When Van Woezik began her PhD research in 2015, the Radboud University Faculty of Medical Sciences had just implemented some changes to their teaching programme. Prior to this point their courses had been very structured, with lectures, compulsory learning materials and final tests. “It worked fine, but they were struggling with how fast medical knowledge was changing,” says Van Woezik.
To ensure their students would be able to keep up with new knowledge during and even more importantly after their studies and make informed decisions on how to acquire knowledge, the Faculty decided to devote more attention to self-directed learning. “Self-directed learning refers to the ability to set your own learning objectives with or without help from others, decide for yourself how best to achieve these goals, select useful tools and resources and monitor your success in achieving your goals. It’s quite a mouthful!” Van Woezik laughs. “But what it really means is better preparing students to ask questions and explore problems independently.”
Having lunch together
As part of her research Van Woezik monitored how the new teaching programme, which included specifically project-based assignments and an art course, was received and whether it really promoted self-directed learning. The answer turned out to be ‘yes’. “Fellow students play such a crucial role in this respect. Being part of a group is incredibly important. It challenges you to deal with whatever emotions or frustrations arise as you work together with other people, for example in response to feedback you get from other group members. Peers act directly or indirectly as a mirror, which stimulates self-reflection and proactive learning.”
The group assignments revealed that it was the moments outside the lectures that really stimulated self-directed learning. “Working together in an informal setting and having lunch together creates trust within the group, which facilitates the learning process. Among other things, it creates an open environment in which it is easier to show your emotions, and this in turn makes it easier to discuss your ideas about your work.”
Besides group work, another factor that positively impacts self-directed learning is a creative environment, as Van Woezik concluded from observing an elective in which medicine students were invited to study art and engage in the artistic process for seven weeks. “The students were given lots of space to experiment, think out of the box and take control of their own learning. One student was not sure what to do with one of the assignments, and decided to follow her own plan. To her surprise, the teaching artist encouraged her in this process. The fact that there was no right or wrong, that things didn’t have to be perfect, was liberating for many students.”
Theatre lessons
According to Van Woezik this also opens up opportunities for companies. “Many companies encourage additional schooling in the form of courses, but that’s different from stimulating self-directed learning. Give your employees room to experiment. Take the Teachers Academy where we are encouraged to try out new teaching methods. For example, we once organised theatre lessons where students used role play to feel their way into situations they might one day face as teachers, after which they were invited to talk about their experience. It was a great success.”
Learning together
Van Woezik understands the employers’ hesitation. “You have to let go of things you are used to and that may work quite well as they stand. Also, initiatives can potentially fail, but you can build in some room for this. This doesn’t mean you no longer expect your employees to do their work well, but rather that you accept that not all experiments have to be a great success. If this helps you to create a self-learning organisation, a place where people learn things and put forward ideas to help each other, it’s more than worth it.”
The same applies to teachers. “I understand teachers’ fears that students might not learn enough, since any time devoted to self-directed learning is at the expense of time for teaching other things.” But this fear turns out to be unfounded, concludes Van Woezik, because the changes in the teaching programme did not lead to medicine students getting lower grades. “It can also be a little scary for teachers since it requires them to do more than simply transmitting learning materials. I would advise teachers to trust themselves; they already have so much knowledge. Occasionally letting go of what you know can only help you grow as a teacher. That’s where you get to really learn together with your students in your lectures. And what a wonderful thing that is!”
Photography: Bert Beelen.