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Newsletter: Fall 2004

Students’ Assuming Ownership of Their
Own Learning

by: Kathleen Bennett

How can I get my students to assume ownership of their own learning and turn them into critical thinkers who understand their own role in the learning process?

One significant obstacle to enhanced learning is students’ inability to assume ownership of their learning. From their K-12 experience, most have been passive and spoon-fed information. In addition, the national push for accountability has led to standardized testing which places a premium on facts, rather than true critical thinking. Enabling students to think critically about their own learning and understand their role in the learning process is a challenge. The five principles of deeper learning as defined by the National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (NLII) are highly relevant and appropriate whether an instructor is technology savvy or not. Implementing them will help meet the challenge of creating “engaged learning.”

In 2002, the NLII chose as its theme “Learner-Centered Principles, Designs and Practices.” Educators working on that project identified five principles which facilitate the deeper learning so essential to survival in the 21st century:
  1. Is active
  2. Is social
  3. Is contextual
  4. Encourages engagement
  5. Requires student ownership
    of the learning

For additional information, please see http://www.educause.edu/nlii/ Try This: Some simple steps can be taken immediately in any course to increase student participation and awareness of their own responsibilities in this process. Once upon a time, instructors could skip these steps, but now they should be part of any course structure. (The following uses as an example the discussion forum feature in Online@UT.)
  1. Be detailed and clear about expectations
  2. Begin slowly. For example, require a brief submission to a discussion forum. Give students prompt, thoughtful feedback on their contributions. Make the first encounter with what may be a new tool for them a low-stakes assignment, carrying small weight
  3. Gradually increase the length, complexity, and required components of the discussion forum.