Independent study is primarily self-directed with the student supported by a tripartite team of academic and clinical staff. The student negotiates a learning contract which identifies what it is they intend to learn about and the evidence they will provide that demonstrates this learning has taken place. The module is thus flexible in enabling students to pursue areas of individual interest, facilitating the development of advanced practice by allowing students the opportunity to engage with issues at the cutting edge of practice.
Hi Bindu
I was a Recognised Clinical Teacher at two medical schools in the UK that adopted different approaches to helping students to develop their knowledge and skills. The first adopted what one might call a traditional approach in which information was imparted to the students by lecturers and clinical teachers, whilst the other involved students learning and imparting knowledge to each other, with the teacher acting as a group facilitator. This is somewhat different from what you are describing in your text but does apply to the question that you are asking, in that whilst the student is studying independently & volunteers to study that topic as part of the group, it combines self-directed learning with the group learning about the subject as a whole.
For example, whilst the group is learning about respiratory system illnesses, one member may volunteer to learn about the assessment & management of patients with asthma, another those with COPD, etc, etc. The group will then come together and the individuals will present to each other what they have learned, whilst the teacher will act as a facilitator and answer any questions that the group may have, as well as adding a clinical and experiential perspective.
My first personal experience of this was not in medicine but in my first degree, history, where my special subject was the Origins of the First World War. On the first day of the module, the tutor asked each of us to choose either a country or a political system and to go away & read about these individual viewpoints and then present that viewpoint to the group. At the next session, each presented the case for why their country or political system was the culprit and heated debate ensued. I remember looking around and seeing the tutor sitting quietly at the back, puffing away on his pipe, a broad smile on his face! In an instant we had taught ourselves that history is a matter of perspective and interpretation, with an impact that a Powerpoint presentation could never have achieved!
As a junior doctor, I can remember two of us having to present the case for and against anti-coagulation at one of the Grand Rounds and, again, how it made me think about how so-called "evidence-based" medicine was no different to history in that one can select which studies to present and ignore depending upon one's perspective and viewpoint. Another epiphany!
So, perhaps these events are colouring my response but I do think that students should be encouraged to work things through themselves, rather than just being presented information in textbooks and lectures. Symptom-based and case-based learning lend themselves to this approach but so do academic subjects, too. At one of the medical schools, students were allowed to choose what was known as a "SSC" (Student Selected Component), which could be anything that they choose to study, as long as they could find a tutor in that field of medicine and student electives often follow a similar approach. Students often evaluated these very highly. My impression was that students who had to learn the material for themselves and then present it to the group were better at problem-solving but I have no evidence to support this impression. (Does anyone else?) It does require more effort and student management skills as a facilitator to adopt this approach, though.
My experiences with independent studies have been with graduate students and undergrads in 'gifted' programs. In both these situations, I negotiated with the student about learning objects, activities, readings and final project for a grade. Graduate students often want more depth of information in certain areas that may not be available in the regular courses. Also they have enough background to work independently in an area of interest. Bright undergrad students often can work faster than typical students. I had one exceptionally bright undergrad develop a research proposal, collect the data and write up the results in one semester independently with my assistance. It was a great experience for her.
I've had the experience of students wanting an independent study because of scheduling problems. If these students aren't self-directed the experience can be difficult for both the student and instructor.
In independent self-directed learning the student is provided of learning material like module. I would like to share with the format of my module
1. Module Title:
2. Module Description:
3. Rationale:
4. Objectives: At the end of this module, the students will be able to:
5. Module Contents:
6. Textbook(s) References:
7. Module Study Guide Questions:
8. Scheduled oral presentation and discussion based on module study guide questions
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