Business and Management INK

What Makes Students Want To Learn?

August 13, 2013 1247

sboyerEditor’s note: We are pleased to welcome Stefanie L. Boyer of Bryant University. Her paper, “Self-Directed Learning: A Tool for Lifelong Learning,” co-authored by Diane R. Edmondson, Andrew B. Artis and David Fleming, is forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing Education and now available in OnlineFirst.

pqAs academics, our livelihood is based on how well we educate our students and ourselves. The conventional approach to learning and teaching is good and has worked for years, but we were on a quest to find a novel approach to train people that had the potential to change the paradigm of learning-to change the way we learn and teach.  The area of self-directed learning (SDL) piqued our interest because so much research has been conducted in the area over several decades. The initial results seemed favorable, so we quantified the entire stream of SDL data with a meta-analysis.

JME(D)_72ppiRGB_150pixwThe findings from the meta-analysis amazed us. We knew self-directed learning (SDL) was different, but we didn’t grasp the true impact it would have on performance outcomes. It almost seemed as if it was too good to be true. Once we began implementing SDL in the classroom, we knew that we had stumbled upon something that really could revolutionize teaching and learning. Not only did student learning outcomes improve, but their appreciation for learning and their motivation to learn shot through the roof. We were surprised at how much more students could learn when they used self-directed learning.

We are already implementing self-directed learning in the classroom and in our own learning because we see how much is motivates and engages us and our students. In moving forward, there are so many questions to answer about how to train people most effectively using this method, and how to select learners who will benefit the most. We plan to continue working in the area, but there is so much to learn about self-directed learning that we need more research partners to help us uncover valuable insights from this bountiful learning and training method.

Read the paper, “Self-Directed Learning: A Tool for Lifelong Learning,” online in the Journal of Marketing Education.

Stefanie L. Boyer is an Assistant Professor at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island. Her research stream seeks to improve sales training and development and extend the self-directed learning paradigm.

Business and Management INK puts the spotlight on research published in our more than 100 management and business journals. We feature an inside view of the research that’s being published in top-tier SAGE journals by the authors themselves.

View all posts by Business & Management INK

Related Articles

From Isolation to Impact: Tackling the Emotional Toll of Ethnographic Research in Business and Society
Business and Management INK
April 22, 2025

From Isolation to Impact: Tackling the Emotional Toll of Ethnographic Research in Business and Society

Read Now
“Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost.” –Nintendo “Quit Screen” Message
Business and Management INK
April 8, 2025

“Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost.” –Nintendo “Quit Screen” Message

Read Now
Author Reflections on Intraorganizational Developmental Networks
Business and Management INK
April 2, 2025

Author Reflections on Intraorganizational Developmental Networks

Read Now
Changing the World or Changing Ourselves?
Business and Management INK
March 12, 2025

Changing the World or Changing Ourselves?

Read Now
Generative AI Literacy: A Proposed Way Forward

Generative AI Literacy: A Proposed Way Forward

In this article, co-authors Stefanie Beninger, Alex Reppel, Julie Stanton and Forrest Watson reflect on the inspiration behind their research article, “Facilitating Generative AI […]

Read Now
Exploring the Psychosocial Correlation of Skin Lightening Products

Exploring the Psychosocial Correlation of Skin Lightening Products

In this article, co-authors Hanan Afzal, Sameer Deshpande, and Joan Carlini reflect on the history and inspiration behind their new research article, “Glowing Beyond Shades: […]

Read Now
Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 on the European Union Emission Trading Scheme

Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 on the European Union Emission Trading Scheme

In this article, co-authors Abhinava Tripathi, Charu Vadhava, and Ravi Raushan Jha reflect on the inspiration behind their research article, “Pricing efficiency of European carbon […]

Read Now
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
stefanie Boyer

Thank you for reblogging this, rbstat.

Stefanie Boyer

If you follow the link to the article, it explains how to implement it in the classroom and provides a detailed example with instructions. Good luck, and I’m happy to answer any questions!

rbstat

Reblogged this on EduAthletics.

Natraj

Excellent. We need to know how to implement it in classroom