Every student; be it undergraduate or post graduate students want to be the best in all academic activities. However most of them still struggle to be very effective in their day to day academic activities like seminars, papers, undergraduate projects, dissertation and thesis. Reason is because most of these students have not been exposed to various learning techniques. In the last article I talked about how cramming can exhaust students study potentials and academic performance. But from various studies I have I came to understand that one of the best ways to become better is by doing some extra studies on your own. That is why I came about the independent learning techniques.

INDEPENDENT LEARNING TECHNIQUES

Independent learning techniques are one of the “secrets to success” for tertiary level learning, and the importance of such skills is widely acknowledged in universities. There are consistent references to “independent learning” in statements of graduate learning outcomes and capabilities across the sector. There are many different ways to articulate the nature of independent learning. It is sometimes referred to as “self-regulated learning,” “self-directed learning” or “learning how to learn”. Also self-regulating learners have the following three key characteristics: “understanding of their own approach to learning and how best to efficiently maximize their learning; motivation to take responsibility for their learning; and ability to work with others to enhance the depth and breadth of their learning”. Independent learners: “develop the values, attitudes, knowledge and skills needed to make responsible decisions and take appropriate actions in regard to their own learning”; are curious, self-confident and self-reliant; understand their own learning needs and interests; and value learning “for its own sake”. An independent learner actively (rather than passively) receives knowledge taking a degree of “ownership” of learning.
Independent learners can manage their studies, their time and themselves. Being an independent learner does not mean that a student is isolated in their approach to learning. Indeed, it is an important characteristic of independent learners that they are able to identify when they need to seek out the assistance of others, such as tutors, lecturers, or peers to support their learning. Having the skills and capacity to learn independently at the tertiary level is a key element of student learning success. However, we rarely explicitly teach and develop this skill in our discipline classrooms. Instruction on how to be an independent learner is not commonly found in law lectures, physics labs, or English literature classrooms. Rather, university teachers tend to assume that students are already equipped with the necessary independent learning skills to support their transition to tertiary study. In our classrooms we tend to focus on imparting new disciplinary knowledge, rather than asking if students understand what skills are required to support their learning efficacy, both in their first year and throughout their degree. We also make the assumption that where students lack the necessary independent learning skills, that they will identify this for themselves as an issue needing attention, and seek out support for this endeavour on their own. These expectations and assumptions are problematic. Many first year students, whether they have come to university directly from the final year of secondary schooling, or from another context, simply do not understand how a tertiary student learns.

UNDERGRADUATE PROJECTS

Undergraduate research is the exploration of a specific topic within a field by an undergraduate student that makes an original contribution to the discipline. It is a fairly recent concept in the academic community, with roots in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Undergraduate research experiences help students understand a particular topic or phenomenon in a afield while simultaneously strengthening their comprehension of research and research methods. Undergraduate research is inquiry based learning that involves practicing a discipline, nit just being told about it. Undergraduate research experiences help students understand a particular topic or phenomenon in a field while simultaneously strengthening their comprehension of research and research methods. Undergraduate research is inquiry-based learning that involves practicing a discipline, not just being told about it. Students learn and apply the tools by which knowledge is created in their disciplines. They discover firsthand how the steps of the research process are related to one another, experience the triumphs and pitfalls inherent to the creative process, see that research is an iterative process and that ambiguity is part of the real world, develop an understanding and appreciation of how knowledge evolves, and produce an original contribution to that body of knowledge.

INDEPENDENT LEARNING TECHNIQUES AND UNDERGRADUATE PROJECTS

Having the ability to learn independently is a blessing any one could wish for. But is very much interesting to know that anybody can become an independent learner; all that is required is discipline. Most students lack discipline when it comes to study and this has affected their performance in their academic activities like departmental examination, seminars, and term paper and undergraduate projects. Independent learning is a gradual process. No one is an Ireland of knowledge; however there are few things any ambitious student will consider if he or she wants to become and independent learner. First he or she need to understand his or her strength when it comes to study time. Some people read or study better during the day while other study better at night. When you are able to discover your strength in terms of study time, then you can use this time to develop your independent learning techniques.
All you need to do it to get the undergraduate projects you want to work on; then get related learning materials and study the approaches used to solving various problems and then try to apply these to your project topic. Repeat the process for undergraduate project topics and be dynamic in your approach.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the best teacher or project coach any student get can get is to become an independent researcher. To become an independent researcher your must engage seriously in independent learning and improve on various techniques to independent learning. The more research topics you work on the more your learning skills improves.