Autonomy concerns the ability to discern dominant narratives in society and to think beyond them. The autonomous student aims to be empowered and empower others. As such, autonomy is a process that exists at two levels; the level of the Self and the level of the Other. Considering autonomy of the Self, independent and critical thinking is crucial. The autonomous student understands their role in society, and can engage with different communities around them, whilst forming opinions independently. With this awareness comes a responsibility towards the Other. Being able to think beyond dominant narratives allows students to emancipate Others, speak out against injustice and give (back) voice and agency to silenced groups in society.
Tips & tricks
With these tips & tricks, you can introduce students to the skill in an accessible way.
Reading Questions
Individual reflection on readings can help to foster critical thinking. Such individual reflection can be done by asking the students to submit one or more critical questions about their readings before a session. This will help them to consider more thoroughly what they are reading and provides a different level of analysis. Rather than just understanding the content, students will train to critically assess the information that is provided to them. As such, they will be encouraged not to reproduce knowledge, but to critically engage with the materials. This can lead to more in-class discussions and increased engagement, as all students will have the opportunity to voice their opinions and questions.
Own Readings
Students’ autonomy can be encouraged by giving them a considerate amount of academic freedom. Depending on the way a class is structured, this can involve a free choice of readings. The most accessible way of providing free readings is to ask the students to complement mandatory readings with their own findings. This asks of the students to discern specific information they want to add to the class content, and to further research topics they are interested in. During class sessions the students can explain to each other what resources they found and what it adds to the mandatory readings. It can also be an option to provide multiple readings, and have the students choose among themselves which readings they will do. By doing this there is certainty about which readings will be done before a session, but still relative freedom for the students to explore their own interests. This way of approaching mandatory literature teaches the students find relevant information on their own, and to shape discussions in class by themselves. This responsibility fosters autonomy and encourages thinking beyond given boundaries.
Peer-to-peer feedback
Peer-to-peer feedback can help students to take charge of their own learning and help each other rather than solely relying on their teacher. By reading and analysing each other’s work, they gain different perspectives, help each other complete their assignment, and gain inspiration to improve their own work. Students can be assisted in providing feedback when given clear instructions on what to look for, how to deliver constructive feedback, and how to take inspiration for their own work.
Teaching activities
With these teaching activities, you can enable students to apply the skill of Autonomy concretely within your educational practice.
Student Led Tutorial
Student Led Tutorials (SLT's) are tutorial sessions prepared by students, rather than the teacher. The students will form small groups to prepare a tutorial session and form their own learning goals that fall within the scope of the course. They will have to convey these learning goals to their peers in the session they host. To do so, the students are responsible to find relevant literature, materials and activities. An SLT teaches students to think critically about how and what they are being taught in classes, and to find new content autonomously. Additionally, it gives students the opportunity to learn about topics that they find interesting, which might not be discussed in regular classes. It encourages them to think about their interests and what message they want to convey to their peers. As such, it can foster both empowerment of the Self and empowerment of the Other. Finally, SLT's also require the students to be punctual. Preparing a session that lasts multiple hours requires serious planning and group work. This will help them in their future endeavours and prepares them for their own projects that they might set up in the future.
Research Project/Proposal
As with an SLT, assigning students a larger Research Project or Research Proposal will foster autonomous thinking and planning. Letting students choose their own topic encourages them to develop their academic interests and become more versatile researchers. Importantly, students should be allowed to struggle when setting up a larger project. Struggle is essential to the learning process, and students should be encouraged to find their own way out of issues that they encounter. This will help them to work autonomously outside of the university, and it will make them more resilient when faced with challenges.
Assessment
With these assignments, you can encourage students to further train and develop the skill.
Open essay
The open essay entails an essay that is written without prescribed content. Students are free to choose their own topic, as long as it falls within the scope of the course. This allows them to shape their own interests and expertise. They will have the opportunity to find alternative knowledge and information, which discusses the course content in a different light or through a different theoretical lens. Importantly, this does not mean that such a paper is non-academic. It should be based on academic research and make an academic argument. Nevertheless, allowing the students to explore more freely the different facets of a topic they are interested in, will shape their opinions and encourage them to think about what they learn autonomously. The open essay can teach students to think about previously unknown topics and to explore unfamiliar materials.
Mindmapping
Whilst students might be familiar with a mind-map based on an in-class discussion or in preparation for exams, mind-mapping can also be used as an exercise where students are asked to independently reflect upon different theories, concepts, and examples covered in their education. Such an exercise asks of students to define concepts and focus on the relationships between them. How does one theory answer to a different theory? What do they share? And where do they critique one-another? Students are encouraged to reflect independently on what they learned and to assess their learning outcoming. The goal of this exercise is to train reflexivity and autonomous thinking about theoretical concepts and how they apply to the world. Mind mapping also helps establishing connections between concepts and can be done on paper, on white boards, or with digital tools.
Peer-to-peer Feedback
Giving feedback to a fellow student or colleague is a great way to practice independent reasoning and respectful critiquing, aimed at empowerment. Students should learn how to give each other constructive feedback but hey should also learn how to receive critique without feeling personally attacked. This can be done by integrating a round of peer review into the preparation of any (writing) assignment, but it can also be trained by asking every student for comments on a peer’s performance during a debate or a presentation. Providing a framework for feedback (e.g. by establishing criteria of attention beforehand) and feedforward (sharing information among peers on strategies to achieve a desired goal) will guide students in keeping their manner respectful and it will help the peer to accept feedback by looking for genuine improvement opportunities. When feedback rounds lead to tense situations, there should be space in class to discuss this, and to analyse how feedback is being formulated and perceived.
Individual Presentations
Asking students to present their own work helps them take ownership of the education process. Such assessment asks of them to conduct their own research, organise material, synthesise different arguments, and deliver the content to fellow students and their teacher. Throughout this process, students are asked to make autonomous decisions and take ownership of their work. In addition, presenting fosters adaptability, as students learn to respond to questions and feedback in real-time. Grading can be based on the content students present, their style of presenting, as well as how they engage with critical questions from their teacher and fellow students.
Good practices
These examples provide insight into how students have successfully applied the skill in practice.
Op-ed (Medical Ethics)
An Op-ed piece is a short newspaper column that represents the strong, informed, argumentized and focused view of a writer on an issue of relevance to a targeted audience. It is a written prose piece which expresses the opinion of an author or entity with no affiliation with the publication's editorial board. The term is short for "opposite the editorial page", deriving its name from originally having appeared physically opposite the editorial page in a newspaper. An op-ed is meant to discuss a difficult problem with an opinion based on scientific knowledge. It challenges the writer to critically think about how to develop an argument, which strengthens the skill to autonomously process information.
Dmoshinskaia, N., Gijlers, H., & de Jong, T. (2022). Giving feedback on peers’ concept maps as a learning experience: does quality of reviewed concept maps matter?. Learning environments research, 25(3), 823-840.
Latifi, S., Noroozi, O., & Talaee, E. (2021). Peer feedback or peer feedforward? Enhancing students’ argumentative peer learning processes and outcomes. British Journal of Educational Technology, 52(2), 768-784.
Martin, I. A., & Sippel, L. (2021). Providing vs. receiving peer feedback: Learners’ beliefs and experiences. Language Teaching Research, 13621688211024365.