ABSTRACT
Portrayals of productive outcomes of learning often contrast sharply with actual outcomes of learning. Confronted with problems cloaked in the garb of the real world, the students evidently lack the resources to frame the problems with reference to principled knowledge structures, and thus to solve them on their own. This chapter describes prospects and problems associated with the development of autonomous learning proficiency. It discusses some of the educational policies and practices that stand in the way of improving autonomous learning proficiency. The chapter presents a projection of the characteristics of courses that act to promote or impede students’ engagement in autonomous learning and the development of autonomous learning proficiency. The psychometric approach has largely relied on the administration of questionnaires designed to assess students’ styles of or approaches to learning.
