Self-determined Learning Research Articles

Autonomous motivation for teaching: How self-determined teaching may lead to self-determined learning.

This study examined teachers' experience of autonomous motivation for teaching and its correlates in teachers and students. It was hypothesized that teachers would perceive various motivations posited by E. L. Deci and R. M. Ryan's (2000) self-determination theory as falling along a continuum of autonomous motivation for teaching. Autonomous motivation for teaching was predicted to be associated positively with teachers' sense of personal accomplishment and negatively with emotional exhaustion. Most important, teachers' self-reported autonomous motivation for teaching was expected to promote students' self-reported autonomous motivation for learning by enhancing teachers' autonomy-supportive behavior, as indicated by students' reports. Results from a sample of 132 Israeli teachers and their 1,255 students were consistent with the hypotheses. Discussion focuses on the importance of the experience of autonomous motivation for teaching for teachers and students.

Participation of Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities in the General Curriculum: The Effects of the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction

This study investigated the effects of the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) on the academic skill performance of three junior high school students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. The academic skills taught were aligned to the district general curriculum, and extended benchmarks were individually determined. The students were instructed to engage in a self-regulated problem-solving strategy, as well as to use one or more additional student-directed learning strategies. The results suggested that all students were able to acquire and maintain target academic skills to mastery levels. Also, all stakeholders had positive perceptions about the value of such instruction. The implications of these findings relative to the general curriculum initiative are discussed.

Clarity and coherence of lesson goals as a scaffold for student learning

The article addresses clarity and coherence of lesson goals as a scaffold for student learning. In 13 physics classes video recordings of the introductory lesson of two topics were rated with respect to clarity and coherence of the lesson structure. HLM analyses showed a positive effect of classes with high goal clarity and coherence on the students' reports on supportive learning conditions, self-determined learning motivation and organising learning activities. Over the course of a school year high goal clarity and coherence resulted in a positive competence development. No effect was found for individual interest development.

Alleviating Boredom in Adult Males Recovering from Substance Use Disorder

Boredom has been linked to a relapse to using drugs and alcohol. Practice guidelines for occupational therapists to resolve the problem of boredom in males recovering from Substance Use Disorder are presented based on the optimal arousal, self-determination and social learning theories. Elements of the Experience Sampling Method are used to assess boredom. Intervention guidelines are proposed to foster adaptation to activities that are perceived to be devoid of stimulation, first by modifying the activities themselves, and secondly by teaching clients how to find fulfillment in everyday tasks.

Pupil Responsibility in the Context of School Changes in Sweden: Market Constraints on State Policies for a Creative Education

Sweden's present school curricula emphasise personal flexibility, creativity, responsibility for learning and suggest new understandings of quality in learning, where individual freedom of choice is meant to help produce creative, motivated, alert, inquiring, self-governing and flexible users and developers of knowledge. These curriculum changes relate to similar changes in the relationships between the state, professional agencies and market interests in education planning and delivery. In this article I discuss these new developments and their effects from the perspective of different students in school. The article is based on ethnographic studies and student interviews that suggest that whilst rituals that previously indoctrinated individuals into submissive behaviour in school, through the mechanical memorisation of other's facts, have been replaced by outwardly self-monitored activities and self-determined learning, some things remain the same. Students are still graded, separated and characterised by teachers in terms of being weak or superior products and students adopt these labels in their self-understanding. Furthermore, the curriculum that is meant to stimulate creativity and inclusiveness dampens creativity and positive involvement for many students.

Living Book ? Deduction, Slicing, and Interaction

Living Book is a system for the management of personalized and scenario-specific teaching material. The main goal of the system is to support active, explorative, and self-determined learning in lectures, tutorials, and self-study. Living Book includes a course on "logic for computer scientists," with uniform access to various tools such as theorem provers and an interactive tableau editor. It is routinely used in teaching undergraduate courses at our university. This paper describes Living Book, together with its use of theorem-proving technology as a core component in the knowledge management system (KMS) and the use of this new concept in academic teaching. The KMS provides a scenario management component in which teachers may describe those parts of given documents that are relevant in order to achieve a certain learning goal. The task of the KMS is to assemble new documents from a database of elementary units called "slices" (definitions, theorems, and so on) in a scenario-based way (such as, "I want to prepare for an exam and need to learn about resolution"). The computation of such assemblies is carried out by a model-generating theorem prover for first-order logic with a default negation principle. Its input consists of metadata that describes the dependencies between different slices and logic-programming style rules that describe the scenario-specific composition of slices. Additionally, users may assess what units they know or don't know. This information is stored in a user model, which is taken into account to compute a model that specifies the assembly of a personalized document. This paper introduces the e-learning context we are faced with, motivates our choice of logic, and sketches the newly developed calculus used in the KMS. Furthermore, the application and evaluation of Living Book are presented.

Enhancing the Job Performance of Youth with Moderate to Severe Cognitive Disabilities Using the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction

This study investigated the effects of the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction on student-selected work skills for 4 students with moderate to severe disabilities. The students learned to set their own goals, develop an action plan, implement the plan, and adjust their goals and plans as needed. Three of the 4 participants achieved their self-selected goals, and 1 student did not meet the mastery criterion, but performed at a higher level during the training condition than in baseline. The results provide support for self-determination instruction for transition-age youth with moderate to severe disabilities.

Promoting Self-Determination in Early Elementary School

Problem solving and goal setting are important components of self-determination that young people learn over time. This study describes and validates a model of teaching in early elementary grades that teachers can use to infuse these activities into existing curricula and programs. Can young children set goals for learning using the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction, and can teachers implement this model in a variety of subjects and settings with students having diverse learning needs? Our results show that even the youngest students (ages 5—6) were able to set goals and use the model to achieve. Teachers used the model effectively to support the investigation of student interests, the facilitation of choices, and the goal setting and attainment of young children.

LERNEN ZWISCHEN BIOLOGIE UND CYBERSPACE

At present, big expectations are set into learning and studying by electronic media, primarily by ways of the World Wide Web. Control of the computer and safe surfing in the Net are supposed to be indispensable conditions for the admission to the society of information. E-Learning, however, quickly turns out to be only a new method, no better and no worse than other methods, while as self-determined learning by internet has a basic premise often overseen: assured cultural techniques and a solid general education. Without these, accumulated information cannot be structured or deciphered at all.

Increasing the Problem-Solving Skills of Students with Developmental Disabilities Participating in General Education

Although skill in problem solving is critical to success in school and the community, as well as to promoting student self-determination, problem solving remains a neglected curriculum area for students with developmental disabilities. Using the self-determined learning model, 4 students with mental retardation or developmental disabilities were taught problem-solving skills to achieve self-set goals. A multiple-baseline-across-participants design was used, and the instruction was provided in general education content classes. Target behaviors included increasing appropriate touching, increasing contributions to class discussion, and increasing direction following. Data revealed immediate and dramatic changes for all participants, with performance levels maintained at 100%. Anecdotal social validation data supported the findings. The implications of these findings in respect to promoting self-determination and inclusive practice are discussed.

Promoting Causal Agency: The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction

Teachers seeking to promote the self-determination of their students must enable them to become self-regulated problem-solvers. This article introduces a model of teaching, The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction, incorporating principles of self-determination, which enables teachers to teach students to become causal agents in their own lives. This model was field-tested with students with disabilities. Students receiving instruction from teachers using the model attained educationally relevant goals, showed enhanced self-determination, and communicated their satisfaction with the process. Teachers implementing the model likewise indicated their satisfaction with the process and suggested that they would continue to use the model after the completion of the field test.

A method for self-determination of adaptive learning rates in back propagation

A method for self-determination of adaptive learning rates during behaviour is presented for back propagation in simulated neural networks. The inherent limitations of a learning rate fixed a priori for overshooting the goal are analysed and an optimum step length based on an adaptive learning rate is established. The use of a self-determined learning rate in this way allows first-time learning to become more feasible. A height and gradient based algorithm for determining the learning rate is described together with its computational expense. Experimental results are given comparing the new method with standard back propagation both with and without momentum-like augmentation. The results yield training times for the new method over a single trial of a similar order to those of the best fixed learning rates found empirically over multiple trials with potential for further improvement.