Role Of Self-directed Learning Research Articles

Self-directed learning, job demands and job resources as predictors of job satisfaction among South African women

Research shows that women face various demands and barriers that have a negative impact on their job experiences and job satisfaction. At the same time increasing numbers of women are entering the labor force. Studies regarding the factors that influence the job satisfaction of women in South Africa are scarce and the role of self-directed learning in predicting job satisfaction has received limited attention. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of job demands, job resources and self-directed learning on the job satisfaction of South African women. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that self-directed learning explained a significant portion of the variance in job satisfaction, above and beyond the variance that was explained by job demands and resources. Self-directed learners seem to have several characteristics that facilitate adjustment to career challenges. This research has implications for organizations that strive to enhance job satisfaction in their employees. Key words: Career worries, job demands-resources model, job insecurity, job satisfaction, self-directed learning, work drive, work-life balance, work involvement, work relationships.

The Processes and Dimensions of Informed Self-Assessment: A Conceptual Model

To determine how learners and physicians engaged in various structured interventions to inform self-assessment, how they perceived and used self-assessment in clinical learning and practice, and the components and processes comprising informed self-assessment and factors that influence these. This was a qualitative study guided by principles of grounded theory. Using purposive sampling, eight programs were selected in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Belgium, representing low, medium, and high degrees of structure/rigor in self-assessment activities. In 2008, 17 focus groups were conducted with 134 participants (53 undergraduate learners, 32 postgraduate learners, 49 physicians). Focus-group transcripts were analyzed interactively and iteratively by the research team to identify themes and compare and confirm findings. Informed self-assessment appeared as a flexible, dynamic process of accessing, interpreting, and responding to varied external and internal data. It was characterized by multiple tensions arising from complex interactions among competing internal and external data and multiple influencing conditions. The complex process was evident across the continuum of medical education and practice. A conceptual model of informed self-assessment emerged. Central challenges to informing self-assessment are the dynamic interrelationships and underlying tensions among the components comprising self-assessment. Realizing this increases understanding of why self-assessment accuracy seems frequently unreliable. Findings suggest the need for attention to the varied influencing conditions and inherent tensions to progress in understanding self-assessment, how it is informed, and its role in self-directed learning and professional self-regulation. Informed self-assessment is a multidimensional, complex construct requiring further research.

Productivity in the workplace: the role of self-directed learning and the implications for human resource management

Following a review of studies linking the readiness for self-directed learning to workplace performance, the attainment of leadership positions in organisations and the characteristics sought after in today's business leaders, the authors present the implications for Human Resource Management (HRM). They assert that individual self-directed learners are the lifeblood of the learning organisation and offer five guidelines for creating a culture of learning to firmly integrate self-directed learning into an organisation.

ハイパー空間における適応的ナビゲーションプランニング支援

The main topic addressed in this paper is how to help learners navigate in exploring hyperspace provided by existing web-based learning resources in which they can navigate Web pages in a self-directed way to learn the domain concepts/knowledge. Such self-directed navigation involves constructing knowledge from the contents embedded in the navigated pages, along what is called the navigation path, which has been demonstrated to enhance learning. Creation of a useful navigation path influences the knowledge construction process and plays an important role in self-directed learning in the hyperspace. On the other hand, learners often fail at creating a navigation path due to cognitive overload, which is caused by diverse cognitive efforts what may be viewed as meta-cognitive activities. Such meta-cognitive activities hold the key to success in self-directed learning. Our approach to this issue is to analyze the navigation planning tasks in order to design facilities that can more readily facilitate learners' planning activities. In this paper, we provide the learners with a navigation planning environment called Advanced Planning Assistant, which helps them plan a navigation path in an adaptive way before learning the hyperspace. This planning environment calls the learners' attention to establishing the navigation path prior to and separately from learning the hyperspace. We also report preliminary case study to evaluate the usefulness of the adaptive approach proposed. From the results of the case study, we have made sure that they are useful.

An Evaluation of a Student Resource Centre

The use of Student Resource Centres to support L2 students' language learning is a very recent pedagogical innovation at the post-secondary level in language-teaching institutions in Canada. In this study the author reports very briefly on how to set one up and, then, goes on to survey student opinion on the role of self-directed learning in learning a second language. Information on topics such as type and suitability of material used, frequency of use, relation of self-study to classroom teaching gathered through a series of questionnaires and formal and informal interviews is analyzed and interpreted in a descriptive manner. The paper concludes with comments on the role of self-directed learning in L2 teaching and learning.

Do they know what they're doing? An evaluation of word-processor users' implicit and explicit task-relevant knowledge, and its role in self-directed learning

Many people teach themselves how to use word-processing systems, but how successful are they in their endeavor? This study investigates a number of theoretical and practical issues associated with self-directed learning. Users of differing experience were asked to perform a simple task, using an unfamiliar word-processing system. However, they were given no information about the new system, prior to task commencement, save information they explicitly requested. An analysis of users' questions revealed that only the most experienced had a suitable mental task description available to them. Others relied upon visible components of the task to cue their questioning strategy in a manner which suggested reliance upon a recognition, rather than a recall strategy. A clear dissociation was noted between users' procedural knowledge of a task, reflected in their performance ability; and their metaknowledge of the task, i.e. their awareness of what procedural knowledge would be required in order to complete the task. The implications of these findings for the design of user support systems, and for user modelling are discussed.