SoTL Survey Results Regarding Learner Autonomy

Spring 2007

In 2007, a self-administered on line questionnaire was given to faculty who indicated that they were willing to receive such on line surveys when they changed/set up their passwords. About 1,000 faculty members were sent the survey and, after one reminder, 122 responded. The purpose of the questionnaire was to obtain information about faculty views on and involvement in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) at Illinois State University and was part of a larger institutional change project sponsored by the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL). Institutional review board approval was obtained for the study and data were voluntary and anonymous. A myriad of questions were asked about SoTL work including questions specifically on Leaner Autonomy. The results for the Learner Autonomy questions are summarized below.

The SoTL survey results indicated that the general level of learner autonomy exhibited by various groups of students at Illinois State University generally increased with class rank such that 70% of the sample reported that graduate students exhibited much learner autonomy in their area of study and somewhat less in areas outside their field of study.

However, there was an interesting major/non-major difference in the survey. Undergraduate junior and senior students in areas outside their major were perceived to exhibit greater learner autonomy than students in their majors. Less surprising though was that undergraduate freshmen and sophomore non-majors were perceived to hold little learner autonomy according to 60% of the respondents.

The SoTL Survey results further indicated that 50% of the respondents (63 out of 126) believed that increasing leaner autonomy would improve student learning ‘very much’; while an additional 43.7% (55 more respondents) indicated that increasing learner autonomy would improve student learning ‘to some extent.’

Finally, respondents indicated that they have increased learner autonomy in their students in the following ways:

Providing interesting readings
Utilizing much reflective and experiential learning tasks
Stating clear expectations about importance of analytical writing in assignments
Facilitating student-led class discussions
Offering students choices regarding projects and fostering student ownership of work
Requiring a reading journal
Spelling out course assignments clearly in the syllabus
Teaching beyond the syllabus (asking for deeper thinking)
Using group projects
Using reading reflection