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IMPLEMENTATION OF SELF-LEARNING IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION
CH.KARUNA1, P.USHA2
Asst Prof, Dept of ECE, KG Reddy College of Engineering & Technology, Hyderabad, E-mail: karuna.chirragoni@gmail.com
Asst Prof, Dept of ECE, KG Reddy College of Engineering & Technology, Hyderabad, E-mail: usha.bopparam@gmail.com
 efficacy, attribution, goal setting, the level of motivation,
Abstract: Learning is an active process of investigation
and creation based on the learner’s interest, curiosity and
experience and should result in expanded insights,
knowledge and skills. In higher education, it is especially
important for students to be assigned projects and material
suitable for self-learning, so that they may exercise and
develop intellectual independence and explore subject
matter they personally find interesting. One study suggests
that self-study, in addition to being more affordable and
convenient, is surpassing classroom learning as far as
effectiveness. Self-study and traditional classroom learning
complement one another. When used together, they help
students learn and retain information better. The graduate
attribute of lifelong learning is defined as student’s ability
to identify and to address their own educational needs in a
changing world in ways sufficient to maintain their
competence and to allow them to contribute to the
advancement of knowledge. This paper presents the work, a
student-centered learning in which we used two techniques
Guided Notes and Multimedia Learning using MindMaple
to improve quality of engineering education.
Keywords: Self-Learning, Guided Notes, MindMaple
. behaviors demonstrated by the learners in self-learning.
1. INTRODUCTION
In conventional teaching method, the students are being
spoon-fed in lectures and tutorials whilst the exams are
paper-based. One of the many purposes of higher education
is to develop students as critical thinkers and lifelong
learners. Additionally, there is a need for students to
develop a personal sense of self, which influences their self-
directedness in learning and contributes to their personal
development. Characteristics of the lifelong learner include
the ability to “set goals, apply appropriate knowledge and
skills, engage in self-direction and self-evaluation, locate
required information, and adapt their learning strategies to
different conditions”. The traditional modes of course
design, course delivery and course assessment provide less
scope for in-depth learning of courses.
Generally, self learning ability factors can be divided into
intrinsic and extrinsic factors, the former includes self-
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learning style, self esteem, cognitive strategies etc... While
the later includes family background, teachers, educational
technology, peer groups, learning environment, society and
culture. As engineering educators work towards creating
transformational learning experiences that support a
humanistic curriculum orientation, a number of challenges
lay ahead: How can educators support engineering students
in their development as intrinsically motivated, self
directed learners. How might educators help students self-
monitor their progress and performance of lifelong learning
competencies throughout their engineering studies.
2. CONCEPT OF SELF-LEARNING
The concept of self-learning is not a new one. Self-learning
Cycle is subdivided into a sequence of three components
including mind set, action and outcome linked by four
processes planning, monitoring, feedback to mental
position and feedback to action. Learner’s mind-set include
his/her preexisting conditions of motivation, cognition and
volition to learning. It will determine the process of
planning learning activities a s well as the content of action
of learning. Action refers to the intended activities and
Outcomes refer to the results from learning activities
including positive or negative. Monitoring refers to the
process of detecting any mismatches between the learners
intended targets and action and the outcomes of learning
process. There are two types of feedbacks from the
monitoring process and outcomes to the learner: One is to
the mind-set and other one is directly to the action. The
feedback to mind-set will help the learner to reflect on and
change his/her own mental model including thinking
process and knowledge and then to change the planning
process as well as the action of learning. The feedback
directly to action of learning will help the learner to adapt
his/her learning behaviors.

In the above model of self-learning, relationship between
components may be reciprocal. For instance, a certain
mental condition impacts upon the learning action which
subsequently produces outcomes and feedback to impact
upon the mental condition of the learner. The cyclic nature
of self-learning reflects that learning may go through many
such experience cycles before developing a higher level of
thinking.
3. SELF-LEARNING TECHNIQUES
a Visual Learning: Visual Learning Helps Self Learners
Some students are self learners. They can use visual
learning modules to learn the subject at their own pace in
their own style. Some of them are quiet and introverted by
nature. They may not ask questions or seek clarification
publicly during classroom lectures. Visual tutorials (like
concept videos, animations and documentaries) can help
such quiet, introverted students find answers on their own
since it is well-suited for self-study. And as their doubts get
cleared, the student might become more interested in
learning the subject which might lead to the student
becoming more active in class.
b. Project Based Learning: PBL is perceived to be a student
centered approach to learning. It is predominantly task
oriented. The students need to produce a solution to solve
the problem and are then required to produce an outcome
in the form of a report.
c. Problem-based learning, where small groups need to
determine their own solutions to teacher-suggested and/or
student-solicited issues -- ways to organize school
lunchtime more effectively, what it would take to have a
human colony on Mars, strategies to get more healthy food
choices available in the neighborhood, etc.
4. ROLE OF TEACHER IN SELF-LEARNING
Today’s workplace needs employees to continually learn
for themselves and stay abreast of developments in their
field of work – not just through self-study but through a
continuous approach to learning, e.g. in their professional
networks and other social channels. Organizations need
fresh thinking and fresh ideas, to ensure they continue to
grow.
One of the important tasks of education and teacher is to
guide and help students master the knowledge, gradually
develop the habit of self study. We have to convert
education into a sport and learning process has to generate
interest in the students and motivate them to stay back in
the institution than to run away from it. Education should
become a fun and thrill to them rather than burden and
boredom. The instructor provides students with
opportunities to learn independently and from one another
and coaches them in the skills they need to do so
effectively. The faculty members can help students by
 Build a co-operative learning environment
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 Help to motivate and direct the students’ learning
experience
 Facilitate students’ initiatives for learning
 Be available for consultations as appropriate
during learning process
 Serve as an advisor rather than formal instructor
5. IMPLEMENTATION OF SELF-LEARNING AT
KGRCET
I have used two techniques to help students in self- learning
a. Guided Notes: A previous study revealed that up to 94
percent of college students believe note taking is an
important component of the educational experience. It is
found that note takers recalled more conceptual ideas than
did non-note takers and suggested taking notes helps
students to integrate the lecture content with their existing
knowledge base. Students who record notes during lectures
generally demonstrate a better learning performance than
those who only listen to the lectures. Although the note-
taking process is believed to positively impact learning
performance, other studies have found that students lack
the note-taking skills to record relevant information, a
situation that may create problems for students in later
experiences. Popularly called “guided notes,” these may
reduce students’ cognitive load, thereby helping
engineering students to focus their attention on and engage
in cognitive processing of the lecture contents while
developing relatively complete notes for later review.
Guided notes contain incomplete information with blank
spaces consisting of essential concepts, ideas, diagrams,
graphs, problems to solve, and conclusions. Standard
guided notes, which also called semi-notes or skeleton-
notes, have been used in undergraduate teaching for quite
some time. The questions appear throughout the guided
notes, including the introduction of each topic, elaboration
of the theoretical concepts, and during problem solving.
Through this, students engage in the learning process with
their instructor during lectures. Moreover, students can
reflect on their learning activities through a self-reflection
section designed to elicit their understanding of particular
topics at the end of the class meeting. Compared to
traditional lecturing methods in most colleges, these new
learning materials and strategies may offer students an
enhanced learning experience that more effectively utilizes
the lecture time. Students often have to learn large
amounts of information, which requires them to identify
what is important and how different ideas connect to one
another. One popular technique for accomplishing these
goals involves having students write summaries of to-be-
learned texts. In the classroom this method is implemented
at the end of each unit. Students are given some time to
learn and are given some important questions. They need to
write only the important points on that question which is
like a summary.
b. Multimedia Learning using Mind Map: Multimedia
instruction helps learners understand concepts with the use
of words and images. A mind map greatly differs from
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standard notes or lists. Mind maps were developed as a
way of helping students make notes that used only key
words and images. They are much quicker to make and
much easier to remember and review because of their visual
quality. The key notion behind mind mapping is that we
learn and remember more effectively by using the full range
of visual and sensory tools at our disposal. In this technique
I have taught students how to use this software and prepare
the same on topics which are confusing for example they
are different types of number systems in Switching Theory
and Logic Design subject and there are many conversion
techniques like decimal to binary, decimal to octal, binary
to decimal, binary to octal, octal to binary and so on. Each
student has to prepare the same on different topics like
transform techniques, rectifiers etc... Each student gave a
presentation on the topic for which they are being assessed
by giving marks and this is considered as assignment
marks which is part of curriculum.
Firstly we would like to the chairman and director of KG
Reddy College of Engineering and Technology, Ln. K.
Krishna Reddy, and Dr. M.Madhusudanan Nair
respectively for their constant support for this initiative. We
would also like to thank ICTIEE for providing us the
platform to learn various teaching learning practices in the
field of EE.
8. REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4] Hohn, R. L., Gallagher, T., & Byrne, M. (1990).
Instructor-supplied notes and higher-order thinking.
Journal of Instructional Psychology, 17(2), 71-74.
[5] Hosain, M. U. (1994). Effective teaching using
seminotes. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering
Education and Practice, 120(2), 193-197.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1052-
3928(1994)120:2(193)
[6] Narjaikaew, P., Emarat, N., & Cowie, B. (2009). The
effect of guided note taking during lectures on Thai
university students' understanding of electromagnetism.
Research in Science & Technological Education, 27(1), 75-
94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02635140802658917

6. RESULTS & CONCLUSION

Much of the teaching in engineering colleges is lecture
based and teacher-centered. Faculty members are over
concerned with completing the pre-designed syllabus,
without giving sufficient attention to students’ needs,
learning styles, learning pace, learning outcomes etc.
Students turn out to be passive listeners, memorize the
subject content to get good grades in the exams without
actually developing skills needed.
Out of 60 students 71.7% admitted that this learning
system has improved their study style and knowledge
acquisition, which then agreed to be implemented in future.
Apart from that the system also produced better students in
term of responsibility, self-confidence, competitiveness,
group work, and knowledge sharing. This is realized with
the implementation of mock teaching assessment

Acknowledgement