Continuing developments in educational technology and increasing undergraduate numbers in the UK have facilitated the use of computer-based learning packages. One of the effects of the increasing use of these packages is the shift in teaching of material from being primarily lecturer-led to student-driven. This has a number of implications…

In the West African Region of Africa, the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is the first full fledged university that operates in an exclusively open and distance learning (ODL) mode of education. NOUN focuses mainly on open and distance teaching and learning system, and delivers its courses materials via print in conjunction with…

This study, conducted at the University of Memphis (Tennessee), compared the effects of a self-paced method of instruction on the attitudes and perceptions of students enrolled in an undergraduate statistics course with those of a comparable group of students taking statistics in a traditional lecture setting. The non-traditional course used a…

This paper reports on how factors related to students' impending graduate medical education (GME) influenced the design of their individual curricula in an alternative medical education program. Ten students of the Independent Study Program (ISP) of the College of Medicine at Chicago/University of Illinois participated in the study through…

Mariemont High School in Mariemont, Ohio, has an open facility that enhances the school's goal to train the student to "think reflectively, critically, and constructively about the problems of his world." (Author/MLF)

Current literature indicates a growing interest in the development of individualized, self-paced, learning systems within community college courses in order to accommodate the differing learning abilities of non-traditional students. To assess student preferences for such instruction as opposed to traditional, lecture/discussion teaching, an…

This study investigates the relationship between selected student characteristics and an indicated preference for self-directed study. Additional relationships between academic achievement, self concept, cognitive style, and teacher ratings are also examined. Subjects for the study were 58 students from grades five through eight in a large county…

The purpose of this Title III study was to compare the achievement and attitudes of ninth-grade algebra students who used programed texts with those of students who used conventional texts when the students were given a choice of varying degrees of classroom contact with the teacher. Following pre-unit tests of achievement and of attitudes toward…

Through review of literature of biology, psychology, and education, critical needs were identified for human development and a theory of education was synthesized to meet these needs. The consequent Structure for Self-Directed Education (STRUSD Education) was operationalized as Treatment A and tested in an educational psychology course. STRUSD…

Microcomputers are advocated as a primary teaching tool for independent and correspondence study, provided suitable software is available and consideration is given to initial student attitudes, peculiarities in computer communication, and the low predictive power of psychological tests in computer-based learning. (Author/MSE)

Discusses problems associated with existing commercial word processing materials and shows the reasons why their use in second language (L2) instructional settings is inappropriate. Describes the processes and obstacles involved in creating a manual for use in formal computer lab L2 instructional settings or by students learning word processing…

In this article, autonomous learning in foreign languages is defined and the steps for introducing it to Year 9 low-ability students and Year 10 high-ability students are described. (six references) (CK)

Describes a learning project designed to encourage students to focus on their own learning strategies and to collect data about these strategies as well as those they had not yet acquired. A consideration of learner strategies is central to any initiative undertaken to encourage student autonomy within the context of the implementation of the…

A common theme in justifications for autonomy in language learning is that autonomous learners become more highly motivated and work more effectively. This paper reviews the literature on motivation and suggests that an important link exists between autonomy and some theories of motivation that could explain the claimed power of autonomy. (24…

Four naturalistic methods for assessing college student learning styles are discussed: direct observation of student behavior, in-depth interviews with students, analysis of self-directed learning projects, and analysis of the guiding metaphors used by students in describing the teaching-learning process. Each suggests ways teachers can adapt to…