This article examines the nature of student workload and how perceptions of it are formed. Inferences are drawn from five detailed case studies, taken from a wider sample of university students who completed an hourly diary for one week. A subsample was also interviewed. Perceptions of workload are not synonymous with time spent studying, but can…

A developmental process consisting of four phases that emerged from graduate students' reports of their experiences in a course promoting self-direction is outlined and compared with research on similar processes in other groups. (MSE)

Course content in professional education is a weak indicator of whether the student will develop professional competence. An independent study course available in London for professionals emphasizes development of cognitive abilities to organize and present complex information and to learn inductively from experience, accurate empathy, proactive…

A historical account is given of how a conventional university first-year undergraduate course in zoology has been replaced by a self-instructional one. Advantages and problems are weighed, and successful student achievement and interest are described. (LBH)

The research on formative assessment and feedback is reinterpreted to show how these processes can help students take control of their own learning, i.e. become self-regulated learners. This reformulation is used to identify seven principles of good feedback practice that support self-regulation. A key argument is that students are already…

Based on concern for social work students' abilities in self-directed learning, an orientation module was designed to better prepare students for this learning approach. Design of the orientation and specific classroom techniques are presented. It is noted that the process also raised some issues about the nature of self-directed learning. (MSE)

Explores ideas of autonomy and the independent scholar that underpin traditional practices of postgraduate pedagogy, particularly PhD programs in the humanities and social sciences. Finds practices underlain by the gendered nature of ideas of autonomy and the paradoxical nature of the processes intended to produce the autonomous scholar self.…

A study explored the extent to which 142 undergraduate students' willingness and perceived capacity to engage in self-directed learning, and ability to think critically, were explained by psychological type. Results indicate extroverted intuition is a strong predictor for self-directed learning; psychological type did not predict critical…

Two methods in use at the University of Exeter are examined: the case study and computer assisted learning. They are successfully applied to seminar situations that allow staff to encourage the formulation and discussion of problems in an open-ended context from the start of the course. (LBH)

Possible ways of developing skills required for effective teaching of independent study and small group instruction are considered. A short series of faculty development courses is reported, and seven main issues in skill development are listed, including structuring and evaluating independent work and integrating other teaching methods. (MSE)

A remedial self-study course in physics has been successfully developed at Nottingham University through repeated evaluations and modifications in such areas as testing and course organization. The development of a self-instructional center, and the use of film and videotape packages, have also been successful. (JMD)

Described is a study of the feasibility and desirability of offering undergraduates freedom to select the course content in a first year course on the properties and use of civil engineering materials. A report of a series of interviews with students participating in the study is appended. (JMD)

A personal view is offered of a recent development in teaching English Medieval Studies at the University of Exeter in which the entire curriculum was reconstructed to deal more effectively with the character and needs of the undergraduate in the 1970s. (LBH)

A survey of 139 faculty at a Canadian university concerning support for self-directed learning (SDL) found the majority did not support SDL. Among those who were fully supportive, instructional practices did not always exemplify their convictions. Implications for the ways in which SDL is conceptualized in the adult education literature and…

A study of the processes of curriculum and instructional development in the first-year public administration program at Melchester Polytechnic (England) drew on interviews with faculty. It is concluded that curricular and instructional change is intensely political and dependent on the organizational climate for change. (Author/MSE)