Self Study is defined as something studied by oneself
without any kind of help or supervision by a teacher or a trainer, though the
person studying may take help of some external sources like books, tutorials,
and encyclopedia etc, hence it would not be wrong to say that it is a form of
study in which the student himself is responsible to a large extent for his
one's own instruction and is himself his teacher. There is no one to tell him
or to guide him to do something or the other. It may also be defined as
"learning on your own" or "by yourself" or being yourself
your own teacher.
Self-study may either be studying through books, some online
journals or using tutorials to learn a particular topic, self-study is an
individual effort to learn by references/experimentation or a prescribed
course. Self-learning, in general, is not only more convenient method of
learning but, in fact, it is more effective than the conventional classroom
teaching method, for high school, college and adult learners who don’t really
have time to attend classes. But for those who still think that learning can only
happen in a classroom, the world of self-learning can be a little can be really
absurd or useless for them.
The current trend for self and social learning has some
scholars and analysts wondering if we are approaching towards the end of formal
learning techniques and conventional teaching methods. There will always be a
need to train people to acquire first-time skills or to upgrade their current
skill set, learning and development professionals will increasingly consider
the option of leaving some learning needs to other nonformal approaches. But if
people are to start learning by themselves, we first need to be sure that
everyone is competent to learn to and the effectiveness of the learning process
be determined by the content used in.
Advantages of Self Study
·
Helps the students to broaden their thinking
level.
·
Freedom of learning without any restriction.
·
Self-learning would enable the learner to limit
the number of interests undertaken.
·
Self-learning is more fun than regular teaching.
·
Student tends to build a sense of responsibility
and they start accepting responsibility.
·
Self-learning means that you can read different
interesting new books, rather than boring notes by teachers or textbooks.
·
You can make study material of your own.
·
No fear of criticism.
·
You may learn at your own desired time according
to your schedule.
·
Self-learning students tend to retain more
naturally when they do the work themselves, as compared to the regular teaching
where teacher’s spoon feed the information into them.
·
Self-learning gives an opportunity to the
enthusiastic people to go as deeply into a subject and interact with the
subject matter as deeply they would like to go.
·
With the self-learning, there is a great
opportunity to develop a good work ethic.
·
Gives self-confidence and a good feeling of
doing a job well
·
Student performs well in tests because they are
already used to tackling problems on their own, which increases their
confidence.
The need for Self-Study
Self-study is an important aspect of effective learning.
Even studying with conventional teaching methods, it is very important for a
student to have a clear vision and understanding of every. You can’t learn and
understand everything in the classroom, after your lecture you have to revise
topic for the clear understanding of the topics. It is very important for
students appearing in competitive exams to self-study and be thorough with the
topics to appear in the rigorous questioning of competition and to go through
with flying colours.
There are many other people who work besides they study or
many who left studying at a young age to earn and wish to complete their
studies. For these students, self-study is a very important and useful tool,
with the ease of learning at any time without any restriction of time or
attendance these students get sufficient time to work and study as well,
whenever they have free time.
Steps for Self-Learning
Set your Objectives: Setting clear objectives and goal is
one of the first habits of successful people according, and one of the first
things learning professionals do when kicking-off the research phase. In many
companies, learning objectives are formalized by the golden triangle of the
learner, manager, and HR. For some independent self-learners with intentional
learning needs or students, it is important and beneficial to start by setting
well-formulated, smart, results-oriented objectives. Clearly define the topics
you need to learn and start collecting the relevant material accordingly. Do
not waste time, be sure of what you need or want and proceed accordingly.
Look out for Good and Reliable Information Sources:
There are hundreds of materials available on topic with the same name, of which
all topics will be accessible to all people at all times. But the big-data mass
of useful information may go unnoticed with an equally abundant mass of useless
information, and you need to be very careful about what you need and from where
you can get it. You need to filter out from every relevant information
available and formulate some quality study material that would make your
preparation superior to others.
Develop Interest: Interest in the subject is an
essential driver for the successful mastering of a topic. You can’t learn what
you do not want to learn or that you have no interest in, no matter how hard
you try but without interest, you cannot achieve perfection. Emotion is an
important part of the successful learning process. If you are even moderately
interested in a subject, you may give yourself a chance. The key is to get
started and with time create your interest in what you do. If you are able to
create some pleasurable routines, you may find that the subject grows on you
and along with your interest you understanding levels also rise. Love what you
do, and no one can stop you from being successful.
Cover your Topic Well: Our brain is a mysterious
organ; it is always struggling to form patterns to cope with new input that it
gains from our learning activities. Sometimes, no matter how long we focus on
one subject, our brain is not picking up anything that wear are trying to learn
or understand. If you are stuck, move on. Try covering the same topic from a
different study material, a different encyclopedia, or a podcast, or an online
lecture or an online tutorial. Try to become a free learner, roaming the
countryside, rather than a feedlot learner, just standing on one spot, munching
on the same bale of hay and just sticking on to one conventional approach.
Explore new ways and move to some unconventional or new ideas. The broader your
base, the easier it is for you to learn. Just as the “rich get richer”, the
more you know, the more you can learn and able to utilize it well at the
required time.
Be Prepared to deal with Problems: There are always
problems associated with everything. Doing something new, it is obvious that
you would face problems. Intelligence is to be already prepared with the
problems that you would face. Have a clear idea of what you think may be a
problem for you. Don’t expect to understand things at first time, much less
remember them, when you study for the first time. Have confidence that things
will get clearer as your brain gains grip over the new information source or
teaching method.
Make Effective use of Technology: In self-study,
technology plays an important role. There are tons of online journals and
articles lying. Thousands of tutorials are being uploaded daily which have
helped thousands of students from different parts of the world. If a person is
opting for self-study, it is very important for him to keep him updated with
the latest technology and latest tutorials, encyclopedias, and books.
Keep Learning: Anytime is learning time, there is no
restriction for student opting self-learning based on time. You can take full
advantage of the Internet, i-tutorials, and various mobile devices, good
old-fashioned books, and encyclopedias. Learn during “dead time”, convert every
possible minute of free time into learning time. Listen in your car, on the
train, or while you do some activity not involving your brain.
Take Breaks: Learning at any level whether learning
in a job, studying for a test at School or a College, or teaching yourself
something new is often condensed into short time segments. The reason behind is
that this form of condensed learning does not lead to long-term retention.
Research shows that the distribution of the study of a subject over a period of
time is more likely to help you retain the information easily and for a longer
period of time. Between first learning something then practising that particular
topic, and then the application should be divided into equal gaps.
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