1. SELF DIRECTED LEARNING STRATEGIES
Sharon Davenport
and
Raghida Mazzawi

2. A Thought to Consider… “Teaching and preaching ready-made solutions to
individuals must be replaced with collaborative, vertical,
horizontal and cross-disciplinary learning”.
(Finger, 1995, as cited in Merriam et al 2007 p.261)

3. Presentation Objectives
The purpose of this presentation is to provide a
convincing argument that Self Directed Learning (SDL)
instructional strategies should be considered as an
effective approach to facilitating learning in the adult
education field. We propose that SDL approaches
enhance adult learning by providing learners with:
the responsibility to choose their own learning goals
the opportunity to choose their own methods of learning
the opportunity to choose their own way of evaluating their learning.

4. Description of SDL Who is Malcolm Knowles?
Why consider SDL? Relevance to adult education
What are the intended learning goals for using SDL strategies?
What learning domain is addressed by SDL?
What is the main process for implementing SDL Strategies?
What criteria is required for Successful Implementation?
What is the facilitators’ role is SDL?
What are SDL strategies?
Are their any situational constraints?

5. Andragogy Explained http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4iMFu4Cn LQ
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6. Relevance of SDL to Adult Education
Adult learners come from different personal and professional backgrounds. Each brings with her or him to educational settings an abundance of knowledge, experience, skills and expertise.
While learners in a specific course, program or a workshop have the ultimate goal of getting a certificate or a degree in the subject being learned, all learners have personal goals as to how they will utilize this newly acquired knowledge.

7. Relevance of SDL in Adult Education
With today’s busy lives and ever changing technologies and knowledge learners’ personal and work lives differ and each must have the flexibility to be able to fit the responsibilities and demands of lifelong learning around his/her life.
“We are, in my view faced with an entirely new situation in education where the goal of education if we are to survive, is the facilitation of change and learning. The only man who is educated is the man who has learned how to learn, the man that has realized that no knowledge is secure, that only the process of seeking knowledge gives a basis for security” (Levett-Jones 2005, p.364).

8. Relevance of SDL to Adult Education
Adult learners form a rich source of knowledge and expertise that the facilitator can draw from. This allows for a change in the dynamics between the student and the instructor as well as between the students themselves.
Through SDL “faculty provide the roadmap, but the students may decide their interim destinations and the proper vehicle for their own learning styles and needs. This sharing of classroom responsibility and power encourages adults to engage in personal and collegial research and produce meaningful products” (Black and Henig, 2005, p.25).

9. Learning Goals of SDL strategies
SDL is grounded in humanistic philosophy which proposes that personal growth is the goal of adult learning. Merriam et al., 2007 identified the following specific goals: Enhance the ability of adult learners to be self directed in their learning Foster meaningful and transformational learning Promote emancipatory learning and social action

10. Learning Domains As SDL is totally driven by the learner SDL
strategies have been found to be effective
in the various learning domains of:
Affective
Cognitive
Psychomotor

11. Learning Domains In their Meta-Analysis Murad et al. (2010)
concluded that SDL was moderately more
effective in the knowledge domain and likely to
be as effective in the domains of skills and
attitudes.
The authors noted that there was a lack of
studies in their review and Meta analysis that
examined the change in skills and attitude and
suggested that SDL might still prove to have a
larger and more significant effect on these
domains.

12. The Process of SDL
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13. The Process self-management self-monitoring reflection, evaluation
The control is shifted to the learners as much as
possible in the learning process.
SDL strategies must provide the learner
opportunities for:
self-management
self-monitoring reflection, evaluation
self-modification
A great teacher never strives to explain his vision – he
simply invites you to stand beside him and see for
yourself. - The Rev. R. Inman

14. The Process
To enhance self direction in learning educators need to help adults be able to plan, carry out and evaluate their own learning The responsibility is that of the learner The facilitator is to provide resources and choice so learners are free to exercise individual choice

15. The Process
To facilitate transformational and meaningful learning the educator needs to provide opportunities for discussions and reflections that foster self knowledge that leads to modifying learning goals accordingly.

16. The Process
To promote social action the facilitator has to invite learners to examine their own sociopolitical assumptions under which they learn and function thus encouraging collective action as an outcome.

17. Criteria for Successful SDL
CLASSROOM CLIMATE
Personalization-consider the unique needs
comfortable
fosters risk-taking
Collaboration-tap into existing resources
teamwork
community service
Celebration-validate and acknowledge
sharing
peer support McGuiness (2005)

18. Criteria for Successful SDL
QUALITY OF WORK
External feedback-as a tool to organize and manage the learning process
guidelines
peer review
Internal feedback-as a tool to monitor progress
journaling
self-assessment
McGuiness (2005)

19. Facilitator’s Role
The instructor plays the role of the facilitator rather than the expert or the transmitter of knowledge and expertise (Levett-Jones, 2005). SDL instructional strategies allow educators to utilize the first principles of instruction of activation, demonstration, application and integration as outlined by Merrill (2009) and collaborate with learners on the best approach to maximize learning depending on what is being taught and how it needs to be taught.

20. Specific Strategies Cognitive objectives written resources
Applying Merrill’s first principles of instruction strategies such as demonstration, discussion, role play, media, research projects can all be put to use as long as the learning objectives are preset and are clear and the learner is involved in the setting of the objectives.
Cognitive objectives
written resources
panel discussions
Affective objectives
role-play
case-based learning
Psychomotor objectives
simulation.

21. Limitations ?
SDL have been criticized as being a broad term that in some respects remains “weakly conceptualized” (Brookfield, 1986; Long, l988 as cited in Levett-Jones, 2005, p.365).
Yet it could be argued that a broad definition can foster heterogeneous curricula thus enabling instructors to employ any of the components of other instructional approaches and apply them under the SDL philosophy.

22. Please continue to explore our website to learn more about SDL
Where do we go from here?
Please continue to explore our website to learn more about SDL