Readiness can be defined as the capabilities of an individual in achieving one’s learning objectives. Grow (1991) refers to readiness as the “ability” and “willingness” to carry out a task or engage in a particular learning stage. The degree of control that learners are willing to take for their own learning will depend on their attitude, abilities and personality characteristics (Fisher et al., 2001). Thus, each and every learner will have their own level of SDL readiness (Hendry & Ginns, 2009). The readiness is not a particular kind of change in consciousness, but refers to the activity involved in acquiring particular skills or knowledge in related fields of study (Brookfield, 1984). Since it is the acquisition of skills and knowledge, therefore, it could be acquired through any activities of any learning and teaching environments. Readiness in learning depends on the accumulated skills, maturity and metacognition in interpreting these to the desired specific skills (Jensen, 1969). Hence, for students to be self-directed, we need to understand their level of SDL readiness. Therefore, being SDL readied is when an individual possesses the needed skills and knowledge to set the learning goals within ther own initiative (Geertshuis, Jung, & Cooper-Thomas, 2014) and to strategise in achieving the goals.
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Being SDL readied is not merely being able to set goals, strategise to achive the goals or to acquire the skills and knowledge for the field. The thoughts of Tough (1979) that being SDL readied is the ability to read and to engaged in learning without concerning the moral aspect of the learning was condemned by many researchers. This is because learning in that way could have neglected the moral or ethical foundation of learning (Roberson, 2005). As one could be very self-directed in learning the skills and knowledge of bringing harm to others. Therefore, a study of SDL readiness is needed to ensure that one is a self-direct learner in learning things which benefit others.
Some general skills of readiness to pursue SDL had been studied by many researchers like Guglielmino (1977), Murray Fisher (2001), Oddi (1986) and Brockett (1985). These skills basically suited for students in any disciplines of study (Hoban, Lawson, Mazmanian, Best, & Seibel, 2005), as it reflects the readiness of students in terms of cognitive, emotion and learning skills towards any form of learning. In order to engage in SDL, students should possess requisite skills, competences and emotional maturity (Du, 2012), and these skills should be specific towards the subject matter.
Oddi (1986) suggested that the ability to be a self-directed learner relates neither to the intelligence nor to intellectual achievement. Readiness refers to the capabilities of one towards completion of a task. This readiness needs to be measured based on the specific skills and knowledge one possesses to perform the task given. There are two types of skills according to the degree of specificity; general skills and specific skills (Schunk, 2012). The general skills are skills which are generally needed to pursue desired knowledge regardless of discipline, for example the skills of writing, reading and calculating. However, the specific skills are skills which are needed specifically to pursue knowledge of an identified discipline. For instance, if one is interested in biology, he or she should possess the biology skills and knowledge needed to pursue biology lessons. Therefore, readiness is specific and varies according to the discipline of study. It cannot
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be made general and be applied to a cross disciplinary context. This is especially clear in science related subjects like Biology which requires specific skills and knowledge in conducting laboratory experiments and assignments. Similarly, SDL readiness should also be measured specifically for a particular discipline. As in the findings of Khiat (2015), students need to identify the related skills which they are lacking in order to effectively improve their SDL readiness. Therefore, in order for students to be self- directed in biology related studies, they need to be readied in Biology related skills and knowledge. These skills and knowledge include the biology experimentation skills, and experimental reporting skills (Gregory et al., 2011). Additionally, being readied for SDL includes the development of metacognitive knowledge in specific skills and knowledge (Hagstrom, 2006). This includes the ability to utilise the learned skills and knowledge in pursuing one’s learning objectives. In past research, students were found to be unable to use the learned skills and knowledge in pursuit of further knowledge (Gallagher, Coon, Donley, Scott, & Goldberg, 2011; Kleden, 2013). This phenomenon may have contributed to the rejection of learning among the students (Pepper, 2010).
Advancements in Biology sciences has increased the content of Biological studies. This phenomenon has brought difficulties for teachers to cover the syllabus of growing content in Biology (Gregory et al., 2011) especially in areas such as biomedical research (Kuper & D’Eon, 2011). Consequently, students finish high school with weak background knowledge and skills necessary for advanced coursework in Biology (Gregory et al., 2011). Additionally, most biology teachers tend to focus on traditional day-to-day activities (lectures and discussions) more than on long-term planning (course objectives, and syllabus) or more innovative non-traditional teaching styles (Fleet et al., 2006). Fleet (2006) also reported that most of the teaching force in Biology related fields were lacking teaching experience. This was mainly because they were scientists who emphasised in laboratory work and scientific facts without pedagogical training.
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The advances in Biology has urged biologists to possess interdisciplinary skills and knowledge. However, Usman and Singh (2011) found that some biologists lack the skills and knowledge to analyse and interpret the data collected. In addition, some of the lecturers lack teaching experience (Fleet et al., 2006). Thus, many institutions embrace SDL with a teaching force which lacks understanding of SDL especially in the study of Biology (Larisey, 1994). This raises the concern of effective learning will be. The success of SDL lessons is highly dependent on the lecturers’ facilitating skills (Finucane et al., 2009). In short, Fleet et. al. (2006) suggested that the prospective teaching force should be exposed to the real teaching situation in order to be able to accumulate experience prior to entering the teaching arena. With the experience in teaching, lecturers will acquire the skills and knowledge for teaching and be more SDL readied. This was supported by the findings of Cummings (2011) that teachers who embraced the process of teaching (setting the climate, designing and engaging in the teaching activities, and evaluating his own teaching outcomes) would have embraced the “spirit” of SDL.
However, much of the research about SDL readiness has focused on the students. Less interest is paid to the understanding of teachers’ SDL readiness. Therefore the current research attempted to profile the SDL readiness not only for the students, but also for the teachers of STPM Biology. The SDL readiness is believed to be varied among individual (Hendry & Ginns, 2009) and falls in a continuum (Fisher et al., 2001). Hence, the current research profiled the SDL readiness on a continuum with the readiness of domains in order to provide a better understanding of the level of readiness of Malaysian STPM Biology students and teachers.