning resources, implement learning strategies, and evaluate learning outcomes (Knowles, 1975). It is also treated as a broader concept that learners have the freedom to manage their learning activities and enough control over learning. (Disting/SRLSDL). Garrison (1997) proposes a self-directed learning model with three components, namely; motivation, self-monitoring, and self-management. Motivation means initiating and maintaining learners’ learning and realizing goals. Self-management refers to task control, which focuses on the enactment of learning goals or purposes, and the management of learning resources. Self-monitoring implies that the learner is responsible for the construction of personal learning, and can monitor the progress of his or her knowledge (Zhu, Bonk & Doo, 2020). Consequently, SDL is believed as a significant way to enhance the learning quality and prepare students for the future in higher education (Raidal & Volet, 2008).
Technology influences learners’ SDL process by providing online learning courses and enabling online interaction with others. Open online courses served as a public educational resource enabled by technology and delivered through a digital platform (Sumuer, 2018). Firstly, as reported by Sumuer (2018), the use of technology enables the expansion of self-directed learning by providing learners with access to abundant open online courses. Therefore, open online courses enabled by technology motivate the learners to conduct self-directed learning. Secondly, free online courses make it possible for learners to interact with tutors online via communication technology, gaining feedback and guidance to monitor their learning progress, which indicates SDL (SDL IN MOOCS+MOOC SDL).
Additionally, Pilling-Cormick (2005) illustrates the use of technology, such as open online courses, which help learners to identify their learning purposes. Likewise, learners are required to have explicit learning purposes of managing abundant free online courses, which is corresponding with self-management (Bonk, 2020). Hence, technology has the potential to furnish learners with capabilities to facilitate SDL (Sumuer, 2018).
Technology use has continued to be pervasive. Therefore, Candy (2004) emphasizes that SDL with technology warrants further research because of limited research on the role of learners’ self-direction. Meanwhile, open online courses have reached massive SDL learners and offer abundant resources in many subject areas. As a result, it is essential to shedding light on self-directed learning with technology in open online courses.
XJTLU is a joint venture between British and Chinese universities, including students and teachers from 50 different countries (XJTLU, 2019). The enterprise has a digital learning technology named ICE with videos of lectures and learning materials posted on. These learning materials serve as online learning resources, and communication technology. However, the outbreak of Novel Corona-virus has led to the cancellation of XJTLU’s offline teaching, resulting in online learning becoming the preferred learning platform.
Aim and hypotheses
This report aims to analyze student perceptions towards conducting self-directed learning (SDL) with technology in open online courses. The research adopts the self-directed learning model proposed by Garrison to measure SDL in three dimensions, which are motivation, self-monitoring, and self-management.
Research Questions
RQ 1: Do open online courses enabled by technology motivate students’ learning, and which kinds of materials provided in the courses motivate them most?
Hypothesis 1: Students are motivated to access open online courses to learn and driven by the video materials in them.
Self-directed learners are reported to have the motivation to access open online courses to learn and are mainly motivated to watch video materials offered by public online courses (Janakiraman et al., 2018).
RQ 2: Do students manage to learn well regarding setting learning goals or purposes when accessing open online courses?
Hypothesis 2: Students have explicit learning purposes and mainly aim to expand their formal learning.
Self-directed learning involves the setting of clear learning goals. Bonk (2020) says that one of the critical goals of learners is to find ways of expanding formal course learning when learning online.
RQ 3: Does technology offered by open online courses enable an effective online interaction between learners and tutors, which aims to monitor and support learner’s learning?
Hypothesis 3: Students perceive that there is a lack of online interaction with tutors, and communication with tutors enabled by technology is not sufficient.
SDL does not only refer to learning in isolation from others. External help from tutors is needed (Sumuer, 2018). However, according to Pilling-Cormick (2005), the ineffectiveness of online interaction with tutors is because it is difficult for students to get questions clearly, and it is somehow unavailable.
Method
Sample:
The survey was conducted among students in XJTLU. The participants comprised of 21 Chinese Year one students, including 12 males and nine females, from six different majors. All of them are chosen randomly in Social network groups.
Material:
The research materials included; a laptop, a valid questionnaire, a social media (WeChat), Excel, and a survey website (www.wjx.cn). The poll was validated and contained 19 questions, of which three were demographic, and 16 were questions relevant to the research aim. Sixteen related items were divided into three sections, each corresponding with one hypothesis. The questionnaire contained multiple-choice questions, Likert scale questions, and dichotomous questions.
Procedure:
The questionnaire was piloted first, tested by three participants. The statements of questions had been adjusted clearer and more highlighted on some investigation elements based on the feedback received from the participants. The questionnaire was designed on the Wenjuanxing, a survey website, and distributed online on WeChat, a kind of social media. The collected data was analyzed by using the survey website and transformed into graphs in Excel.
Results
Hypothesis1
|
For hypothesis1, question3, 4, 5, 6 were designed to investigate students’ motivation towards open online courses enabled by technology. As shown in figure 1, 14 out of 21 students agreed that they were motivated to access free online courses (Q2) and considered these as a helpful way to conduct SDL(Q1).
Figure 2
Moreover, figure 2 suggests that most students, 60% of those investigated, thought that it was the video learning materials provided in online courses that motivated them most. Q6 investigated the perceived usefulness of video material. It is noteworthy that 70% of the 21 students responded that videos were comparatively easy to understand and more insightful (Q6). Therefore, the answers comply with hypothesis 1: Students are motivated to access open online courses to learn and driven by the video materials in them.
Hypothesis 2
To prove hypothesis 2, Q7 through to Q12 was set. Q7 and Q8 were designed to investigate the student perception towards the significance of goals. From the result, 80% of students realized that setting learning goals was essential in learning online (Q7), and those who have explicit intents or purposes comprise approximately 60% of the total responses to (Q8). The result of question 8 indicates that online learning resources were generally considered to enable the expansion of learning goals (Q10). Besides, according to figure 3, the primary goal of students who accessed online courses was to supplement their formal learning, followed by the purpose of skills acquisition, which was approved by 66% of the respondents.
Figure 3
Furthermore, nearly half of the students agreed that open online courses are helpful regarding supplementing their formal learning (Q11). Hence, the answers justify hypothesis 2.
Hypothesis 3
Figure 4
Questions 13 to 16 were used to scrutinize hypothesis 3. More than half of students regularly reflected on their learning progress (Q13). From the result, 17 out of 21 students expressed that they needed external help and feedback from tutors to monitor and guide their online learning (see figure 4). However, number 3 also shows that though they needed help from tutors, only 15% of the students thought that they had enough interaction with tutors via technology and gained enough support. Additionally, most of them disagreed that online communication with tutors via technology is useful. As a result, Figure 3 indicates that there was a sharp contrast between the needs for help and perceived usefulness and effectiveness in online interaction. The answers comply with hypothesis 3.
Discussion
Motivation plays an essential role in SDL. It stimulates learners and helps them establish their learning goals (Zhu et al., 2020). In this research, over 60 percent of students are motivated to access online courses to conduct their learning, which indicates that students have motivations to learn to satisfy their individual needs and competence. This is owing to their perceived attractiveness to such learning resources (Q1). The finding is consistent with hypothesis 1 and previous research conducted by Janakiraman et al. (2018). It also reflects that students are aware of the significant role played by motivation in SDL. Besides, students are mainly motivated by watching video materials provided in open online courses (figure 2) due to the insightful and easy-understanding nature of videos (Q6). This result is consistent with Janakiraman’s research. Further, it verifies hypothesis 1, which reported that videos motivate learners and enhance their cognitive ability.
These findings suggest that open online courses can motivate XJTLU students to conduct SDL by providing numerous learning resources and different types of materials, which indicates that free online courses are conducive to SDL. It is also useful for course designers to ensure there are enough video contents to cater to learner’s interests, motivating their learning always, and supporting their SDL more effectively (Janakiraman et al.,).
Another primary component of SDL is self-management, which refers to task control and choice of learning. Self-management involves establishing clear learning goals to manage learning resources. The research states that most students prefer to have clear learning goals and purposes, especially when facing abundant learning resources. The claim verifies hypothesis 2 and corresponds with the statement that having clear learning goals and directions are especially significant (Sanren, 2020). Having abundant open online courses means that learners often have to choose among numerous resources. Therefore, to avoid being overwhelmed, learners need to have clear learning goals and effectively manage the amount of learning resources to achieve such goals (Bonk and Lee, 2020).
Furthermore, according to the study, most students aim to search for online resources that supplement their formal learning. This finding justifies hypothesis 2, and it corresponds to Bonk’s conclusion that expanding formal education is one of the critical goals for learners (Bonk and Lee, 2020). Since learning from online courses is helpful to supplement their formal learning, most students perceive it as their primary learning goal (Sian Lee, 2017).
Consequently, by conducting SDL and establishing clear learning goals to self-manage their learning, students in XJTLU are generally doing well in their studies. Additionally, course designers should expand the learning choices to satisfy students’ needs better (Q10), as well as focusing on adding more content that allows students to supplement the formal learning.
Moving onto the third component, which examined self-monitoring, the study finds that most students monitor and reflect their learning progress regularly, which empowers them to conduct SDL (Q13). However, SDL does not refer to learning in isolation from others (Sumer). Merely internal self-monitor is not enough to support and stimulate learning. Hence, collaborations and interactions are essential to support learners’ self-monitoring by gaining feedback from tutors (Zhu et al., 2020). Whereas students express intense demands for external help, there is still a lack of online interactions with tutors (figure 4). The reason might be that interacting with tutors via open online courses is not sufficient and responsive enough for students(Q11). Some students might find it challenging to convey the questions clearly to the tutors, primarily via technology provided by online courses. Others might find that unlike offline classes, it is much slower to receive feedback from tutors by asking questions online. It proves that face-to-face contact with educators is indispensable and irreplaceable (Pilling-Cormick, 2007). This finding is consistent with hypothesis 3. Pilling-Cormick’s (2007) study shows that there is a noticeable lack of interactions, and the assistance from online tutors appears to be unavailable to students sometimes.
This finding shows that XJTLU students’ SDL online is not adequately supported by tutors due to the slow responsiveness of technology provided in open online courses. It is difficult for them to conduct SDL with absent and unavailable interactions. However, although online communications should be improved, excessive interactions and assistance would have negative impacts on students’ SDL due to the deprivation of their independent learning.
References
Zhu, M., Bonk, C., & Doo, MY. (2020). Self-directed learning in MOOCs: exploring the relationships among motivation, self-monitoring, and self-management. Educational Technology Research and Development. DOI: 10.1007/s11423-020-09747-8
Introduction
Self-directed learning (SDL) is described as the process where individuals take the initiative to analyze their learning needs, formulate goals for education, identify potential learning resources, implement learning strategies, and evaluate learning outcomes (Knowles, 1975). It is also treated as a broader concept that learners have the freedom to manage their learning activities and enough control over learning. (Disting/SRLSDL). Garrison (1997) proposes a self-directed learning model with three components, namely; motivation, self-monitoring, and self-management. Motivation means initiating and maintaining learners’ learning and realizing goals. Self-management refers to task control, which focuses on the enactment of learning goals or purposes, and the management of learning resources. Self-monitoring implies that the learner is responsible for the construction of personal learning, and can monitor the progress of his or her knowledge (Zhu, Bonk & Doo, 2020). Consequently, SDL is believed as a significant way to enhance the learning quality and prepare students for the future in higher education (Raidal & Volet, 2008).
Technology influences learners’ SDL process by providing online learning courses and enabling online interaction with others. Open online courses served as a public educational resource enabled by technology and delivered through a digital platform (Sumuer, 2018). Firstly, as reported by Sumuer (2018), the use of technology enables the expansion of self-directed learning by providing learners with access to abundant open online courses. Therefore, open online courses enabled by technology motivate the learners to conduct self-directed learning. Secondly, free online courses make it possible for learners to interact with tutors online via communication technology, gaining feedback and guidance to monitor their learning progress, which indicates SDL (SDL IN MOOCS+MOOC SDL).
Additionally, Pilling-Cormick (2005) illustrates the use of technology, such as open online courses, which help learners to identify their learning purposes. Likewise, learners are required to have explicit learning purposes of managing abundant free online courses, which is corresponding with self-management (Bonk, 2020). Hence, technology has the potential to furnish learners with capabilities to facilitate SDL (Sumuer, 2018).
Technology use has continued to be pervasive. Therefore, Candy (2004) emphasizes that SDL with technology warrants further research because of limited research on the role of learners’ self-direction. Meanwhile, open online courses have reached massive SDL learners and offer abundant resources in many subject areas. As a result, it is essential to shedding light on self-directed learning with technology in open online courses.
XJTLU is a joint venture between British and Chinese universities, including students and teachers from 50 different countries (XJTLU, 2019). The enterprise has a digital learning technology named ICE with videos of lectures and learning materials posted on. These learning materials serve as online learning resources, and communication technology. However, the outbreak of Novel Corona-virus has led to the cancellation of XJTLU’s offline teaching, resulting in online learning becoming the preferred learning platform.
Aim and hypotheses
This report aims to analyze student perceptions towards conducting self-directed learning (SDL) with technology in open online courses. The research adopts the self-directed learning model proposed by Garrison to measure SDL in three dimensions, which are motivation, self-monitoring, and self-management.
Research Questions
RQ 1: Do open online courses enabled by technology motivate students’ learning, and which kinds of materials provided in the courses motivate them most?
Hypothesis 1: Students are motivated to access open online courses to learn and driven by the video materials in them.
Self-directed learners are reported to have the motivation to access open online courses to learn and are mainly motivated to watch video materials offered by public online courses (Janakiraman et al., 2018).
RQ 2: Do students manage to learn well regarding setting learning goals or purposes when accessing open online courses?
Hypothesis 2: Students have explicit learning purposes and mainly aim to expand their formal learning.
Self-directed learning involves the setting of clear learning goals. Bonk (2020) says that one of the critical goals of learners is to find ways of expanding formal course learning when learning online.
RQ 3: Does technology offered by open online courses enable an effective online interaction between learners and tutors, which aims to monitor and support learner’s learning?
Hypothesis 3: Students perceive that there is a lack of online interaction with tutors, and communication with tutors enabled by technology is not sufficient.
SDL does not only refer to learning in isolation from others. External help from tutors is needed (Sumuer, 2018). However, according to Pilling-Cormick (2005), the ineffectiveness of online interaction with tutors is because it is difficult for students to get questions clearly, and it is somehow unavailable.
Method
Sample:
The survey was conducted among students in XJTLU. The participants comprised of 21 Chinese Year one students, including 12 males and nine females, from six different majors. All of them are chosen randomly in Social network groups.
Material:
The research materials included; a laptop, a valid questionnaire, a social media (WeChat), Excel, and a survey website (www.wjx.cn). The poll was validated and contained 19 questions, of which three were demographic, and 16 were questions relevant to the research aim. Sixteen related items were divided into three sections, each corresponding with one hypothesis. The questionnaire contained multiple-choice questions, Likert scale questions, and dichotomous questions.
Procedure:
The questionnaire was piloted first, tested by three participants. The statements of questions had been adjusted clearer and more highlighted on some investigation elements based on the feedback received from the participants. The questionnaire was designed on the Wenjuanxing, a survey website, and distributed online on WeChat, a kind of social media. The collected data was analyzed by using the survey website and transformed into graphs in Excel.
Results
Hypothesis1
|
For hypothesis1, question3, 4, 5, 6 were designed to investigate students’ motivation towards open online courses enabled by technology. As shown in figure 1, 14 out of 21 students agreed that they were motivated to access free online courses (Q2) and considered these as a helpful way to conduct SDL(Q1).
Figure 2
Moreover, figure 2 suggests that most students, 60% of those investigated, thought that it was the video learning materials provided in online courses that motivated them most. Q6 investigated the perceived usefulness of video material. It is noteworthy that 70% of the 21 students responded that videos were comparatively easy to understand and more insightful (Q6). Therefore, the answers comply with hypothesis 1: Students are motivated to access open online courses to learn and driven by the video materials in them.
Hypothesis 2
To prove hypothesis 2, Q7 through to Q12 was set. Q7 and Q8 were designed to investigate the student perception towards the significance of goals. From the result, 80% of students realized that setting learning goals was essential in learning online (Q7), and those who have explicit intents or purposes comprise approximately 60% of the total responses to (Q8). The result of question 8 indicates that online learning resources were generally considered to enable the expansion of learning goals (Q10). Besides, according to figure 3, the primary goal of students who accessed online courses was to supplement their formal learning, followed by the purpose of skills acquisition, which was approved by 66% of the respondents.
Figure 3
Furthermore, nearly half of the students agreed that open online courses are helpful regarding supplementing their formal learning (Q11). Hence, the answers justify hypothesis 2.
Hypothesis 3
Figure 4
Questions 13 to 16 were used to scrutinize hypothesis 3. More than half of students regularly reflected on their learning progress (Q13). From the result, 17 out of 21 students expressed that they needed external help and feedback from tutors to monitor and guide their online learning (see figure 4). However, number 3 also shows that though they needed help from tutors, only 15% of the students thought that they had enough interaction with tutors via technology and gained enough support. Additionally, most of them disagreed that online communication with tutors via technology is useful. As a result, Figure 3 indicates that there was a sharp contrast between the needs for help and perceived usefulness and effectiveness in online interaction. The answers comply with hypothesis 3.
Discussion
Motivation plays an essential role in SDL. It stimulates learners and helps them establish their learning goals (Zhu et al., 2020). In this research, over 60 percent of students are motivated to access online courses to conduct their learning, which indicates that students have motivations to learn to satisfy their individual needs and competence. This is owing to their perceived attractiveness to such learning resources (Q1). The finding is consistent with hypothesis 1 and previous research conducted by Janakiraman et al. (2018). It also reflects that students are aware of the significant role played by motivation in SDL. Besides, students are mainly motivated by watching video materials provided in open online courses (figure 2) due to the insightful and easy-understanding nature of videos (Q6). This result is consistent with Janakiraman’s research. Further, it verifies hypothesis 1, which reported that videos motivate learners and enhance their cognitive ability.
These findings suggest that open online courses can motivate XJTLU students to conduct SDL by providing numerous learning resources and different types of materials, which indicates that free online courses are conducive to SDL. It is also useful for course designers to ensure there are enough video contents to cater to learner’s interests, motivating their learning always, and supporting their SDL more effectively (Janakiraman et al.,).
Another primary component of SDL is self-management, which refers to task control and choice of learning. Self-management involves establishing clear learning goals to manage learning resources. The research states that most students prefer to have clear learning goals and purposes, especially when facing abundant learning resources. The claim verifies hypothesis 2 and corresponds with the statement that having clear learning goals and directions are especially significant (Sanren, 2020). Having abundant open online courses means that learners often have to choose among numerous resources. Therefore, to avoid being overwhelmed, learners need to have clear learning goals and effectively manage the amount of learning resources to achieve such goals (Bonk and Lee, 2020).
Furthermore, according to the study, most students aim to search for online resources that supplement their formal learning. This finding justifies hypothesis 2, and it corresponds to Bonk’s conclusion that expanding formal education is one of the critical goals for learners (Bonk and Lee, 2020). Since learning from online courses is helpful to supplement their formal learning, most students perceive it as their primary learning goal (Sian Lee, 2017).
Consequently, by conducting SDL and establishing clear learning goals to self-manage their learning, students in XJTLU are generally doing well in their studies. Additionally, course designers should expand the learning choices to satisfy students’ needs better (Q10), as well as focusing on adding more content that allows students to supplement the formal learning.
Moving onto the third component, which examined self-monitoring, the study finds that most students monitor and reflect their learning progress regularly, which empowers them to conduct SDL (Q13). However, SDL does not refer to learning in isolation from others (Sumer). Merely internal self-monitor is not enough to support and stimulate learning. Hence, collaborations and interactions are essential to support learners’ self-monitoring by gaining feedback from tutors (Zhu et al., 2020). Whereas students express intense demands for external help, there is still a lack of online interactions with tutors (figure 4). The reason might be that interacting with tutors via open online courses is not sufficient and responsive enough for students(Q11). Some students might find it challenging to convey the questions clearly to the tutors, primarily via technology provided by online courses. Others might find that unlike offline classes, it is much slower to receive feedback from tutors by asking questions online. It proves that face-to-face contact with educators is indispensable and irreplaceable (Pilling-Cormick, 2007). This finding is consistent with hypothesis 3. Pilling-Cormick’s (2007) study shows that there is a noticeable lack of interactions, and the assistance from online tutors appears to be unavailable to students sometimes.
This finding shows that XJTLU students’ SDL online is not adequately supported by tutors due to the slow responsiveness of technology provided in open online courses. It is difficult for them to conduct SDL with absent and unavailable interactions. However, although online communications should be improved, excessive interactions and assistance would have negative impacts on students’ SDL due to the deprivation of their independent learning.
References
Zhu, M., Bonk, C., & Doo, MY. (2020). Self-directed learning in MOOCs: exploring the relationships among motivation, self-monitoring, and self-management. Educational Technology Research and Development. DOI: 10.1007/s11423-020-09747-8