Summer 2006 Doctoral Residency

Vail (1996) asserts “to be a human being is to be a continual learner in all of one’s life” (p. xvi)

Overview of Autonomous Learning

Points of Discussion

• Autonomous Learning

• Motivational Theories

• Self-Efficacy

• Confessore (1992) established that notion that “self-directed [autonomous] learning manifests itself in people who feel a need to learn something” (p.3).

• He additionally asserts that success is ultimately dependent upon the individual’s personal desire, initiative, resourcefulness, and persistence.

• This foundation became the underpinning for the

identification and explanation of the specific conates associated with desire, resourcefulness, initiative, and persistence in autonomous learning identified respectively by Meyer (2001), Carr (1999), Ponton (1999), and Derrick (2001).

Self-Directed Learning

Behaviors and Attitude Research

• Prediction of behaviors• Assumption that human beings are rational and

make systematic use of available information• Not controlled by unconscious motivation and

desires• People consider the implications of their actions

before they decide to engage or not engage in a given behavior

• Assumption was that actions are under volitional control and views a person’s intentions to perform (or not) a behavior as the immediate determinant of action.

• Person will usually act in accordance with their intentionTheory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein, 1967; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975)

Attitude

Spencer (1862) stated:

“Arriving at the correct judgments on disputed questions, much depends on the attitude of mind we preserve while listening to or taking part in, the controversy” (Vol. 1. p. 1).

A Simple Behavioral Model(Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975)

Attitude(Affection)

BehaviorsIntentions(Conation)

Beliefs(Cognition)

Conation: A self-motivated behavior --behavioral intentions

Initiative

Resourcefulness

Persistence

Desire

Autonomous Learning is an intentional learning process in which the conative factors of desire, resourcefulness, initiative and persistence are

manifest.

Desire(Meyer, 2001)

• Freedom• Power• Change

“[Meyer’s] work on desire to learn has been treated as an effort to understand the precursors to the development of intentions related to learning”

(Park & Confessore, 2002).

}Meyer’s instrument does not measure desire within the context of learning, but rather attempts to measure the degreeto which an agent can act intentionally.

Resourcefulness(Carr, 1999)

• Prioritizing learning activities over nonlearning activities

• Choosing to engage in learning activities as opposed to nonlearning activities

• Looking to the future benefits of present learning

• Solving problems that interfere with learning activities

Initiative(Ponton, 1999)

• Goal-directedness• Action-orientation• Persistence in overcoming obstacles• Active-approach to problem solving• Self-startedness

Persistence(Derrick, 2001)

• Volition• Self-regulation• Goal-directedness‡

‡Perseverance toward goal accomplishment

A Simple Behavioral Model(Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975)

Beliefs(Cognition)

Attitude(Affection)

BehaviorsIntentions(Conation)

Self-efficacy

Self-Efficacy

“…beliefs in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” (p. 3).

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control.

Sources of Self-Efficacy Information

• Mastery experiences• Vicarious experiences

• Verbal persuasion• Physiological/Emotive

Arousals

Person

EnvironmentBehaviors

Cognitive Motivation

• Expectancy Value Theory

• Goal Theory

• Attribution Theory

Research

• Self-efficacy instrument development

• Path analysis of factors

• Demographic analysis

• Online and face-to-face

• Doctoral student longitudinal study

• Curiosity and other factors

Research• Learner autonomy of students enrolled in

academic and vocational programs• Community college environment and the

development of autonomous learners• Racial identity development and learner

autonomy of African-American students • Learner autonomy in East Asian graduate

students who study at institutions in the United States

• Learner autonomy in aerospace industry• Online and face-to-face comparison of learner

autonomy • Teacher professional development and student

achievement• Relationship of autonomy of Chinese students

and their score on English test• Autonomy in admittance to higher ed programs• Longitudinal studies of doctoral students

Where do we go from here…

Questions…..

Answers…..