Independent learning Essay

pupil VOICES BOOK_Lay break through 1 2011/10/07 1157 AM Page 115 The Foundation Programme, I deal, taught me how to bring and be a person who is more than reliant on myself. So if I beart do the work and I take int reap the grades, I know it is on me. Varsity is where you chip in to be more responsible for all your actions. You render to be aw be of whatever you ar doing. You erect cant be negli- gent. (Chipo ? MSAFP) At university, you are bonny given engagements at the fountain of the semester and then you go through to diagnose sure that you do them healthful in time. in that respect is no one to manage you and push you to do those assignments.In high school the teachers al-ways request you nearly the assignments Did you do it? Why didnt you do the as- signment well, and on time? But here if you breakt do the assignment on time, they subtract marks and then you fail. (Lebogang ? MSAFP) Like them, Tony and Jaco in like manner emphasised that a pupil mus tiness take responsibil- ity for their studies. For Tony, rather than parents, you decide and for Jaco, every(prenominal)thing is meet up to you. I think it is all about you winning duty for your own work. You ? nd in high school, if youre with your parents, your parents are on that point to order pressure on you. You ? nd your parents reading, No more TV. Go and theater of operations now. But now, its you yourself. You decide your demand times. You decide whether youre going to do an assignment or non. You symmetry your social life and your school life. You balance it yourself. Its not your parents who do that for you now. (Tony ? MSAFP) Basically time management is left to you for everything. You dont progress to people telling you that this has to be done. Everything is only up to you. For me, it wasnt a challenge because I had come from a working background. (Jaco ? MSAFP) Similarly, condition DoTS schoolchilds highlighted that taking responsibility to learn is e ssential for persisting with university pick out.Pip and Copernicus likewise empha- sised the importance of keeping up to date without the guidance of teachers and parents. For Pip, taking responsibility was quite hard, while for Copernicus, taking responsibility was one of the biggest things. I depend just learning for ourselves and taking that much responsibility for our own learning, that was quite hard. (Pip ? DoTS) Compared to high school, everythings your responsibility now. You turn in to make sure you do it. I think that was de? nitely one of the biggest things for me. If I was going to struggle with anything, it was being responsible. (Copernicus ?DoTS)Alicia, Kirsty, Tara and gunk hearsidered taking responsibility for their studies to be depart of becoming unaffiliated. For Alicia, youve got to keep on covert of it and for Kirsty its all strong-minded and theres no one chasing you. Its very indepen scraping here. Youve got to keep on top of it. Theres no one to t ell you, This is where youve got to be at. (Alicia ? DoTS) Its all up to you I suppose. Its all independent. If you dont do the readings, theres no one chasing you to say youve got to do them. If you dont assume an as- signment in, there are not many excuses you can use to extend an extension.(Kirsty ? DoTS) CH A P TE R 6 INDEPENDENT erudition 116 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 1157 AM Page 116 Like them, Tara and Max emphasised the importance of taking responsibility for their studies. For Tara, its up to you. For Max, university assume involves less guidance basically and you do it on your own. Obviously its up to you to get the assignment in on time. To write it, youre not genuinely going to have a sell of help from former(a) people like teachers. It was hard to be responsible for yourself, not having the teachers constantly having tabs on you and things like that, and not guiding you through.That took me a little while just I got used to it eventually. (Tara ? D oTS) First year wasnt dissimilar to high school. It was with less guidance basically. So there was just the requirement for you to be more independent, to go out and do it on your own. (Max ? DoTS) For school leavers who were used to being reminded by teachers to complete their work, an adjustment to independent learning at university was a unappeasable con- trast, tho they emphasised the centrality of independent learning in university study. Rachel, Meg and Caitlyn each re? ected on the dif? culty of working inde- pendently.For Rachel, poring over without a teacher supervising her was the hard- est. opus for Meg, adjusting to not having anyone to remind her was the most dif? cult thing, Caitlyn observed nobody is going to chase you. Having to work by myself at home Id say was the hardest, because the teachers werent sitting there saying, Right, youve got 45 minutes to get this piece of work done. Go and do it. (Rachel ? DoTS) The most dif? cult thing was likely not so much t he fact that you are on your own, scarcely the fact that people wont remind you. Youve got to make sure that youve got that assignment done. Thats all on you.I think the responsibility was pretty heavy because youre so used to everybody else taking care of you. Now youre a grown-up, youre here and youve got to do it yourself. (Meg ? DoTS) Here you have to be independent. null is going to chase you if you dont hand in the assignment. Not that lecturers dont care, but youre just another name on the list. Their job is to teach and your job is to learn and if youre not keeping up your end, I supposal its just too bad. (Caitlyn ? DoTS) Besides taking responsibility for their own learning, former pathways learners also struggled with self-motivation, self-discipline, and self-direction.Sammy, Marie and Tony all learned to direct themselves to study. For Sammy, you have to learn to do things. For Marie, you dont have anyone on your back telling you. For Tony, not completing work is the school-age childs loss. independence matters most. I would also say self-motivation. It taught me to study for myself because of the deadlines and the lecturers were pushing. You have to learn to do things for yourself because no one is going to do them for you. (Sammy ? MSAFP) I think a lot of people struggle with self-discipline, especially if you dont have anyone on your back telling you, Look, its 8 oclock.You have to go to chassis. (Marie ? MSAFP) If you dont do it, it is your loss. (Tony ? MSAFP) INDEPENDENT LEARNING 117 6 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 1157 AM Page 117 In contrast, Jaco arrived as a very self-directed student who had no trouble keep- ing up to date. For Jaco, if you start something, you ? nish it. Im one person to really work to my timetable. I dont like to be late for anything. If anything needs to be done, it needs to be done the proper way. Thats some- thing Ive grown up with from my parents. If you start something, you ? nish it, period, wit hin the time frame. (Jaco ? MSAFP).Choosing to be a university student and qualification a conscious decision to learn are important for becoming a self-directed bookman. Caitlyn, Denise and Sorcha pointed out that each student must make the choice to study for themselves. For Caitlyn, a student ? not the persons mother ? must make the decision to do it. For Denise, a student must postulate to do it. For Sorcha, a student must make out self-regulated and must be enkindle in studying. Being independent, having to do things for yourself, is hard. The work is chal- lenging, but I expected that. Its not like when youre in Year 12 and your mum wants you to ?nish and your school wants you to ? nish. My mum probably could- nt have told you what I was doing at uni. There is no one to sort of push you along. You have to make the decision to do it yourself. (Caitlyn ? DoTS) Studying at school youve got no choice. Youve got people on your back remind- ing you of what you have to do, when i t has to be done, and how to do it, whereas at university you have to be motivated and want to do it. You have to be self-directed. (Denise ? DoTS) You have to be interested in studying, otherwise no amount of motivation or teacher-in gear up can help. Youve got to be a self-regulated learner.You cant lean on your friends to take you through an exam. (Sorcha ? DoTS) Deciding to learn is not always an easy help for overbold students. Having com- menced the DoTS pathway three years after ? nishing high school, Nursing stu- dent Vaughan struggled to become a self-directed learner. A dif? cult thing was probably the self-directedness of uni. Ive neer been self-di- rected. I still struggle with it a little while in my third year. (Vaughan ? DoTS) While Vaughan struggled with self-directedness throughout his degree, during the DoTS pathway, he sought professional advice to ? nd that he had to get on with it himself.Id gone and seen the counsellors and they alerted me to the reality th at no one is going to do it except me, so there are no quick ? xes there. We had a bit of a chat about things and you realise you have to get on with it. (Vaughan ? DoTS) Becoming a self-regulating learner involves taking individual responsibility for learning, for keeping up to date, and for becoming independent. These require- ments for university study appear to be well treasure by former pathways stu- dents even though many struggled, as do most new university students, with the initial transition. CH A P TE R 6 INDEPENDENT LEARNING 118.STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 1157 AM Page 118 PUTTING IN EFFORT Putting in grounds to learn, to understand the materials and to complete the re- quired work are among the most demanding aspects of university study. In South Africa, Accounting lecturers at Stellenbosch University assumed high stu- dent failure rates were due(p) to poor preparation on the part of the students. Their Accounting students agreed, with one third suggestin g that their classmates did not put in suf? cient effort and half believing they themselves did not study hard tolerable.These students also suggested that attending class and putting in effortwere among the most important factors for persisting with university study (Steenkamp, Baard & Frick, 2009 151? 152). Former MSAFP and DoTS pathways students attested to the importance of putting in effort. Pip, Lisa, Vaughan, Sorcha and collect explained putting in effort in terms of understanding course materials. For Pip, it was important to make an effort to understand. For Lisa, it was important to get the assists and know your stuff. For Vaughan, it was important for a student to learn the course materials and know they did it by themselves. I always make an effort to understand. I de?nitely dont do the amount of work outside my contact hours that I should, but I make an effort to understand it. When I do have contact hours, Ill make an effort to understand it and, if I dont, then I g o out and read up on it. I think it makes a difference if you want to be here and you actually want to understand the work. I think thats what makes a good uni student. (Pip ? DoTS) I know that Ive got to get things done. If I dont get them done, then Im not going to get the answers. We have quizzes each week and you cant answer the quizzes if you havent studied and you dont know your stuff. (Lisa ?DoTS)I read my chapter and I dont collaborate with other people. I just tend to do it by myself because I want to know that I did it by myself, not because someone else has written down all the answers for me. (Vaughan ? DoTS) Like them, Sorcha and Reap emphasised the importance of making an effort to learn. For Sorcha, you can become last word with hard work and effort. For Reap, you cant fake it. You can be smart and not do the work and not be winnerful and not achieve your goals, whereas if you have the time, the meltion and all that, you can become smart. (Sorcha ? DoTS) You cant br eeze through uni.Youve got to be able to do the work. You cant fake it. (Reap ? DoTS) A willingness to put in effort to learn involves having the right field post toward study which includes commitment and dedication. Barbara and Kendall believed that without the right attitude it is dif? cult for new students to adapt to univer- sity and experience academic success. For Barbara, university has to be your number-one priority and for Kendall, a student should work so hard for it. I think you have to be committed. You have to be committed to go to uni.Just be- cause youve got the brain, you got the marks, you got accepted, you might asINDEPENDENT LEARNING 119 6 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 1157 AM Page 119 well go and do it ? its not really the right attitude, because youre a nuisance, mostly to the tutors and lecturers. You have to be committed. You have to be there because you want to be there. I think it has to be your number-one priority to a certain extent. Get your assignments done. Get your uni work done. Then play. (Barbara ? DoTS) I just think you have to be dedicated. You have to know what you want. You have to work for it.Its not just going to fall in your lap. Once you get it, its the best. Like Im not even ?nished my course yet, but Ive just got a job as a Division Two nurse and Im wrapped. You work so hard for it and when you get there, its the best. (Kendall ? DoTS) A willingness to put in effort coupled with an attitude of dedication and com- mitment are attributes of an independent learner. Becoming an independent learner involves a new approach to study. Former pathways students contrasted their expectations of university learning with their experiences of becoming independent learners. Anna and Simon re? ected on different ideas about students and study. For Anna, a student should be smart,independent and have a love of learning.For Simon, study at university in- volves thinking, discussing, collaborating your thoughts and learnin g new things as well as reading, reasoning and writing. st3When I was in Year 12 I would say that you have to be smart to come here. But doing DoTS teaches you what you need to be. You have to have a love of learning. You have to be an independent learner. (Anna ? DoTS) I remember in high school that I didnt know what studying was. Now, for me, studying means doing what I need to do. I think of doing the work that re- quires me to think and learn something outside a lecture.Thinking is part of studying and so is discussing. Its a process. Youre collaborating your thoughts and learning new things. An assignment is a good example. Because you have to read extra material, you have to have an understanding, you have to do your rea- soning and you have to put your ideas down. (Simon ? DoTS) Like Simon, Tony recognised the differences of degree study.For Tony, study at university involves work on your own and research on your own. In MSAFP I was used to having, lets say, three tutorials i n a week and in those tu- torials I could work through that assignment with my lecturers and ?nd out what I have to do. But you ? nd in undergrad you alone have one tutorial in a week and you have to do your work on your own, research on your own and everything. (Tony ? MSAFP) Becoming an independent learner involves students also recognising when they need help. Asking for help is an issue that new university students, and particu- larly pathways students, ? nd challenging. For example, in the UK, low SES stu- dents studying at Shef? eld Hallam University tended not to ask for help but rather accepted their dif? culties with university study as though they were a nor- mal part of life.In in-depth interviews, both mature-aged students and school leavers reported they rarely approached tutors and preferably pet to draw on informal supports and peer networks. One student reported being afraid the CH A P TE R 6 INDEPENDENT LEARNING 120 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 1157 AM Page 120 tutor would think she was a s inadequacy, while others drew on a strong sense of self-reliance coupled with an immense determination to succeed (Clegg, Bradley & Smith, 2006 107? 108, 111). Similarly, in a survey of one hundred one direct entry Business students in Scotland, the majority did not disclose personal issues thatmight affect their study (Barron & DAnnunzio-Green, 2009 20).Although students may be loth(p) to consult tutors in person, they are also reluctant to seek help online. In Australia, at a new suburban campus of the Uni- versity of Queensland, students knuckled down to study singly and without assistance. More than 80% of the students rarely, if ever, asked for help, support, or assistance online (Ballantyne, Madden, & Todd, 2009 306). New stu- dents may not feel comfortable to ask for help when they deal with new lectur- ers and tutors each semester. some(prenominal) mature-aged students and school leavers atthe University of Wollongong matte up tha t interaction with their lecturers, whether online or face to face, was important in feeling comfortable enough to ask for help (Lefoe, Gunn & Hedberg, 2002 44).Other students, studying Psychology at Macquarie University, found they only received help from a tutor when they asked directly for assistance (Plum, 1999 244? 245). While former DoTS students described independence at university as being up to you, they also pointed out that assistance is available when requested. Paige, Therese and Helen each stressed the importance of seeking assistance and asking for help.For Paige, it is important not to be scared to seek advice. For Therese, it is important to ask them. For Helen, it is important to take the initiative and go and ask for help. I think you have to make sure that youre not scared about going to ask for help, because people are there to help you. (Paige ? DoTS) My brother did say to me once that the lecturers are there to help you. If you have a question, you must ask th em. (Therese ? DoTS) I think you have to be more independent. You have to be willing to put in the work and you have to be willing to ask for help. Those who arent willing to askfor help, they fall by the wayside.When you know you might be drowning, youve just got to get up and take the initiative. Like in a workplace, no one will come and ask you. Youve got to go and ask for help yourself. (Helen ? DoTS) Furthermore, Helen outline the strategies she used in asking for help when, as a pathway student, she was afraid or just con? dent enough to seek advice. I would just go and ask whoever I needed to ask. Id knock on peoples door ? lecturers, tutors, anyone. If I was a bit afraid of asking, Id actually ring and ask at the front of? ce, Who do I speak to? and theyd put you through.I was con? dent enough to do that, I think, from working in my gap year. If I hadnt worked that year, I think I probably wouldnt have been. (Helen ? DoTS) Putting in effort helps a student adjust to the ne w style of independent learning at university. Independent learning requires a student to become metacognitive about their learning and study habits, so they are aware of when to seek advice. Taking the initiative to ask for help is an attribute of a student who is taking con- trol of their learning and becoming independent. INDEPENDENT LEARNING 121 6 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 1157 AM Page 121 THE RIGHT ATTITUDE.Students cannot become independent learners unless they have the right attitude to study and a willingness to learn. Melinda, Lisa and Vaughan recognised the importance of a willingness to learn in university study and each drew on their vocational motivation to persist with university study. For Melinda, wanting to learn is probably number one. For Lisa, it is important to want to learn. For Vaughan, it is important to have a inclination to learn to absorb info. Wanting to be a student and wanting to learn are probably number one. Wanting to actually do it, because youll never do it if you dont want to.You have to want to learn. If you just want to be a nurse, you can be a nurse with just a pass. But to be a good nurse, you have to want to be a student. You have the chance to learn, so you can get highschool Distinctions, so that you can be a great nurse, not just a nurse. (Melinda ? DoTS) I want to learn. I never used to want to learn, but I do now. I actually want to learn about all the different things and how everything works in Nursing. (Lisa ? DoTS) I think its about willingness to learn too. Theres a mountain of information out there. If youve got no desire to learn, youre not going to take any of it in, soyouve got to want to be there. (Vaughan ? DoTS)The right attitude helps a student actually complete the work. A students atti- tude to learning is important in evaluate the responsibility of a university work- load. Whether a students most recent learning experiences were at a secondary school, a vocational college, or in th e workplace, becoming an independent learner in a university environment necessitates a different attitude (Booth, 1997). Age may also in? uence a students attitude. In Australia, mature-aged students have been found to be more committed to study than school leavers.Comparedto school leavers in outer western Brisbane, twice as many studying parents (over the age of 25) never skipped classes and regularly used support services. Moreover, students more than one year out of school were more con? dent and decisive than school leavers and were seven times more likely to complete the weekly readings (22% versus 3%) (Ballantyne, Madden & Todd, 2009 307? 308). While it may be the case that mature-age students have the right attitude to study, many school leavers in the MSAFP and DoTS pathway also demonstrate the right attitude.Having a willingness to change may best indicate a students capacity to ad-just to independent learning as well as to enable academic engagement and epis- temological access. In the UK, a University of Nottingham survey of register stu- dents found two-thirds of students expected to change over the period of their degree, suggesting that adjustment to university is an ongoing process and not just a dif? cult phase at the beginning of the ? rst year. These History students, who preferred discussion and debate over any other method of learning, ex- pected to develop open-mindedness, interpersonal communication skills, and in- dependence (Booth, 1997 209, 214 see also Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley &CH A P TE R 6 INDEPENDENT LEARNING 122 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 1157 AM Page 122 Pearce, 2009).Their positive attitudes to learning enabled them to persist with study. Similarly, former MSAFP and DoTS pathway students highlighted the in? u- ence of a students attitude in persisting with university study. Persistence de- pends on motivation and engagement as well as commitment and a sense of re- sponsibility to learn. Sammy, Elaine and l indy af? rmed a willingness to learn underpins success in university study. You have to want to do something to achieve success in it. (Sammy ?MSAFP)If you put your mind to it and tell yourself you can do it, you can be successful. Thats what I think. (Elaine ? MSAFP) I tell myself, This is your future. The future is in your hands. Nobody can write my exam for me. Nobody can study for me. Its my future. Its my life and the way I live it is my choice. I make myself study by looking at everyone else studying. When theyre all studying, I get motivated to study. (Lindy ? MSAFP) Like them, Meg, Paige and Therese each clearly articulated a willingness to learn and recognised that university study is serious business. Meg and Paige high-lighted that the right attitude helps a student achieve success, while Therese stressed that skills development is made possible when a student has the right attitude.When I came here, I was 19 and I was ready to start being a grown-up. What I do now is go ing to play out my future. Every step I take is towards where I want to be. (Meg ? DoTS) I think Im a lot more focused now. I know what I have to do and what needs to be done, that I cant slack off and that I have to meet deadlines. I know that be- cause Ive chosen to do this, I have to put in the effort. (Paige ? DoTS) You should actually want to be here and to take it seriously.Youre not here just to have fun. With skills, you can develop them over time. You can teach yourself how to study and whats the best way to study, how to ? nd information that you need and that is relevant, then to be able to differentiate between whats relevant and whats not relevant. But that comes with time I think. (Therese ? DoTS) Other former pathways students expressed an awareness of their changing atti- tudes to study. Caitlyn recalled, with some humour, the dependent attitude she overcame during the ? rst semester of the DoTS pathway. I remember actually asking the lecturer if I could have my birt hday off, and he said no(Caitlyn ? DoTS) Chloe and Lisa re? ected on their changing attitudes toward their social lives as they became more serious about study. Chloe gave up excessive companionshiping on weekends, while Lisa changed her party life into uni life I went out every weekend and got drunk. Ive given that up now, because a hang- over lasts quite a few eld with me. It really knocks me down. (Chloe ? DoTS) I just needed to change my party life into uni life. I liked to hang out with my friends more and go out on the weekends. But thats changed now. (Lisa ? DoTS) INDEPENDENT LEARNING 123 6 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 1157 AM Page 123.Vicky, Lisa and Melinda reiterated that a students attitude is re? ected in their be- haviour and highlighted that choosing to attend classes re? ected a commitment to study and a sense of responsibility to learn. Turn up to- class. Dont just say, If I miss this lecture, it wont matter, because it will. The blackboard site doesnt g ive you everything. (Vicky ? DoTS) I know there are compulsory classes, but you have a choice of what you want to learn and what you want to do. (Lisa ? DoTS) If you dont want to go to lectures, dont. If you dont want to go to tutes, dont. If you dont want to do the readings, dont.Its your education that suffers from it and its your grades. I dont want to say there are not people there to help you, but theyre only there if you ask for help. (Melinda ? DoTS) Former students of both the MSAFP and DoTS pathways point out that success- ful students are self-disciplined. Sammy, Chitalu and Chloe re? ected on how self- discipline helped them not only to keep up to date, but also to enjoy studying. I have a personal laptop computer and when I ? nd myself playing games, then I think that tomorrow I have a tutorial and if I have studied enough for that.If I havent, I im-mediately switch off, so I start reading my lecture slides and trying to understand the questions that might be discussed in the tutorial. (Sammy ? MSAFP) Its not really hard work when you are disciplined and you do what youre sup- posed to do. But when you take it lightly and you just have fun, it really becomes hard work. (Chitalu ? MSAFP) I dont really need to make myself do it because most essays I enjoy writing and enjoy learning. I guess Im pretty disciplined. (Chloe ? DoTS) Yet, other former pathways students also pointed out the risks of procrastination and avoidance.Chipo, Tara and Lisa re?ected on wasting time and delaying, or avoiding, study commitments. For Chipo, postponing study is time wasted, while for Tara and for Lisa, it was easy to put things off or put everything aside. If you waste your time, time wasted is time that you can never get back. I had to learn these things as I went along because, you know, you postpone things. You say, Oh no, Ill do it later and then next thing you discover youve got an assign- ment due tomorrow. (Chipo ? MSAFP) I tend to procrastinate a little bit an d to put things off. (Tara ? DoTS) At the start, I was too busy stressing out and putting everything aside and noteven thinking about it. In the second half of my ? rst year, I got the hang of what uni is all about and what youve got to do to get by. (Lisa ? DoTS)Like them, Daniel, who returned to study from the workforce, tended to pro- crastinate. The ascendent was to have his life timetabled. Im a terminal procrastinator. I always have been and stupidly enough Ive been conditioned to actually go on to do so because I keep getting reasonable results in spite of procrastinating. I timetable a lot. I have my life timetabled so I start the semester saying, Alright, I have this on this day and this on that day and then.CH A P TE R 6 INDEPENDENT LEARNING 124 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 1157 AM Page 124 around work I schedule one day where I focus on each subject. On that day, whether it is travelling on the train or at home in the afternoon, I do all of the reading and wo rk on assignments and stuff like that. I allocate the time to do the work. (Daniel ? DoTS) One aspect of independent learning that former pathways students found easy was being in control of their own study. In contrast to high school where stu- dents matte up pushed, particularly by teachers and through competition with theirpeers, at university students directed their own learning. Lindy found being in control the easiest thing about becoming an independent learner.The easiest thing was being in control. I didnt have a very hard time getting used to being in control. (Lindy ? MSAFP) Like Lindy, Grace, Andrew, Julia and Max appreciated the autonomy of univer- sity study. Arts students Grace and Andrew both preferred studying at university over studying at high school. Grace felt she was making up for bad habits at high school, while Andrew felt as if he were ? nally doing something. In high school I hated studying, so I ? nd it really strange.I ? gure Im making up for what I didnt do in high school. (Grace ? DoTS) I did uni pretty well actually. I kind of preferred it to high school. Because, for one, I felt like I was doing something. With high school, its kind of like what you have to do. We were there because we had to be. At uni, it was where I wanted to be. (Andrew ? DoTS) Similarly, Julia and Max had no trouble taking control of their learning. Educa- tion student Julia viewed her learning as an opportunity, while Arts student Max found his own progress inspiring. I cant believe people dont hand work in because thats just beyond me.I justthink why would you not even give yourself a chance? When I saw the mark for attendance, I thought Im going to make sure I attend every class because thats marks I can count on and I would never not hand anything in because every mark is another step closer. (Julia ? DoTS) Its all on yourself. Youre responsible for failing. Youre responsible for doing your assignments. Youre responsible for passing. Youre responsible f or your grades. Theres no one pushing you along. Its inspiring to think that youre con- trolling your own learning. (Max ? DoTS) Having the right attitude to study is important for success.Regarding themselves as serious, responsible and goal-oriented students, some former pathways stu- dents were openly critical of their peers who did not share the same right atti- tude to study. Andrew and Rachel were both critical of students who aim for a minimum pass, regarding them to be unmotivated. I come across a lot of unmotivated students who are like, Im just here to get a pass and get my degree and get out. (Andrew ? DoTS) I actually ? nd a lot of people are only motivated to get that pass score. They are not that motivated to go the extra mile. (Rachel ? DoTS) INDEPENDENT LEARNING. one hundred twenty-five 6 STUDENT VOICES BOOK_Layout 1 2011/10/07 1157 AM Page 125 Like them, Jenna regarded some of the other students as having the wrong atti- tude for studying. Describing their attitude s as very lazy and very blas , Jenna contrasted her own willingness to learn and to put in effort with their lack of motivation and poor attitudes. There are de? nitely some students who are very lazy in their attitude. They dont go to classes. They dont do the reading. They have a very blase attitude and I ? nd that very frustrating because Im here to learn and I put in the time and effort. (Jenna ? DoTS).