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Raising Awa eness o S uden s’ Sel -Di ec ed Lea ning Readiness (SDLR)
© SCITEPRESS - Science and Technology Publica ions, 2021
Accep ed e sion (Final d a )
Laine, Sanna; Myllymäki, Mikko; Hakala, Ismo
Laine, S., Myllymäki, M., & Hakala, I. (2021). Raising Awa eness o S uden s’ Sel -Di ec ed
Lea ning Readiness (SDLR). In B. Csapó, & J. Uhomoibhi (Eds.), CSEDU 2021 : P oceedings o he
13 h In e na ional Con e ence on Compu e Suppo ed Educa ion. Vol. 2 (pp. 324-331).
SCITEPRESS - Science and Technology Publica ions. h ps://doi.o g/10.5220/0010403304390446
2021
Raising Awa eness o S uden s’ Sel -di ec ed Lea ning Readiness (SDLR)
Sanna Laine a, Mikko Myllym¨
aki band Ismo Hakala c
Uni e si y o Jy ¨
askyl¨
a, Kokkola Uni e si y Conso ium Chydenius, P.O. Box 567, FI-67701, Kokkola, Finland
{sanna.m.laine, mikko. .myllymaki, ismo.hakala}@jyu. i
Keywo ds: Sel -di ec ed lea ning (SDLR), SDLR scale, dis ance educa ion, online lea ning, li elong lea ning, adul
lea ning, in o ma ion echnology
Abs ac : This pape desc ibes he mapping o sel -di ec ed lea ning eadiness (SDLR) o adul s uden s applying o
a mas e ’s deg ee p og am deli e ed en i ely as dis anced lea ning. Since SDLR is s ongly linked o bo h
adul lea ning and online educa ion, de eloping o sel -di ec ed lea ning (SDL) skills should be aken in o
conside a ion in ou deg ee p og am. Making u u e s uden s awa e o SDLR is he i s s age in in oducing
sel -di ec ed lea ning me hods and p ac ices in lea ning en i onmen s. The easies way o do his is o ha e
s uden s answe an SDLR sel -assessmen ques ionnai e and gi e hem eedback ega ding hei SDLR le el.
This pape p esen s how his is ealized and p o ides he p elimina y esul s o he s udy and he applican s’
SDLR sco e dis ibu ions. The esul s indica e high SDLR among all applican s.
1 INTRODUCTION
Knowles (Knowles, 1975) de ined sel -di ec ed
lea ning (SDL) as “a p ocess in which an indi id-
ual akes he ini ia i e, wi h o wi hou he help o
o he s, in diagnosing hei lea ning needs, o mu-
la ing and implemen ing app op ia e lea ning s a e-
gies and e alua ing lea ning ou comes.” This is pe -
haps he mos widely accep ed de ini ion o SDL.
Sel -di ec ed lea ning eadiness (SDLR) comp ises
pe sonali y cha ac e is ics ha de ine an indi idual’s
deg ee o sel -managemen , desi e o lea n, and
sel -con ol (Fishe e al., 2001). We li e in a
apidly changing socie y, and o main ain p o essional
skills, sel -di ec ed li elong lea ning is a necessi y
(Guglielmino, 2013). As Knowles (Knowles, 1975)
exp essed, “We mus hink o lea ning as being he
same as li ing.” He a gued ha lea ne s wi h ini ia i e
lea n mo e and be e han passi e “ eac i e” lea n-
e s. Sel -di ec ed lea ne s ha e g ea e mo i a ion
and end o e ain and make use o wha hey lea n.
Knowles conside ed SDL o be pa o he na u al p o-
cess o human psychological de elopmen .
Adap ing he de ini ion by Knowles, Guglielmino
and Guglielmino (Guglielmino and Guglielmino,
2001) de ined SDL as “a p ocess in which he lea ne
is esponsible o iden i ying wha is o be lea ned,
ah ps://o cid.o g/0000-0001-7165-9687
bh ps://o cid.o g/0000-0002-0263-0917
ch ps://o cid.o g/0000-0002-0048-3212
when i is o be lea ned and how i is o be lea ned.
The lea ne is also esponsible o e alua ing no only
i he lea ning occu s bu i i is ele an o he ob-
jec i e.” When de eloping he sel -di ec ed lea ning
eadiness scale (SDLRS) using he Delphi echnique,
Guglielmino (Guglielmino, 1978) connec ed a highly
sel -di ec ed lea ne wi h quali ies like ini ia i e, in-
dependence, pe sis ence, sel -discipline, cu iosi y, e-
sponsibili y, sel -con idence, s ong desi e o lea n-
ing, goal-o ien a ion, and o ganizing skills.
Since SDL may also b ing abou many abili-
ies suppo ing s udying, such as inc eased e en ion,
g ea e in e es in con inued lea ning, g ea e in e -
es in he subjec , mo e posi i e a i udes owa d he
ins uc o , and enhanced sel -concep (B ocke and
Hiems a, 1991), he bene i s o SDL a e ha d o deny.
Fo una ely, he e is e idence ha SDLR can be de-
eloped. Knowing hei own SDLR le els may a ouse
s uden s’ in e es in enhancing hei SDL skills. Thus,
his esea ch will p omo e he g ow h o s uden s’
awa eness o SDLR. In addi ion, he dis ibu ion o
s uden s’ SDLRS sco es may con ince educa ion o -
ganize s and lec u e s o ake SDLR heo y in o ac-
coun when a anging and planning ins uc ion.
In his p elimina y s age o he s udy, we iden i-
ied a way o ealize SDLR e alua ion in an online
en i onmen . We also examined he SDLRS sco e
dis ibu ions o i s -yea s uden s and s uden appli-
can s. The u u e goal is o obse e possible changes
in adul s uden s’ SDLR le els in a mas e ’s p og am
deli e ed as dis ance lea ning and o ind a means o
de eloping SDL skills in online en i onmen s. In he
long un, collec ing applican s’ SDLRS sco es may
also enable he de ec ion o whe he hei SDLR le -
els will a ec hei abili y o be accep ed in o he p o-
g am and commi o i . The SDLR su ey by Fishe ,
King, and Tague (Fishe e al., 2001) was in eg a ed
in o he i ual lea ning en i onmen . S uden s we e
gi en ma e ials ha explained he pu pose o he su -
ey and p o ided in o ma ion on how SDLR could be
de eloped in connec ion wi h he educa ion p og am.
Responding o he su ey cons i u ed pa o he i s
compulso y cou se o new s uden s, which add esses
academic s udy p ac ices and skills.
The pape is o ganized as ollows: Sec ion 2 in-
oduces SDL in mo e de ail and connec s i o ou
s uden s. Sec ion 3 discusses he ela ed wo k. Sec-
ion 4 explains how he SDLR scale is ealized in ou
lea ning pla o m. The esul s and hei meaning a e
discussed in sec ion 5. Sec ion 6 concludes he pape .
2 SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING
The in oduc ion al eady p o ided some de ini-
ions o SDL. In his sec ion, SDL is explo ed
h ough SDL models. In addi ion, he ela ionship be-
ween SDL and online/dis ance lea ning and adul ed-
uca ion, as well as he ways o measu e SDLR le els,
will be conside ed.
2.1 Sel -di ec ed lea ning models
Ga ison’s (Ga ison, 1997) model includes h ee
o e lapping SDLR dimensions: mo i a ion, sel -
managemen , and sel -moni o ing. Ga ison de ines
sel -di ec ed lea ning as “an app oach whe e lea n-
e s a e mo i a ed o assume pe sonal esponsibil-
i y and collabo a i e con ol o he cogni i e (sel -
moni o ing) and con ex ual (sel -managemen ) p o-
cesses in cons uc ing and con i ming a meaning-
ul and wo hwhile lea ning ou come.” Mo i a ion is
a key ac o in ini ia ing and main aining lea ning
p ocesses. Ga ison classi ies mo i a ion in o wo
e ms: en e ing mo i a ion and ask mo i a ion. “En-
e ing mo i a ion es ablishes commi men o a pa -
icula goal and he in en o ac . Task mo i a ion
is he endency o ocus on and pe sis in lea n-
ing ac i i ies and goals” (Ga ison, 1997). Rega d-
ing Ga ison’s h ee o e -lapping dimensions, sel -
managemen ocuses on ex e nal ac i i ies associa ed
wi h he lea ning p ocess and conside s unc ions o
achie ing lea ning goals and lea ning esou ce man-
agemen . Sel -moni o ing e e s o he “ esponsibil-
i y o cons uc meaning.” This includes de eloping
new knowledge and econciling new in o ma ion wi h
p e ious knowledge. Sel -moni o ing ensu es ha he
lea ning goals a e being me .
B ocke and Hiems a (B ocke and Hiems a,
1991) in oduced he Pe sonal Responsibili y O i-
en a ion (PRO) model. I sepa a es SDL in o wo
dimensions: ins uc ional ansac ion cha ac e is-
ic ( eaching-lea ning p ocess) and a lea ne ‘s pe -
sonal cha ac e is ics. The dimensions a e guided
by pe sonal esponsibili y, which wo ks as a s a -
ing poin and is in luenced by social con ex . To
cla i y some con usion, he model was a oused du -
ing yea s and was upda ed and econ igu ed in o he
Pe son-P ocess-Con ex (PPC) Model (Hiems a and
B ocke , 2012)in o de o disengage hemsel es om
he poli ical one ha he e m “pe sonal esponsibil-
i y” may ha e ob ained. Pe son (o a lea ne ’s pe -
sonal cha ac e is ics in he PRO model) e e s o one’s
cha ac e is ics, such as hei “c ea i i y, c i ical e-
lec ion, en husiasm, li e expe ience, li e sa is ac ion,
mo i a ion, p e ious educa ion, esilience, and sel -
concep ”. P ocess (o ins uc ional ansac ion cha -
ac e is ic in he PRO model) e e s o one’s “ acili a-
ion, lea ning skills, lea ning s yles, planning, o ga-
nizing, and e alua ing abili ies, eaching s yles, and
echnological skills.” Adding he Con ex elemen o
he model sepa a es he model om many o he SDL
de ini ions. Con ex akes in o accoun “ he en i-
onmen al and sociopoli ical clima e, such as cul u e,
powe , lea ning en i onmen , inances, gende , lea n-
ing clima e, o ganiza ional policies, poli ical milieu,
ace, and sexual o ien a ion”. Lea ning ac i i ies can-
no be sepa a ed om he social con ex in which hey
occu (B ocke and Hiems a, 1991).
2.2 SDL in he online and adul
lea ning con ex
As an educa o , i is impo an o unde s and how on-
line lea ning a ec s SDLR and how SDL should be
aken in o accoun when a anging educa ion o adul
s uden s, mos o whom al eady ha e a leas one p e-
ious deg ee and se e al yea s o wo k expe ience.
The in e es in SDL in ela ion o dis ance lea ning
eme ged om he s uc u al cons ain s o dis ance
educa ion and he independence ha dis ance lea n-
e s ha e (Ga ison, 2003). Al eady in he 80s, Moo e
(Moo e, 1986) s udied he implica ions o SDL o
dis ance educa ion and ecommended ha s a be
ained o emphasize SDL in hei cou ses and p epa e
ma e ial o be deli e ed in a pe sonalized way based
on s uden s’ needs and in e es s. SDLR sha es mul-
iple ea u es wi h he equi emen s o dis ance lea n-
ing.
Song and Hill (Song and Hill, 2007) s udied he
ole o SDL in online lea ning con ex s. They poin ed
ou ha ini ial SDL models we e de eloped when
ace- o- ace ins uc ion was he p edominan mode o
highe educa ion. Thus, hey o med a concep ual
model o unde s and SDL in an online con ex . In he
model, he “lea ning con ex ” indica es he impac o
en i onmen al ac o s on SDL. This lea ning con ex
includes “design” elemen s, like esou ces, s uc u e,
and na u e o he lea ning asks, and “suppo ” ele-
men s, which e e o he ins uc o ’s eedback and
pee collabo a ion. Song and Hill (Song and Hill,
2007) b ough ou he oppo uni ies and challenges
ha an online con ex in oduces. They deduced ha
online lea ning is closely associa ed wi h SDL. To
succeed in online lea ning, many SDL- ela ed skills
a e needed, such as planning one’s lea ning pace,
moni o ing lea ning comp ehension, and explo ing
and using a ious lea ning esou ces e ec i ely. S u-
den s need o be highly mo i a ed as he online con-
ex may p o ide mo e oppo uni ies o p oc as ina e
s udies, as online classes o en do no p o ide s ic
schedules. In addi ion, s uden s a e mo e esponsible
o moni o ing hei own lea ning in online en i on-
men s.
Ba ak e al. (Ba ak e al., 2016) sugges ed ha
online s uden s we e mo e awa e o mas e y lea n-
ing and in o ma ion p ocessing s a egies han hei
on-campus pee s. In addi ion, online s uden s indi-
ca ed be e planning, con ol, and e alua ion skills
o hei lea ning p ocess. In o ma ion esou ce man-
agemen is an impo an pa o SDL skills. Tang and
Tseng (Tang and Tseng, 2013) disco e ed ha dis-
ance lea ne s who ha e highe sel -e icacy o in o -
ma ion seeking and p o iciency in in o ma ion manip-
ula ion exhibi ed highe sel -e icacy o online lea n-
ing.
Loizzo e al. (Loizzo e al., 2017) s udied lea n-
e s’ mo i a ions o en olling in a massi e open on-
line cou se (MOOC), hei pe cep ions o success and
comple ion, and he ba ie s encoun e ed while ying
o comple e he MOOC om an SDL pe spec i e. In
Loizzo e al.’s s udy, SDL heo y was u ilized o be e
unde s and how adul lea ne s expe ience MOOCs.
Acco ding o hei su ey esponses, he s uden s had
SDL- ela ed ea u es, like an awa eness o hei lea n-
ing pu poses, p ocesses, and goals wi hin he MOOC
cou se. Howe e , Loizzo e al. (Loizzo e al., 2017)
s a ed ha MOOC cou ses o en do no p o ide he
oppo uni y o lea ne s o assess hei own p og ess
in ela ion o hei pe sonal goals.
Rashid and Asgha (Rashid and Asgha , 2016)
s udied he ela ionship be ween echnology use and
academic pe o mance, s uden engagemen , and sel -
di ec ed lea ning. Technology use was assessed wi h
a ”media and echnology usage and a i udes” scale.
Only he ques ions measu ing media and echnology
usage, such as in e ne , social media, sma phone,
and media sha ing usage, we e included in he e-
sea ch. They ound ha he use o echnology has a
di ec ly posi i e ela ionship wi h sel -di ec ed lea n-
ing. The same s udy also showed a posi i e co ela-
ion be ween SDL and s uden engagemen .
The online en i onmen also c ea es possibili ies
o enhance SDL skills. Kim e al. (Kim e al., 2014)
de eloped a sel -di ec ed lea ning sys em o guide
s uden s o sel -manage hei own lea ning p ocesses.
The sys em enabled s uden s o cus omize con en by
se ing speci ic lea ning goals by e lec ing on hei
lea ning expe iences, sel -moni o ing ac i i ies and
pe o mances, and collabo a ion wi h o he s uden s.
The sys em was ound o imp o e s uden s’ o e all
compe ency sco es in being sel -di ec i e by p ac ic-
ing and ein o cing hei SDL abili ies.
SDLR is o en ela ed o li elong lea ning, and
Knowles’ wo k has had a g ea impac on his eal-
iza ion. In addi ion o SDL, Knowles was a special-
is o and agogy ( he s udy o adul lea ning). He
de ined he assump ions abou he cha ac e is ics o
lea ne s by saying ha “as indi iduals ma u e, hei
sel -concep mo es om one o being a dependen
pe sonali y owa d being a sel -di ec ed human be-
ing” (Knowles, 1980). Howe e , age may no di ec ly
p edic SDLR le els. Fo example, Heo and Han (Heo
and Han, 2018) ound no co ela ion be ween age and
SDLR wi hin hei adul online college s uden . Thus,
he link be ween adul hood and SDLR is based mo e
on “ma u i y” han age. Knowles also a gued ha
adul s ha e “a deep psychological need o be gene -
ally sel -di ec ing, al hough hey may be dependen
in pa icula empo a y si ua ions” (Knowles, 1980).
This means ha eache -cen e ed educa ion may no
sa is y adul s uden s.
Applying SDL in o mal educa ion is a challeng-
ing ask. A s ic cu iculum may hinde he a-
cili a ion o SDL, and applying SDL may equi e
ex a e o om eache s. Acco ding Guglielmino
(Guglielmino, 2013), possible easons o no adop -
ing SDL a e he endency o each as one was augh ,
he ease o assigning a g ade based p ima ily on quan-
i a i e e alua ion, school and eache a ings based
on es ing, inc easing class sizes ha make i mo e
di icul o use au hen ic assessmen me hods, and,
o highe educa ion acul y, a lack o ins uc ion in
eaching s a egies.
2.3 SDLR scales
The mos widely used SDLR assessmen ool is
Guglielmino’s (Guglielmino, 1978) SDLRS. This is
a sel - epo ques ionnai e ha consis s o 58 Like -
ype i ems d awn up wi h he help o expe s using
he Delphi echnique. The expe g oup consis ed o
14 au ho i ies in he a ea o SDL. Among he ex-
pe s we e Malcolm Knowles and Allen Tough, bo h
majo con ibu o s in he ield o adul educa ion.
Guglielmino’s model de ined eigh SDL componen s:
openness o lea ning oppo uni ies, sel -concep as an
e ec i e lea ne , ini ia i e and independence in lea n-
ing, in o med accep ance o esponsibili y o one’s
own lea ning, lo e o lea ning, c ea i i y, posi i e o i-
en a ion o he u u e, and abili y o use basic s udy
skills, and p oblem-sol ing skills.
Guglielmino’s SDLRS only measu es he deg ee
o which a pe son pe cei es hemsel es as e lec ing
he skills and a i udes ela ed o SDLR. Howe e ,
like B ocke and Hiems a (B ocke and Hiems a,
1991) poin ou , he e is e idence ha SDLRS sco es
co ela e wi h ac ual beha io . This co ela ion was
ound by Hassan (Hassan, 1981) when she examined
he connec ion o SDLRS sco es wi h he numbe o
lea ning p ojec s. The lea ning p ojec s used in he e-
sea ch we e planned o ul ill he de ini ion o Tough’s
(Tough, 1979) de ini ion.
In his esea ch Fishe ’s SDLRS is used (Fishe
and King, 2010). Fishe ’s scale was de eloped o
co ec issues ega ding he alidi y and eliabili y o
Guglielmino’s scale and o make i a ailable a no
cos . O iginally, i was planned o nu sing s uden s,
bu du ing he p incipal componen analysis o he
scale, all ques ions ela ing o nu sing we e emo ed.
The emaining i ems we e compa a i ely gene ally
applicable. Fishe ’s SDLRS has h ee subscales: de-
si e o lea ning, sel -managemen , and sel -con ol.
Fishe e al. (Fishe e al., 2001) did no de ine hese
subscales in g ea de ail, bu hey esul ed om an
in e -co ela ion analysis be ween Like - ype i ems.
The desi e o lea ning (DL) subscale includes ques-
ions ela ing o one’s mo i a ion and a i udes o-
wa d s udying. The sel -managemen (SM) subscale
includes ques ions associa ed wi h a pe son’s de el-
opmen o app op ia e ex e nal condi ions and skills
o he lea ning p ocess, such as ime managemen
and esou ce handling. The sel -con ol (SC) sub-
scale includes ques ions abou a pe son’s abili y o
se goals and e alua e hei own lea ning. The sub-
scales ha e clea poin s o o e lap wi h Ga ison’s
(Ga ison, 1997) SDLR dimensions: mo i a ion, sel -
managemen , and sel -moni o ing.
Fishe ’s SDLRS includes 40 5-poin Like - ype
i ems: 13 i ems o sel -managemen , 12 o desi e
o lea ning, and 15 o sel -con ol. The possible o-
al sco es can ange be ween 40 and 200. When he
SDLRS was o iginally es ed wi h a sample o 201
s uden s en olling o a Bachelo o Nu sing p og am
a he Uni e si y o Sydney, Aus alia, he o al sco es
we e no mally dis ibu ed wi h a mean o 150.55 (me-
dian 150). Thus, Fishe e al. (Fishe e al., 2001) used
a o al sco e o g ea e han 150 o indica e SDLR.
La e , Fishe and King (Fishe and King, 2010) e-
e alua ed he ac o s uc u e o he SDLR subscales,
and ound ha he da a collec ed om 227 i s -yea
unde g adua e nu sing s uden s did no i he speci-
ied ac o model un il 11 i ems we e emo ed; how-
e e , hey ecommended ha all 40 i ems should be
used un il he esul s could be con i med wi h a la ge
sample.
3 RELATED WORK
Mos o he s uden s who pa icipa ed in his e-
sea ch had an enginee ing backg ound be o e ap-
plying o he Ma hema ical In o ma ion Technology
mas e ’s deg ee p og am. Fishe ’s scale was used,
when S ewa (S ewa , 2007) mapped inal yea en-
ginee ing s uden s’ SDLRS sco es as a pa o he
p ocess o in eg a e p ojec -based lea ning, as a ma-
jo componen o he ins i u ion’s lea ning and each-
ing op ions. Based on he da a ga he ed, he a e -
age o al sco e o he 26 s uden s was 158.8. Sumue
(Sumue , 2018) collec ed SDLRS sco es o 153 un-
de g adua e s uden s in he School o Educa ion a a
public uni e si y in Tu key, iden i ying he ex en o
which hei SDLR a ec ed hei echnology SDL (i.e.
hei use o in e ne and communica ion echnology
(ICT) o lea ning expe iences ha enable indi iduals
o ake con ol o planning, implemen ing, and e al-
ua ing hei own lea ning). The a e age i em sco e
was 3.97 (SD = 0.44), making he o al mean sco e
also 158.8. The s udy also ound a medium, posi i e,
signi ican co ela ion be ween SDLR and SDL wi h
echnology.
Al hough he SDLR i ems in Fishe ’s scale do no
include any ac o s speci ically ela ing o nu sing, i
is s ill mainly used o e alua e heal h ca e s uden s.
In ac , nu sing s uden s ha e been he mos ex en-
si ely s udied g oup o SDLR long be o e Fishe ’s
scale was de eloped (B ocke and Hiems a, 1991).
The e o e, we also compa ed ou s uden s o medi-
cal s uden s. Ab aham e al. (Ab aham e al., 2011)
explo ed he SDLR o i s -yea unde g adua e med-
ical s uden s in physiology and sea ched o possible
co ela ions wi h academic pe o mance. The a e -
age o al sco e o he s uden s was 151.4, and 60.2%
o s uden s had a sco e g ea e han 150. The highes
mean i em sco e was o ques ions measu ing desi e
o lea ning (3.91), ollowed by sel -con ol (3.87),
and hen sel -managemen (3.44). Based on hei
academic pe o mance du ing he i s -yea p og am,
s uden s we e di ided in o high achie e s (n = 10),
medium achie e s (n = 41), and low achie e s (n =
79). High achie e s had he highes sco e o all
h ee SDLR subscales, and s a is ical signi icance was
ound o sel -con ol.
Deyo e al. (Deyo e al., 2011) s udied he e ec o
SDLR and academic pe o mance on SDL ac i i ies
and he esou ces used o p epa e o an abili ies’ lab-
o a o y cou se. The mean SDLRS sco e was 148.6 o
153 uni e si y s uden s pa icipa ing in a pha macy
cou se. The median was 149, and 68 s uden s (44%)
sco ed o e 150. Simila ly, A wa (A wa, 2018) col-
lec ed SDLRS sco es o second-yea unde g adua e
medical s uden s and examined he ela ionship be-
ween hei sco es and he s uden s’ g ade poin a -
e ages (GPAs) and gende . The mean SDLRS sco e
o he 239 s uden s was 159.25. A wa ound a s a is-
ically signi ican , posi i e co ela ion be ween GPA
and SDLR. Fu he mo e, he SDLRS sco es we e also
ound o be signi ican ly highe o emales.
Mo e enginee ing s uden s’ SDLR esul s can be
ound om s udies using Guglielmino’s SDLR scale.
The sco es o Guglielmino’s SDLRS a ies be ween
58 and 290, wi h alues be ween 202 and 226 indi-
ca ing an a e age le el o SDLR (Guglielmino and
Guglielmino, 2013). Li zinge e al. (Li zinge e al.,
2005) es ed unde g adua e enginee ing s uden s us-
ing Guglielmino’s SDLRS. They ound ha , o i s -
yea s uden s, he mean sco e was 215 (n = 80), which
ell in o he a e age ca ego y. Guglielmino’s SDLRs
was also applied by Jius o e al.’s (Jius o and DiB-
iasio, 2006) s udy, whe ein he e ec s o an expe-
ien ial academic enginee ing p og am ha empha-
sized li elong lea ning and SDL skills we e examined.
The sco es we e collec ed be o e and a e a 14-week
p ojec . The p ojec expe ience had a modes posi i e
e ec on s uden s’ SDLRS sco es, as he mean sco e
inc eased om 219.4 o 222.7, bu e en ually ell in o
he a e age ca ego y.
4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND
DATA COLLECTION
The mas e ’s deg ee s uden s in Ma hema ical In-
o ma ion Technology a Kokkola Uni e si y Conso -
ium Chydenius a e mainly wo king adul s who s udy
alongside hei wo k. Fo his eason, hei educa-
ion has been s ongly dis ance-lea ning-based wi h
he use o educa ional echnologies (Hakala and Myl-
lym¨
aki, 2016). Thus, he s uden s’ s udies can be ai-
lo ed o hei pe sonal schedules and li e si ua ions.
In such an educa ional en i onmen , SDL is o g ea
impo ance o he p og ess o lea ning. The e o e,
i is meaning ul o examine he s uden s’ SDLR le -
els. I may e en be easonable o expec ha s uden s
who g a i a e owa ds dis ance educa ion ha e highe
SDLR sco es.
The pu pose o his esea ch pape is o iden i y
how we ha e implemen ed SDLR e alua ion in an on-
line en i onmen . In his esea ch, we also examine
he SDLRS sco e dis ibu ions o s uden applican s
and compa e he esul s wi h o he simila su eys. I
is hoped ha esea ch ela ed o sel -di ec ion will in-
c ease s uden s’ awa eness o hei own SDLR since,
when hey become awa e o i , hey can y o de elop
i . The b oade objec i e o u u e esea ch ela ed
o sel -di ec ion is o examine how SDL skills could
be de eloped in an online en i onmen and how o
de e mine whe he he e will be any changes in he
SDLR o he mas e ’s deg ee s uden s du ing hei
s udies. One aim o u u e esea ch is o disco e
whe he he e a e any di e ences in SDLR be ween
s uden s admi ed o he deg ee p og am and hose no
selec ed.
4.1 Implemen a ion o an SDLR
ques ionnai e
S uden s esponded o he Fishe ’s SDLR su ey a
he beginning hei s udies in he Ma hema ical In-
o ma ion Technology p og am. The su ey will be
o e ed hem again du ing g adua ion. The SDLRS
sco es a e collec ed du ing applica ion p ocess. The
en ollmen p ocess includes an in oduc o y cou se
ha applican s mus comple e o be admi ed. The
unc ion o he in oduc o y cou se is o gi e s u-
den s some idea o he equi emen s o s udying in
his educa ion p og am in e ms o combining hei
s udy habi s wi h hei li e si ua ions and balancing
he cou se wo kload. In he sp ing o 2020, he e we e
wo in oduc o y cou ses: Communica ion P o ocols
and In oduc ion o Embedded Sys ems. The SDLR
su ey was one o he exe cises o he cou ses.
The su ey was comple ed a he beginning o he
in oduc o y cou se; he e o e, i was also answe ed
by s uden s who, o a ious easons, d opped ou o
he cou se and we e no admi ed o he deg ee p o-
g am. When he su ey was i s in oduced, i was
also sen o i s yea s uden s. The second ime he
s uden s will comple e he SDLR su ey is when hey
a end a mas e ’s hesis semina in he inal s ages o
hei s udies.
The su ey was deli e ed as pa o a s uden ’s
p o ile in he elec onic sys em used o he deg ee
p og am. S uden s use he same sys em o wa ch, o
example, ideo lea ning ma e ial; hence, i is con-
s an ly in ac i e use by he s uden s. O he su eys,
such as a lea ning s yle su ey, ha e also been in-
eg a ed in o his sys em in he pas (Hakala e al.,
2016). The sys em au oma ically iden i ies he e-
sponding s uden and s o es he s uden ’s esponses
wi h he app op ia e iden i ica ion in o ma ion in a
da abase. Fo his s udy, he scale was ansla ed in o
Finnish and ou i ems we e nega i ely ph ased. The
i ems we e o e ed in i e, eigh -i em clus e s, and
mixed in such a way ha each clus e included wo
o h ee i ems o each dimension.
4.2 Feedback gi en o s uden s
A e comple ing he SDLR su ey, he s uden s we e
shown a esul s page whe e hey saw hei own e-
sul s and he a e age o he esul s o all s uden s
in he deg ee p og am. I a g adua ing s uden has
comple ed he su ey also a he beginning o s ud-
ies, he esul s will be shown o bo h i s and la -
es se s o answe s. Along wi h hei own esul s, he
s uden s we e gi en some eedback and in o ma ion
abou he SDLR in gene al. In hei SDLRS, Fishe e
al. (Fishe e al., 2001) concen a ed on de eloping a
s a is ically alid and in e nally consis en e alua ion
ool bu did no conside how o gi e eedback o he
s uden s. Ou solu ion was o p o ide, alongside he
SDLRS sco e, a eely ansla ed e sion o in e p e-
a ions o Guglielmino’s SDLRS (Guglielmino and
Guglielmino, 2013) sco es. The SDLRS sco e esul
is ei he high, a e age, o low, indica ing he p e e ed
a io o sel -di ec ed and s uc u ed lea ning.
In addi ion, he de ini ion and bene i s o SDLR,
as well as some me hods o enhance i , we e sum-
ma ized. Fo s uden s who wan ed o amilia ize
hemsel es wi h he subjec in mo e de ail, selec ed
a icles we e linked o he esul s si e. Fo exam-
ple, Guglielminos’ pape en i led “Becoming a mo e
sel -di ec ed lea ne ” (Guglielmino and Guglielmino,
2004) p o ides di ec guidance o lea ne s.
5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A his i s s age o esea ch, 34 applican s com-
ple ed he SDLR ques ionnai e, 8 women and 26 men.
The mean o he sco es was 165.0, wi h a ange o 65.
The women’s a e age sco e was sligh ly highe han
he men’s (167.3 s. 164.3), bu he di e ence was no
s a is ically signi ican wi h his da a. Twen y-eigh
s uden s (82%) sco ed o e 150 ( he SDLR bound-
a y). C onbach’s alpha coe icien s o sel -con ol,
sel -managemen , and desi e o lea ning we e 0.83,
0.88, and 0.64, espec i ely, indica ing he scales’
good in e nal consis ency and eliabili y. The dis i-
bu ion o sco es is depic ed as a boxplo in Fig. 1.
The median was 168, and he uppe and lowe qua -
iles we e 157.0 and 176.3, espec i ely.
Figu e 1: The dis ibu ion o s uden s’ SDLRS sco es. (The
ou lie in he boxplo is an obse a ion ha is u he han
1.5 imes he wid h o he box om he lowe qua ile.)
Since he SDLRS includes an une en numbe o
i ems o each subscale, he compa ison o dimen-
sions explo ed s uden s’ a e age i em sco es o each
dimension. The a e age o he Like scale i ems mea-
su ing sel -con ol, sel -managemen , and desi e o
lea ning we e 4.2, 3.9, and 4.3, espec i ely (Fig. 2).
A high desi e o lea n is a logical esul among ou
s uden s, and a desi e o lea n in o ms us o mo i a-
ion; adul s uden s who chose o s udy while wo king
a e expec ed o possess his ai .
Compa ed o ela ed s udies (see Table 1), he ap-
plican s in his s udy we e highly sel -di ec ed, while
he o de o dimension means (desi e o lea ning
Figu e 2: The boxplo o s uden s’ mean SDLRS i em
sco es in o al, and o each SDLR dimension: sel -con ol
(SC), sel -managemen (SM), and desi e o lea ning (DL).
highes and sel -managemen lowes ) was common
in many s udies. The high SDLR le els o ou s u-
den s may ha e isen om hei g ea e ma u i y, ol-
lowed by age, p e ious deg ees and wo k expe ience,
and amily expe iences. We can also assume ha ap-
plican s ha e a desi e o pa icipa e in an educa ion
p og am conduc ed en i ely h ough dis ance lea ning
and ound his s udying p ac ice sui able o hem-
sel es. Since SDL has a g ea ole in dis ance lea n-
ing (Song and Hill, 2007), i may well be ha his
educa ion p og am a ac s mo e sel -di ec ed people.
In addi ion, dis ance lea ning and ICT p og ams na u-
ally in ol e he use o echnology, which was ound
o ha e a posi i e ela ionship wi h SDL (Rashid and
Asgha , 2016). F om an educa ion o ganize pe spec-
i e, he esul s a e, i no expec ed, a leas e y pos-
i i e.
Table 1: Means o he SDLRS sco es p esen ed in he e-
la ed wo k o his esea ch.
Sou ce N Mean o he
SDLRS sco es
This esea ch 34 165.0
(A wa, 2018) 239 159.25
(S ewa , 2007) 26 158.8
(Sumue , 2018) 153 158.8
(Ab aham e al., 2011) 130 151.4
(Deyo e al., 2011) 153 148.6
Due o he high SDLRS sco es, we can expec he
applican s o ha e high expec a ions o he p og am
ega ding hei abili y o apply SDLR o hei s ud-
ies. In ou p og am, s uden s ha e some con ol o e
he pace o lea ning a which hey p oceed. The ac
ha all educa ion is deli e ed online gi es s uden s he
eedom and esponsibili y o se hei own weekly
schedules. Some cou ses allow o ally independen
lea ning while o he s es ablish loose deadlines o en-
cou age s uden s o p oceed a he pace o li e each-
ing, while gi ing enough leeway o accommoda e pe -
sonal s udy p e e ences. Al hough he lexibili y o
he p og am was de eloped o alle ia e adul s uden s’
ime managemen challenges, i can also os e SDLR.
To employ adul s uden s’ p io knowledge and se e
hei in e es s, s uden s a e gi en mo e con ol o e
cou se con en . G ea e emphasis on he deli e y o
cou ses is placed on la ge exe cises, such as essays,
g oup wo k, coding p ojec s, o labo a o y assign-
men s, which allows s uden s o eely choose he a -
ge o applica ion. E o s a e also made o enable
s uden s o sha e he in o ma ion hey possess wi h
each o he , using pee e iews, s uden p esen a ions,
g oup wo k, and collabo a ion ools on he lea ning
pla o m. To de elop ou educa ion p og am in he
u u e, we will add some elemen s o he online en i-
onmen ha ein o ce s uden s’ SDL skills. P o en
me hods can be ound om he wo k o Kim e al.
(Kim e al., 2014).
6 CONCLUSION
Sel -di ec ion plays an emphasized ole in online
lea ning en i onmen s. The cu en global si ua ion
o he pandemic has c ea ed an e en g ea e need o
ans e in o ma ion online. Fo his eason, esea ch
ela ed o sel -di ec ion is e y opical. This s udy
examined s uden applican s’ SDLRS sco e mapping
in he Ma hema ical In o ma ion Technology mas-
e ’s deg ee p og am a Kokkola Uni e si y Conso -
ium Chydenius and depic ed he in eg a ion o he
SDLR scale in o a lea ning managemen sys em. Dis-
ance lea ning and adul educa ion a e undamen al el-
emen s o he deg ee p og am, and SDL is s ongly
connec ed o bo h. Thus, SDL should no be dis-
missed while o ganizing educa ion. This p elimina y
esea ch showed ha applican s answe ed he SDLR
ques ionnai e eadily and ha hei sco es we e el-
a i ely high, indica ing ha hey we e al eady sel -
di ec ed a he beginning o he educa ion p og am.
This makes educa ion o ganize s esponsible o c e-
a ing a meaning ul lea ning en i onmen ha ul ills
s uden s’ expec a ions. In he u u e, mo e s uden s
will be included in he s udy o ensu e he high SDLR
o p og am applican s. I some applican s ail o be
admi ed o decide o discon inue hei s udies, hei
SDLRS sco es will be compa ed o admi ed s uden s’
esul s. Simila ly, he change in SDLRS esul s will
be u he moni o ed, and sco es can e en be com-
pa ed wi h s udy pe o mance. A compa ison will
also be made be ween adul s uden s in di e en dis-
ciplines in ou ins i u ion, and be ween younge , gen-
e al uppe seconda y school, s uden s.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The esea ch o his pape was inancially suppo ed
by he Eu opean Social Fund, g an no. S21124, wi h-
ou which he p esen s udy could no ha e been com-
ple ed. The au ho s wish o hank he Cen al Finland
Cen e o Economic De elopmen , T anspo and he
En i onmen o hei help.
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