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Guide Self-Directed Learning with the SDL Coaching Resource

Self-directed learning works best when learners have ownership of their learning while educators provide the structure, feedback, and guidance needed to help them move forward.

Rather than simply asking students to identify a knowledge gap or create a study plan, a closed-loop approach helps learners identify and prioritize a need, choose a targeted learning strategy, return to evidence, and decide what to do next.

The SDL Coaching Resource gives educators and learners a practical structure for putting that process into practice. It includes an educator coaching script and a student learning plan that can be used together or independently. The coach provides structure and supports reflection while the learner retains ownership of the learning decisions.

Help learners close the self-directed learning loop

Use the SDL Coaching Resource to guide a coaching conversation, help learners create an actionable learning plan, and establish how they will return to evidence to evaluate their progress.

→ACCESS COACHING RESOURCE←

What does closed-loop self-directed learning look like?

Self-directed learning is more than giving students independent study time or asking them to find a resource on their own. It is a guided process in which learners identify and prioritize their needs, select appropriate resources, apply a learning strategy, and determine whether the learning need was addressed.

The approach used in the SDL Coaching Resource follows three connected steps:

1. Identify and prioritize the gap

Start with evidence.

Assessment results, case performance, feedback, or another learning signal can help learners recognize areas that may need attention. The goal is to move beyond confidence alone and support the learner as they determine which gap matters most right now.

The coaching resource provides prompts such as:

  • What stands out in your assessment results?
  • Did anything surprise you? Where did your confidence perhaps not align with your results?
  • Which gap is most important to address now, and why?
  • What evidence are you using to choose that priority?

This keeps the learner responsible for identifying the priority while giving the educator a structure for the conversation.

2. Choose and apply targeted learning

Once a learning need has been identified, support the learner as they choose an activity or resource that directly addresses it.

The emphasis is not simply on completing another activity. Learners should be able to explain why the resource fits the gap and how they intend to use it.

Educators can offer credible options when needed while keeping the learner in the decision-making role - but make sure to remove this scaffolding as they progress.

Within Aquifer, this could include selecting relevant Aquifer cases, adding Student-Choice Cases to a To-Do List, or using other learning activities connected to the identified need. Giving learners meaningful choice within a supportive structure, including the option to select several cases based on their developmental needs.

3. Return to evidence, reflect, and adapt

Independent learning becomes a closed loop when learners return to evidence.

Before the learning activity ends, determine:

  • What evidence will the learner revisit?
  • When will they revisit it?
  • What would improvement look like?
  • What will they change if the gap remains?

That second learning signal might come from another assessment, practice performance, a case, clinical application, or another source of evidence. Scheduling the return point in advance makes reflection and follow-through part of the learning process rather than an optional final step.

Guidance on using the SDL Coaching Resource

Use the coaching script with a learner

Facilitate the conversation without taking over the learner's decision-making.

You can use the script during:

  • Individual learner coaching
  • Academic advising
  • Assessment review
  • Mid-course or mid-rotation check-ins
  • Remediation or learning support conversations
  • Reflection following formative assessment

The conversation begins by explaining the purpose of the process and reinforcing that the learner will make the decisions about their learning while the educator helps them think through those decisions.

You do not need to use every question in the script. Select the prompts that help the learner move through each stage of the process.

Give learners the Student Learning Plan

Provide a simple worksheet learners can use to document the decisions they make during the process.

The plan asks learners to capture:

  • Their priority learning need and the evidence supporting that choice
  • The learning action and resources they plan to use
  • Why those resources match the identified gap
  • When they plan to take action
  • What evidence they will revisit
  • When they will return to that evidence
  • What improvement would look like
  • What they learned and whether they should continue, adjust, or choose a new goal

It also provides space for learners to identify what will help them follow through and what support they want from their coach.

 

 

Three simple ways to start using the SDL Coaching Resource today: 

1. Start with a learning signal. Use a formative assessment, performance result, or other evidence to give learners a concrete starting point for identifying their needs.

2. Ask them to complete a brief learning plan. Have learners identify a gap, choose an appropriate learning response, and explain why that response fits their need.

3. Schedule the return point. Work with them to decide when and how learners will revisit evidence of their learning. This follow-up is what turns an independent learning activity into a repeatable learning loop.