Fostering Learner Self-Responsibility :
allow learners to plan and evaluate much of their learning. Effective teachers offer ways for the learners to take an active role, for at least a portion of the course, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing and implementing appropriate strategies, and evaluating the outcomes. (31)
• Involve Learners in Mutual Planning: People tend to feel committed to any decision in proportion to the extent to which they have participated in making it.
• Involve Learners in Diagnosing Their Own Needs for Learning: A problem to solve is meshing the needs the learners are aware of (felt needs) with the needs their organizations, vocation, or society has for them (ascribed needs). One method is to present a model of competencies, which reflects both personal and organizational needs, so that the learners can identify the gaps between their current performance and where the model specifies they need to be. Another method is to compile the totality of learner understandings (and misunderstandings) about the current topic, have them represent their experience in some tangible form, and then develop questions that come to mind. These questions then can guide further inquiry.
• Involve Learners in Formulating Their Learning Objectives: Promote attainment of at least a portion of the course requirements through flexible contracts by which the learner:
1) Translates a diagnosed learning need into a learning objective,
2) Identifies, with help, the most effective resources and strategies for accomplishing each objective,
3) Specifies the evidence that will indicate accomplishment, and
4) Specifies how this evidence will be judged or evaluated.
• Involve Learners in Evaluating Their Learning: Teachers and learners together work to find out what learning occurs within the unique context every course presents. Classroom Assessment Techniques gather information to guide the adjustments both teachers and learners need to make to improve learning. (32) I2n the end, if people are to become independent, lifelong learners, they must learn to take full responsibility for their learning.