This article analyses and compares the learning environment in smaller and bigger rural schools by focusing on the arenas of both formal and informal learning; the lessons and the recesses between. Relational patterns are both analysed using complete network data from 19 schools in four different municipalities in four Norwegian counties and by…

School psychology university trainers confront a significant and increasing challenge in attempting to deliver essential content at the graduate specialist level without adding course requirements to an already demanding and lengthy curriculum. Training in counseling is one example of a domain valued by faculty and practitioners that by necessity…

This paper discusses three technologies used in an adult continuing education Masters programme: blogging, learning objects and e-portfolios. My reflections on their use and on the literature underpinning their use form the basis of the discussion. All three of these technologies were used to promote self-directed learning, reflection and learner…

This paper reports on attempts to develop a new learning in the workplace degree based upon an online learning community approach. The paper describes the use of individualised learning plans, shared electronic portfolios and collaborative reflection on practice. Online strategies such as "hotseating" and the use of workplace advocates are…

Self-directed learning (SDL) is viewed as a desirable outcome of schooling, yet scant information is available to educational leaders and teachers on how to implement an inquiry-based curriculum or to support effectively students' development as self-directed learners. To understand better the relationship between the inquiry nature of primary…

Educational programs are continually seeking ways to encourage students' independence, personal growth, and self-directed learning. Graduates should enter the fashion industry with the ability to engage in lifelong learning in order to ensure competence in professional practice. Competition experiences help students to achieve these goals. The…

Developments in lifelong learning and learner autonomy have given fresh impetus to the debate about learning without formal teaching. This paper concerns the educational relationship between learner and adviser in self-directed schemes. Two French self-directed language learning set-ups were observed, one situated at university level (Systeme…

Modern learning approaches increasingly have fewer structured learning activities and more self-directed learning tasks guided through consultation with academics. Such tasks are predominately project-/problem-based where the student is required to follow a freely guided road map to self discovery while simultaneously achieving desired learning…

This study examined the relationship of different assignment structures (i.e., teacher-constructed and student-constructed) on the achievement patterns of 6th-grade gifted and advanced students in a Southwest suburban school. Through a descriptive case study design (Berg, 2004; Merriam, 1988), an action research approach (Stringer, 2004) and…

There is in higher education a powerful discourse of "independent learning". While there may be pedagogical rationales to support the desirability of increased independence at the tertiary stage, it may also serve other institutional agendas, such as functioning as a way for academic staff to "manage" the frustrations…

WebTOP is a three-dimensional, Web-based, interactive computer graphics system that helps instructors teach and students learn about waves and optics. Current subject areas include waves, geometrical optics, reflection and refraction, polarization, interference, diffraction, lasers, and scattering. Some of the topics covered are suited for…

This module presents the range of benefits youths receive from their participation in Community Science Workshops (CSWs)--from personal, to social, to academic and how these benefits reveal the core values of the CSWs in action. The multi-year evaluation of the CSW program included site visits to multiple Community Science Workshop sites around…

Growing evidence suggests that self-determination is a significant factor in improving educational and transition outcomes in students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This volume reviews the breadth of available methods for teaching components of self-determination--including choice making, problem solving, decision making, goal…

This paper reports on a study which examines the extent to which specified cognitive, social, and metacognitive strategies, are used by language students when working with computer-based materials (CBMs), in self-study contexts outside of the language classroom; particularly in a self-access centre (SAC). Data were collected using questionnaires,…

This study investigated the interaction between students' academic background (high school grades, standardized exams, and enrollment in advanced high school courses) and how much autonomy they reported having in high school science through labs and projects. The objective was to see if students who reported experiencing more or less self-directed…