PGY-1 Pharmacy Resident
MedStar Union Memorial Hospital
“Teacher, teacher! What is 12x12?” “Professor! Can you tell me why cefazolin is effective against MSSA and not vancomycin?” Growing up, educators starting from kindergarten through 12th grade, and even through graduate school, have been vital to our learning experiences and attainment of knowledge. As students, we were highly dependent on the educator to provide us and teach us information of what we needed to know to pass an exam and succeed in our careers. Lecture-based classrooms has traditionally been and continues to be the style of learning environment for schools. But is this the most effective way of learning? It depends.
Don’t get me wrong. Classroom lectures is an effective method in higher education, given that a high amount of information may be relayed to a big crowd of students. But what if you need application-based learning to grasp a bigger understanding of a concept. Or once you’re out of school, how will you function independently? Once we get to a certain stage in our education and career, we must become adult learners.
Malcom Knowles keyed the term andragogy, which is the art and science of adult learning.1,2 Self-directed learning is a branch of adult learning, in which learners take the initiative, with or without the help of an educator, in recognizing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying essential resources for learning, choosing, and implementing learning strategies, and evaluating their outcomes.2,3,4 As professionals, we are constantly seeking new and updated information relating to our profession, which is a life-long learning skill.4,5 Students sought learning styles that are most beneficial to them. With innovation of technology growing exponentially and students’ way of thinking are changing, educators are urged to develop teaching and learning methods that enable students to transition from dependent to self-directed learners.
From personal experience, pharmacy school had a mix of mostly lecture-based classrooms with self-directed learning mostly occurring in the last year during experiential learning. Introduction of self-directed learning should be introduced and implemented in the didactic curriculum, as this allows for skill development over time.5 This is not to be confused with self-paced learning and self-regulation. To differentiate, the former is having students complete learning activities with deadlines, while the latter involves individuals guiding goal-directed activities over time in their own best self-interest.5 To differentiate even further, self-regulated learning stems from cognitive psychology and is imposed by the instructor, while self-directed learning stems from adult education and the student themselves design the environment.5
As mentioned earlier, learners must take initiative to recognize their learning needs and goals, identify resources, establish a timeline, and have a faculty member complete an evaluation.2,3,4 In order to develop the skill of self-directed learning, a school’s curriculum should introduce self-paced directed activities early on to help students develop a self-directedness.5 Over time, the learning environment can transition to instructor led to student led. Ways to move forward with this development to self-directed learning can be through flipped classrooms.5 Flipped classroom allows students to first obtain foundational information from faculty-provided material.5 That information can then be utilized during class to answer questions or create a direction for discussion. This allows for knowledge application and expansion to deepen the learning experience, which may model and assist in the development of skills needed for self-direction.5
But how do we assess self-directed learning itself? Unfortunately, there is no literature that objectively assesses this skill set.5 Only the knowledge of the students can be assessed through examination and experiential learning.
Although self-directed learning is an effective method of education, challenges of willingness to change, lack of expertise by the learner, and time are limiting factors to implementation.5 The actual content learners must learn may be tough enough for learners to unsuccessfully utilize self-directed learning and rely on instructors for help.
References:
1. Culatta R, Kearsley, G. Andragogy (malcom knowles). Instructional Design. 2021
2. Pappas, C. The adult learning theory – andragogy – of malcom knowles. eLearning Industry. 2013 May
3. Guiter GE. Self-directed learning (SDL): a brief comprehensive analysis. Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar. 2014
4. Manning G. Self-directed learning: a key component of adult learning theory. BPA Studies. 2007; 2(2)
5. Robinson JD, Persky AM. Developing self-directed learners. AJPE. 2020 Mar; 84 (3) 847512
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