Student-Directed Learning: A Catalyst for Academic Achievement and Self-Determination for Students with Intellectual Disability?

Abstract

In this single-case experimental design study, eight adolescents with mild intellectual disability (ID) participated in a 3-month intervention with the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction. Findings indicate that student-directed learning may enable students with ID to increase their academic achievements, and the authors explore how this may lead to enhanced self-determination over time. Further data analysis suggests that student-directed learning first of all may have an impact at the level of the environment, such that teachers start to perceive their students with ID as capable agents who can take an active role in their own learning process. This change in teacher perception may lead to students getting more opportunities to practice and refine self-determination skills, which in turn may lead to increased capacity for self-determination. Findings from this study are uplifting, as even brief student-directed learning interventions may trigger positive effects on students’ self-determination.