Building a personal learner’s manual: students knowing themselves as learners
Abstract
In this research, I explore the ways in which student reflections about themselves as
learners grow in depth and in complexity, as they are encouraged to identify and articulate skills
and characteristics that make up their “Personal Learner’s Manual” The purpose of this action
research was to gain a better understanding of ways to support students in their development of a
strong learner identity. The narratives were collected from monthly student reflections, weekly
goal setting reflections and observations done by the researcher. This project involved 18 Grade
6/7 English students in a dual track English/French Immersion Elementary School in
Northwestern British Columbia. Students were asked to set weekly goals and reflect on where
their learning was going, how it was going, and where to next in their learning. Students were
given the tool of eight characteristic traits and criterion to help them describe who they were as
learners in different learning situations. The importance of being confident, industrious and risk
taking were the most referred to by the students and what they felt they possessed or needed to
acquire in becoming successful learners. Being compassionate and thoughtful were the least
referred to in the students’ goal setting and reflections. Building a common language of
characteristic traits and giving opportunities for students to explore these traits in different
learning environments and reflect on their learning increased their ability to articulate and
expand their repertoire of characteristics and skills as a learner over time.
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
The role of motivation in promoting self-determined, self-regulated learners in a fully online, self-paced, asynchronous learning environment, and practical strategies to ensure learner success
Himmelright, Shannon V. (Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University, 2020)Learner motivation is a significant topic in all educational settings, and lack thereof is of particular relevance in the online learning environment. High attrition rates and learner disengagement are unintended consequences ... -
What motivates adult learners to improve their ability to learn?
Kaur, Amandeep (Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University, 2018)The intention of this study was to examine the role of motivational factors in the field of adult learning. The abundant presence of technology and innovation has made it mandatory for the professional to be ready to ... -
The TED word list : an analysis of TED talks to benefit ESL teachers and learners
Wolfe, Jason (2016-01-28)To enhance TED Talk usability in ESL classrooms, I created a TED Talk corpus and determined a list of high-frequency vocabulary unique to the TED corpus. The investigation also determined the percentage of General Services ...