CTL Resource Tip Sheets

Encouraging Student Autonomy in Learning

Why autonomy matters

When your students feel a sense of control over their decisions and actions for learning, they are more inclined to be driven by personal interest, curiosity, and internal desire to learn. Autonomous students are more engaged, innovative, creative, and invested in their learning than their peers who are dependent on the instructor. Dependent students commonly lack trust in their judgment and can need multiple check-ins with the instructor to feel confident they are meeting the instructor’s expectations.

Autonomy is a skill for lifelong learning. For students, it is the ability to solve problems independently and collaboratively in university, future careers, and personal situations. Student autonomy results from personal, social, and environmental circumstances; therefore, as the course instructor, you can aim to provide opportunities for students to practice autonomy.

According to the Theory of Self-Determination, autonomy is the perception of responsibility and choice in one’s circumstances. It is a psychological need that, when satisfied, can increase intrinsic motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

The word autonomy comes from the Ancient Greek word “autos” meaning “self” and “nomos” meaning “law,” which in a learning context means to be self-directed. If you are interested in learning more, explore Self-Determination Theory resources.

Supporting students as independent learners

As an instructor, you can create opportunities for students to be more autonomous through course design and delivery. Three ways this can be achieved is:

communication and connection
content and how-to-learn resources
choice and flexibility

Communication and connection

You can set your students up to be more autonomous learners by providing clear, detailed instructions, regularly communicating your expectations, and being available for student questions.

Create a Canvas site that is logical, easy to navigate, and consistent.
Refer to your syllabus frequently, asking students to check the learning outcomes, weekly schedules, assessments, grading policies, and more.
Check for students' understanding of how activities and assessments help them meet learning outcomes.
Explicitly state procedural details, such as how to form and participate effectively in a group.
Find ways to build rapport through instructor-to-student interactions. For example, arrive early to the classroom, set office hours when students are available, provide a Q&A forum, and create videos that students can watch asynchronously.

Content and how-to-learn resources

You can help your students engage with course content autonomously by ensuring learning materials are relevant, well-presented, and of appropriate difficulty. Use UDL (universal design for learning) strategies, such as:

providing text in digital format to allow the use of screen readers
providing colour combinations with high contrast, such as black letters on a slightly off-white screen
using large, bold san serif fonts on visual presentations with uncluttered backgrounds and not too much text on any one slide
providing captions and transcripts for videos and audio files

Some students would also benefit from supplemental resources (such as study guides and tutorials) about how to learn. Such topics could include:

setting goals and managing time
interacting with course content (such as note-taking)
preparing for exams
working both independently and collaboratively
using the course technology
finding help as needed, such as from other resources and peers

Choice and flexibility

You can further bolster student autonomy by encouraging student agency and voice in your course elements, such as assessments and policies.

Assessments: You could empower your students to choose from a list of topics or propose a new topic idea. Invite students to select the medium, such as creating an audio or visual performance instead of text. Or, offer the choice to work alone, with a partner, or in a group. The degree of choice in an assignment is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all. Feasibility factors to consider include:

Do all the choices meet the learning outcomes for that assignment?
Is there consistency in the workload among the choices?
Is the grading workload reasonable for the instructor?

Policies: Use anonymous surveys or class discussions for students to have a say in some negotiable policies, such as attendance, punctuality, participation, due dates, late and missing assignments, makeup tests, use of cell phones, and more.

Providing students with the rationale behind assessments and policies can increase student buy-in and perception of autonomy (voluntary consent). Communication is key for instructors to let students know the why behind course design and decisions (Lee et al., 2015).

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