| This study was an exploration of adult undergraduate learners' experiences of becoming and being self-directed in their learning. The study was conducted with 16 adult undergraduate learners enrolled in a university that educates and serves adult learners and that, in its mission statement, describes its learners as self-directed. The study gathered learners' own conceptualizations of self-directed learning and analyzed the different meanings that they placed on their experiences of becoming and being self-directed in their learning. Data from two sources---written responses to a series of open-ended questions about themselves as learners and in-depth interviews---were collected and analyzed using the qualitative methodology of phenomenography. Four dimensions of participants' experiences of becoming and being self-directed in their learning emerged from the data: (a) responsible learning, (b) "do-it-yourself" learning, (c) integrative learning, and (d) mindful learning. The four dimensions reveal significant differences in how participants experienced course content and knowledge, the role of the university, their instructors, other students, forms of feedback, and themselves as learners. Implications include the importance of surfacing and examining our assumptions about adult learners; realizing the benefits of epistemological development in adult learners; promoting the role of the instructor-as-mentor; and taking a systems approach to institutional change. Several recommendations for further study are identified, including the need for a theoretical interrogation of the term "self-directed." Recommendations for action for the specific institution in which participants in this study were enrolled are also identified. If we as adult educators can be agents of change in order to better support the epistemological development of our learners---to assist them in becoming more self-directed in their learning---we can also help learners change the ways in which they experience learning, themselves, their education, and the world.;Key words: self-directed learning, adult learning, adult development, phenomenography... |
