Join us for the International Society for Self-Directed Learning’s annual symposium in Tampa, FL, from March 12 to 14, 2025, for a discussion of the Collaborative’s efforts to support the development of self-directed learning skills in online college settings.
Using Self-Directed Learning to Improve Online Learning
March 13, 2025, 11:00–11:45 AM ET
In this session, Postsecondary Teaching with Technology Collaborative researcher Louise Yarnall will describe the team’s approach to a common higher education problem: high rates of students not completing or passing online gateway courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Yarnall will share how the team based its solution on self-directed learning (SDL) theory and how the team adapted that theory. The result was a three-part cycle for supporting online students to use productive motivational, metacognitive, and applied learning processes. By working with college STEM instructors, Collaborative researchers designed a set of online instructional strategies that instructors can use to help students apply these three processes and manage online learning with more confidence.
Yarnall will share preliminary feedback from instructors and students on the usability and value of these online strategies and discuss how to promote wider usage by making it easy for instructors to incorporate the strategies into online classes.
Presenter
- Louise Yarnall, Senior Research Social Scientist, SRI Education
Learn more on the Symposium program website.
Related Resources
- Prompt Strategy Overview
- Student-Peer Interaction and Networking (SPIN) Strategy Overview
- Video Strategy Overview
- Presentation Slides
Categories: Event
Tags: Instructional Strategies Online Learning Postsecondary Learning Self-directed Learning