Learning Independently

Secrets for Success in College  - Part 2

What is an independent learner?

Independent learners are individuals who are able to think, act, and pursue their own studies on their own, 

without the same level of support students receive from an instructor in a class.

This does not mean that independent learners don't ask for help.  

They do.  

They quickly and regularly use their resources: instructors, tutoring (in-person, online), learning strategies, the internet, library, textbooks, peers, etc. 

Why Become an Independent Learner?

To be successful in college and in online classes, students need to have some skills in learning on their own.  

Why?  

Basically, because it is expected.  

In addition, if you take online classes, there are fewer interactions with other students or the instructor. 

Plus, it is a life skill.

There are many times in life that we need to research to learn and to make informed decisions.  Things like learning about a medical condition, getting a credit card, buying a car or a home, voting, and even finding the best recipes for stews or soups.  

This is a picture of the Growth Mindset video that is on this website.

Remember

We are not born with skills. 

Skills are abilities that are developed.  

We learn and develop independent learning skills.

You CAN - Do it!  

Be a Proactive, Independent Learner

In college, like life, a lot of the learning occurs outside of a classroom.

In both settings, we are expected to initiate and pursue our learning, in addition to getting help when needed.

step 1

Self-Directed Learning – Setting Up Your Learning • Pursue knowledge, not good grades. o It’s hard to ignore grades when they seem to mean so much to graduation and university admissions staff. But grades don’t always reflect how much you’ve actually learned, and that’s what counts in the end. • Identify your learning goals. o When you have to learn something you are not interested it, find a reason to learn in. Help yourself enjoy learning more by collecting interesting facts or sharing your knowledge with other people. • Keep your goals realistic, concrete, and achievable. o Maybe you love playing video games and want to make games. A realistic goal might be to learn what is involved in creating video games, not just the general goal of creating games.

step 2

Self-Directed Learning – Create a Learning Program • Understand your own approach. o What is your preferred way to learn, your learning style? What are other ways you can learn? • Start with learning background on a topic. o Get to know your topic by researching it in an encyclopedia on the Internet for an overview. It’s important to have context before you dive into details. • Use critical thinking skills to question the significance of things. o Make a habit of not taking things at face value. Research and ask questions to get an accurate, bigger picture. • Teach what you are learning to someone else. o Part of really learning something is being able to understand it and explain it to someone else in your own words. • Monitor your own learning process. o Whether you receive the grade you want or not, try to measure your progress against your own personal learning goals. • Don't give up when learning becomes difficult. o Life gives us problems so we can learn and grow. Problem-solve. Find and use your resources - instructors, tutors, professionals. • Use game-based motivation strategies. o Give yourself fun rewards to challenge yourself and help you work hard to learn. • Value progress over performance. o When we are learning something, it can take time to become competent in using it. Focus on making progress toward your learning goals and enjoy it when your performance improves. • Build a network of "learning colleagues." o Take advantage of online and in-person communities that will support you through your learning journey, to share information and help think things through from another point of view. • Share your learning with peers and mentors o Knowing you are going to share what you’ve learned with someone can provide motivation to learn. Your attention and memory also receive a boost when you picture yourself sharing your new information with another person.

step 3

Self-Directed Learning – Use Your Knowledge Practice using what you’ve learned. We all value knowledge we can actually use. Sometimes we need to make an effort to use it, though. Look for and create opportunities to use your knowledge. Create something out of what you’ve learned. Make a habit of creating something-a diagram, a song, a journal entry- with the new material you’ve learned. Not only will it help strengthen the material in your long-term memory, but it also will help you look forward to learning things in the future. Verbalize your achievements. It’s one thing to know what you’ve learned, but it’s another to make it known. Sharing your achievements can be rewarding and can help you reflect on what you think you’ve learned vs. what you’ve actually learned.

If you would like to print a paper copy,

click below to access a PDF version.

Setting Up Your Learning.pdf
Creating a Learning Program.pdf
Use Your Knowledge.pdf

Study Skills for Independent Learners

• Print out any materials you can. o Sometimes, a computer can be a distraction. It can help to turn it off to study. o If highlighting helps you, you can highlight printed materials and make notes in the margins. o If you prefer to read typed lectures or reading material on a screen, you can turn down the brightness on your monitor to prevent eye strain. o It is good to print out things like course schedules and syllabuses. It's good to have a physical copy of these materials to refer to throughout the course. • Take notes on online lectures. o Sit with a pen and paper in front of your computer and take notes as carefully as you would during a in-person class. Handwritten notes increase your retention of the material better than typed notes. o Use headings and dates to keep track of what materials are covered in each section of your notes. o Don't try to record every single detail an instructor said. Instead, jot down the general idea and any insights that help you better understand the material. Later, when you're studying, you can refer to your notes to remember the major ideas of the course. o Even if you can re-watch lectures, taking notes is still helpful. It helps better remember the material later and you can also write down key material. • Find videos & information o When you have trouble understanding the written information or the lecture video, research the topic on the internet. There are many good lectures on YouTube, Khan Academy, and other sites. Sometimes, just hearing it explained in a different way can bring understanding. • Write out difficult material. o If something is really difficult to understand, try writing it down - more than once. Using your own words, write it as if you were explaining it to someone else. This can be a helpful technique for studying for any course, including an online one. o You can also write down vocabulary words, dates, names of important figures, and other information you need to memorize. Create flash cards or use an online aid like Quizlet. • Read difficult information out loud. o If you're really struggling to understand something, reading it out loud can help. You will both see and hear the material, helping you better commit it to memory. o You can also try summarizing the material from memory out loud. You can, for example, pretend you're explaining a concept to another student.

If you would like to print a paper copy,

click below to access a PDF version.

Independent Learning - Study Tips.pdf

essential functions

All programs have things that every student has to be able to do or experience to pass the class.  These are called essential functions. 

A list of a program's essential functions should be found on Pierpont's class Catalog.  

To find the essential functions in your program in the catalog...

This is a picture of Pierpont's website main page with a red arrow pointing to the Catalog link.

Go to Pierpont's website and click on Catalog at the top. 

This is a picture of the Catalog page on Pierpont's website with red indicating where to type in the name of the program.

On the Academic Catalog page, choose 'Programs.'  Type in the program you are interested in.

This is a picture of the Catalog page for Pierpont's Respiratory Care program.

We typed in 'Respiratory,' which took us to the Respiratory Care page in the Academic Catalog.

This a picture of the section of Pierpont's Respiratory Care program that shows Program Data, with an arrow showing the link to find the program's Essential Functions.

On the Respiratory Care page, you scroll down until you reach Program Data.  Click on the link for Respiratory Care Essential Functions. 

This is a picture of the page with Pierpont's Respiratory Care program's Essential Functions.

This opens the Respiratory Care Program's Essential Functions handout.  Above is the beginning of the handout. 

If your program's page on the Academic Catalog does not have an essential functions list, contact the program director for that information.  

If you need help, contact Support Services. 

Learning Independently - Resource

THIS IS NOT REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THIS MODULE.

For more information

Connect with 

Pierpont's Learning Strategies Website.

Check out the Study Skills pages found at the links below.

Connecting with Learning Strategies is not required for completion of this module.

Check out Pierpont's Learning Strategies website for more information to help you learn independently on topics like:

Time Management, Study Skills, Reading & Understanding Textbooks and more.

You also can Connect with a Coach on the topics.

access@pierpont.edu   304-534-7878

Check out the Study Skills pages found at the link below.