Case Study

Chapter 5 presents a case study that reports on the assessment of self-directed learning (SDL) in three schools categorized with the local curriculum framework, and three nearby schools with the International Baccalaureate's Primary Years Programme. Results of the investigation indicate that there is a link between curriculum and students' knowledge of, as well as their response to, instruction about SDL. The chapter ends with a discussion of the implications of curriculum emphasis on inquiry for students' SDL, and the opportunities that exist for using the assessment of SDL with local curriculum documents that aim to promote effective learning in primary schools.

Assessing Self-Directed Learning at School Level

Chapter 3 describes the development of an inventory to assess primary school support for inquiry. First, there is a discussion of the role played by the school environment in primary students' learning, and its importance in SDL in particular. Next, there is a description of a framework of a primary school inquiry environment on which is based the assessment instrument, the Primary School Characteristics Inventory (PSCI). This assessment is based on the external (other) influences shown in the model of effective learning in primary students (Chapter 2 Figure 1). The process of pre-testing and trialing the inventory is outlined before the revised version of the inventory was sent to 100 schools across the state of South Australia. Following this, there is an outline of the Primary School Characteristics Inventory used in an intervention study on self-directed learning.

Describing Self-Directed Learning in Primary Students

Chapter 2 discusses research literature on adult SDL which is used to construct a framework of the processes of SDL from which a questionnaire and interview questions were developed. The findings are reported from a pilot study used to trial the use of questions designed to seek perspectives of primary students' SDL from school staff, parents and students. Next, there is a description of the process of using revised questions to collect views about SDL from a larger group of school staff, parents, and students. Following this, there is a summary of the findings from interviews carried out with randomly selected primary students, gifted students and students with learning difficulties. These views describing variables comprising SDL in primary students are combined with the research literature to construct a model of effective SDL in primary students.

Assessing and Teaching Primary Students About Self-Directed Learning

Chapter 4 describes the development of the second part of the assessment that assesses primary students' SDL. Following this there is an outline of the way the assessment was administered in six schools before and after 150 students participated in an intervention study in which the author taught Year 5 classes about SDL in four lessons based on the framework for classroom development of SDL. The chapter ends with a summary of the analysis of the aggregated scores of 150 students across four assessments of their SDL knowledge.

Describing Self-Directed Learning in Primary Students

There have been calls for research into Self-Directed Learning (SDL) for students in schools. This book responds to this call. Chapter 1 describes SDL as being informed by constructivist and cognitivist theories of learning, both of which emphasize the central role of the self in learning. In order to clarify the concept of SDL, it is distinguished from similar descriptions of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) through its focus on internal and external influences. Finally, the chapter reports on research that describes adult SDL, SDL as it relates to very young children, and gifted elementary (primary) school students.