Becoming a Successful Student: the Concept of Independent Learning
In this independent essay there will be an attempt to describe the concept of independed learning style and whether it is more useful to become a successful student. This essay is based on personal experience. So independent learning is a process and a philosophy by which a learner acquires knowledge by their own efforts and develops the ability for enquiry and critical evaluation. Kesten, defines independent learning as a process of making self-directed and self-motivated decisions to meet learning needs. An Independent learner accepts the responsibility of making their own decisions to progress and understands the limitations that might be present such as their own abilities and resources.
The project were I was working has helped me develop my skills as an independent learner because I have had to take initiative and be responsible for my progress within this unit to be able to develop our entrepreneurial idea. Working as a team with members from different learning backgrounds and interests has required maturity to avoid conflict and this included taking the time to listen to everyone’s point of view, accepting each other’s criticism and using it to improve our work. There have been moments when I had to accept that my idea was flawed, and I would listen to my team-mates’ feedback which ultimately enhanced our project. The entrepreneurship unit has required me to set aside time to focus on working with my team to innovate our idea. I have had to set goals to ensure that our deadlines are met, address any issues when presented and be self-motivated to carry out the necessary work to achieve results. This required me to persevere whenever we encountered issues and I have had to take initiative when required and become a better problem solver.
Another skill that has improved my autonomous learning has been being aware of when it is best for me to work alone such as when carrying out research, however sometimes collaborative work is required for tasks like brainstorming names for our logo, other times it has been necessary to admit that we need guidance and seek advice. We have had to be in charge of determining the necessary steps to accomplish our idea and we have had to set our own goals and collaborate with each other to structure our project.
Additionally, I have become more critical and self-aware of my ability to monitor and manage my progress effectively so that we meet our targets as a group. I have had to be willing to explore different topics from different directions utilizing our resources to determine the best idea to implement. Good time management and planning have been non-negotiable during this experience as it makes or breaks the development of our project. We cannot come up with excuses for not doing the work because failure to meet the targets we set leads to decreasing our productivity and pushing back our progress.
To conclude, becoming an independent learner has ultimately made me a proactive learner because I am actively initiating and participating in the decision making to progress within this project.
