Written Assignment week 5 PDF

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Assignment that is due every week....

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After reviewing this week’s readings, assess your readiness to be a self-directed learner. In your response, make sure to address the following: 1.

What is a self-directed learner? What are the essential aspects of self-directed learning?

2.

What are your two biggest strengths as a student? How will these strengths help you become a self-directed learner?

3.

What are your two biggest weaknesses as a student? How do these affect your readiness to be a self-directed learner?

4.

Describe at least three strategies to become a more self-directed learner. How will you hold yourself accountable for your growth as a learner?

Your written assignment should be submitted in a Word document (or similar program) and should be at least 1-2 pages in length, double-spaced with 1-inch margins, and written in Times New Roman size 12 font. You should provide a word count at the end of your written assignment.

Self-Directed Learning

1. A self-directed learner is essentially an adult individual that takes up the responsibility of their own learning upon themselves. Self-Directed learners are people who will not procrastinate and are intrinsically motivated to take steps to achieve or realize their learning goals. They will not wait to be told what to research, read, etc. instead they will chart their own learning path. Hence, they will decide what they want to learn, when they will learn and how they will learn. This process will be done without hesitation and done wholeheartedly. This type of learner realizes their learning need and will take the initiative to achieve that learning goal. An example for me would be learning to flush my car’s radiator. I wanted to save money and perform this task myself therefore I did my own research on my car and acquired videos online to see how this process was done. I also visited mechanics to get their input. Several days later I was able to gain enough knowledge to do this task successfully by myself. It’s now several years later and I am quite proficient in flushing my car’s radiator and I have been able to successfully transpose and apply this knowledge and skill to other vehicles as well. Self-Directed learning has many essential aspects such as:

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Self-assessing your readiness to learn: evaluate your current situation to determine if selfstudy can be achieved. Signs of readiness for self-directed learning include being autonomous, organized, self-disciplined, being able to communicate effectively, and able to accept constructive feedback and engage in self-evaluation and self-reflection.

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Defining your learning goals and developing a learning contract

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Monitoring your learning process

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Taking the initiative for all stages of your learning process — essentially you need to be self-motivated

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Perform a re-evaluation and alter your learning goals as required during your studies

Essentially to be an effective self-directed learner you need to be able to do the following:

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Take ownership of the learning process by setting personal educational goals and monitoring your own progress towards achieving these set goals.

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Pushes to think deeper about issues and draw connections to your personal, academic, and professional life.

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View your instructor as a guide, and view yourself as the pursuer of deeper understanding.

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Learn collaboratively, through peer engagement and feedback.

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Seek out the available resources and understand the scope of the learning institution or medium, its departments, and its learning philosophy and approach.

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Understand the importance of applying the knowledge learned to continue personal and career development potential.

These points above are also viewed as strategies to becoming a more self-directed learner. If these strategies are well taken into consideration and properly applied then you will achieve a high level of self-directed learning that you will also be satisfied with.

2. My two biggest strengths as a student I would say are: -

I already view myself and also practice self-directed learning. Educational institutions are limited in my country and those that are available only teach the most basic subjects of Business, Economics, and one or two other areas. There is a great need for technical and scientific studies, agriculture and engineering to name a few.

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I am intrinsically motivated. Due to my technical and entrepreneurial ambitions I want to learn as much as I possibly can in order to apply myself and not just excel in my field of work but to be able to support myself and my family.

3. My two biggest weaknesses as a student are definitely: -

Financing: I need to constantly engage in entrepreneurial activities in order to support myself and family and also to further my education. My salary from work is not sufficient to accomplish these goals.

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Time: Due to the constant search for extra income my time for studies becomes limited. I become very tired at times and don’t really have much time to rest. This could lead to a negative impact on my studies.

As it relates to my readiness to becoming a self-directed learner, I find that this situation actually further fuels my need to be a self-directed learner. The bottom line is that I want to learn in order to accomplish my goals and position myself within a reasonable social class and self-directed learning is currently my only option in order to achieve these goals.

4. In order for me to achieve growth as a self-directed learner, I will employ all the strategies involved in self-directed learning. I will reflect on my work and achievements and rely on feedback from my peers and instructor in order to ascertain that I am actually learning the material presented. Good feedback will obviously mean that I am progressing positively and negative feedback will confirm regress in my studies. Ultimately, I will be the one responsible for my own progress and this will be reflected in the amount of effort I put into my learning. The results I achieve and the level of effort I contribute to my cognitive development will be my accountability.

Word Count: 831 words

References: University of Waterloo Centre for Teaching Excellence. (n.d.) Self-directed learning: A four-step process. Retrieved from https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teachingresources/teaching-tips/tips-students/self-directed-learning/self-directed-learning-four-stepprocess...