Student perceptions of their autonomy at University

Abstract

Learner autonomy is a primary learning outcome of Higher Education in many countries. However, empirical evaluation of how student autonomy progresses during undergraduate degrees is limited. We surveyed a total of 636 students' self-perceived autonomy during a period of two academic years using the Autonomous Learning Scale. Our analysis suggests that students do not perceive themselves as being any more autonomous as they progress through University. Given the relativity of self-perception metrics, we suggest that our results evince a "red queen" effect. In essence, as course expectations increase with each year, each student's self-perceived autonomy relative to their ideal remains constant; we term this the "moving goalpost" hypothesis. This article corroborates pedagogical literature suggesting that providing students with opportunities to act autonomously and develop confidence is key to developing graduates who have the independence that they need in order to be successful in the workplace.

The Determinants of Brand Positioning in Higher Education – What Dominantly Influences Students’ Satisfaction? / Odrednice pozicioniranja brenda u visokom obrazovanju – što najviše utječe na zadovoljstvo studenata?

“…It is a prevailing scenario in the higher education sector, where the branding of private higher education institutions (PHEIs) provides the key stakeholders with a much easier way to identify and distinguish them from other competing institutions (Waerass & Solbakk, 2009). In their article, Henri et al (2017) corroborate the pedagogical literature suggesting that providing students with opportunities to act autonomously and develop confidence is a key to the creation of the graduates who have the independence that they need in order to be successful in the workplace.…”

The Most Waited Engagement in Higher Education: Teachers and Students’ Committed With E-Learning

“…Moreover, system quality is not a direct driver of continuance commitment, which could be explained by the multidimensional nature of e-learning systems. Recent research has pointed to the possibility that factors related to individual values, such as personal grit (Aparicio, et al, 2017) and personal autonomy (Henri, et al, 2018), are more important than system quality in the post-adoption phase of an e-learning system.…”

“…(2) It creates a collaborative relationship between students and teachers that is no longer limited by time and space. (3) It helps to offer personalized attention and promotes student autonomy, essential in the development of their confidence and self-efficacy in a future workspace (Henri, Morrell, & Scott, 2018). Moreover, (4) it offers a range of tools that enable synchronic and asynchronous channels of communication between participants in higher educational systems.…”

Towards the development of learner autonomy of Portuguese mechanical engineering students

“…For Hiemstra and Brockett [33], self-directed learning is more effective when the learner has a high self-direction, the teaching-learning process is configured to encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning, and when the educational context and environment support a self-directed learning climate. Therefore, the responsibility for learning is exercised in an interdependent manner [28], [34] in social learning contexts that should provide opportunities [15] and encourage selfdirected learning. Also, Benson [35], who considers that the exercise of control over learning is a good indicator of autonomy, warns that this is dependent on the opportunities provided by the context, meaning that the absence of manifestations of control may not always indicate lack of ability and willingness to learn in an autonomous way.…”

“…On the other hand, learner autonomy, as an ability to be responsible for one's own learning and, having this ability, make full use of it, learning in a self-directed manner [9], has been identified by some authors as one of the goals of higher education [10]- [13], and by others as a condition for effective learning [13]- [17]. However, some studies show that learner autonomy does not always improve with the progression of students in higher education, having setbacks in its development [15], [18]- [20], and advances in just a few curricular years [21]- [27].…”