Contemporary curriculum guidelines, such as those provided in the incoming Australian curriculum, call for English to attend to multimodal forms of text and literacy as well as more traditional forms. Students are expected to become capable and critical readers, users and creators of texts and forms of literacy that span everything from newspapers…

Anyone who has taught neurophysiology would be aware of recurring concepts that students find difficult to understand. However, a greater problem is the development of misconceptions that may be difficult to change. For example, one common misconception is that action potentials pass directly across chemical synapses. Difficulties may be…

Employers in the 21st century seek graduates with a demonstrated ability to be independent, self-managing, lifelong learners. In this paper the authors explore student responses to a tutorial activity designed to promote lifelong learning skills. The activity is framed around situated learning theory, and capitalises on the affordances of video…

Many teachers use their own work as the basis for research and this can be a complex and confronting task. It demands merging the roles of teacher, researcher and research participant. These roles may not speak with one voice. Some voices are faint, mere echoes; other voices convey a more confident sense of the different roles. This paper draws on…

A study of chemistry students in an organic practical class, where they were required to work on their own, found considerable benefits in allowing them to work independently in a less organised environment. Although apprehensive at first, they soon gained a self-belief in their own abilities and were able to complete the course with minimal input…

Despite the connection between independent learning and gifted students, little is known of the views these students hold about the process of being self-directed learners. This interview study examined views of ten gifted elementary school students in South Australia about Self-Directed Learning. The interview responses showed that these gifted…

This paper describes a method intended to advance students along the path to independent learning. The method is consistent with the principles of enquiry-based learning. It involves restructuring student contact class time into a single three-hour block, and dedicating the majority of this time to working in small research project groups.…

This article describes the expansion of Monash University Library's role to incorporate learning skills services, programs, and resources, within the context of the University's evolving learning landscape. It explains the Library's now holistic approach to students' development of information research and learning skills as interconnected skills…

It has been suggested that traditional assessment practices in tertiary institutions tend not to equip students well for the processes of effective learning in a learning society [1]. This paper reviews alternative Internet based assessment practices used in Library, Business and Education courses at the University of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia…

This longitudinal qualitative study investigates how cultural experiences of staying in Japan may affect attitudes and self-directed learning of kanji among learners of Japanese as a foreign language. Six beginner learners pursued semester-long weekly kanji learning sessions and their diachronic behaviours were observed and recorded for attitudes…

Purpose: As educational technologies are more widely adopted in higher education teaching and learning, publishers often include online resources to accompany their textbook offerings. The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a study forming part of a larger ongoing evaluation of the third party software product WileyPLUS.…

This article describes the findings of an action research project which examined the link between academic self-efficacy and the study behaviours of students in a tertiary bridging program at a regional university in Australia. It describes the gap which exists between students' instruction in, and knowledge of, being a self-directed learner and…

The Commission on International Adult Education (CIAE) of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) provides a forum for the discussion of international issues related to adult education in general, as well as adult education in various countries around the globe. The following purposes summarize the work of the…

Since independent study groups can be important in providing spaces for students in creative disciplines to develop a critically reflexive approach to their creative practice, tutors in an Australian university introduced independent group learning to students studying in creative disciplines. However, student responses to the experience of…

The first year of university study has a major impact on later participation and performance. Transitioning to university from school or other contexts requires first year students to become self-directed learners, entering an environment with minimal constraints and expectations of self-motivation and individual effort. In 1991, Costa named the…