Salam
Good Morning. How is Malaysia?
We all learn
something new everyday. Is that right? Similarly the
students in any higher institutions like the universities on this earth. Today I am going to write/ describe some
important characteristics of dependent and independent learners.
Dependent
comes from the word ‘depend on’. It
means one is relying on somebody else to acquire some form of knowledge and
skills. That somebody could be the
teacher, tutor or lecturer who has taught a topic majoring in mathematics,
physics, chemistry, history etc etc.
Some of these learners depend on the teacher in one way or another. Firstly, he depends on the mathematics lecturer to give him a talk on a topic called
SETS, FUNCTIONS AND SEQUENCE. This comes in the form of 100% dependence. Secondly, in order to know more about that
topic, subtopic the lecturer will give him some sort of assignment , projects
or journal writings within a stipulated time.
This is where as teachers/ lecturers we can know how many of them can
survive doing the work by themselves , peers help or they come directly to our
office for some guidance.
Independent
learners come from the word ‘independent’.
A student in this category would
like to explore something for themselves first before they consult their peers
or tutors/lecturers. His exploration will start by googling something on the
internet, refer to books in the library or he can ask his many seniors around
him 24/7. Some exploration creates some
degree of excitement , more deeper kind of knowledge and of course finally
their own satisfaction as a learner. He
will try not to consult his tutor or lecturer at all. When the due date comes, he just submitted
his assignment which he has done by himself.
Gee!
There are
few advantages being a dependent learner.
One of them is there is a big possibility that his assignment will be
100% correct because he was guided by his tutor/ lecturer before the due
date. The most glaring disadvantage is
he never learn to be committed doing something on his own. Even though he scored high marks he always
need somebody to coach him/ her all the time.
If the lecturer gives him 4 questions then there is a possibility he will
approach the lecturer 4 times throughout the week (Mohd Sazali, 2010). Bravo!
As such, he has very little confidence in creating something new out of
his thinking and originality. During
work environment, he will show some signs of anxiety and lacking confidence
since his lecturers are not there any more.
Every task seems so big a mountain to climb.
The biggest
disadvantage of an independent learner is may be he could score very low marks because in mathematics , each
problem could be either correct or wrong.
But by being brave and confidence through out his study in the university
, this type of learner could be the
future entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, owners
of KFC and McD in America. For your
information , Steve Jobs never complete his degree because of his niche to
explore something but his contribution
in building up the Apple to the entire
world was absolutely fantastic. Independent learners are brave and they can
take many forms of failure. They are the
followers of ‘dare to fail’ type. In
short RED Warriors from Kelantan FC,Malaysia!
Unfortunately,
in most parts of the world, the
university honors dependent high
degree(s) during the convocation day and they talk less about those who failed
in spite of them being an independent learners through out their stay in the
university. The world will look up suddenly
to them if these so called ‘dare to
fail’ regiment strike something great in technology / invention/ news like the
wonders of tongkat aleeeee while the high degree holders will stay in the
office 24/7 giving lectures from day 1 to day ‘nth’ and taking fixed wages as their culture through
out their life high and nay. To play
safe at this current I.T generation , we must play the role of both independent
and dependent learners at all times.
This is because, the world cannot afford to create 8 to 5 pm jobs any
more. Many jobs are going online. Please see the bank industries. Many mundane jobs in the electronic field are
being cut daily . In fact, the world is
embracing inventors and entrepreneurs who turn billionaires before they die
(laugh). And of course few of these inventors and great footballers like George
Best, Dali Omar and Socrates who had entertained world football fans and went to the other world with big , bigger and
biggest degree(s). See?
References:
Kawasaki, B. (2000). "Rich Dad
Poor Dad". Japan: XXY
Mahathir
Muhammad(2010). " Doctor in the
house". Kuala Lumpur: MPH
Mohd Sazali
Khalid (2010). The effect of
collaborative computer aided learning on learning pre algebra among polytechnic
students. Unpublished PhD. Thesis. Parit Raja:
University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia
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