27 Actions That Promote Self-Directed Learning

30 Universal Strategies For Learning by Terry Heick As teachers, we’re all trying to better understand how people learn–not now they’re taught in terms of teaching strategies, but more so learning strategies–only not really strategies. Learning actions, or cognitive actions. Self-directed and social learning will undoubtedly be at the core of any sort of future learning–both near and far future. Bloom’s taxonomy–especially the annotated “Bloom’s Wheel”–helpfully offers power verbs that drive the planning of learning activities, but I wanted to be even more specific. In the TeachThought Learning Taxonomy, we approached this idea, and did so again with How To Add Rigor To Anything. Using “Universal Strategies” So how can this help you as an educator? The big idea is that these kinds of “brain actions” are not only the kinds of tasks you can use to create assignments, but more importantly are the kinds of acts that promote inquiry-based understanding. An example?

Self-directed learning What Is Self-Directed Learning? Self-directed learning is not a new concept. In fact, much has been written about it. Unfortunately, however, it is a notion that has a variety of interpretations and applications in the corporate training arena. Typical, narrow interpretations involve simply giving learners some sort of choice in their learning. This interpretation is too limited. Essentially, the notion of SDL advocated here reflects Malcolm Knowles definition of SDL: “In its broadest meaning, ’self-directed learning’ describes a process by which individuals take the initiative, with our without the assistance of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identify human and material resources for learning, choosing and implement appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating learning outcomes.” Of primary concern in this definition of SDL is the fact the learner takes 1) the initiative to pursue a learning experience, and 2) the responsibility for completing their learning.