A Comparative Study of Learner Autonomy in Terms of Gender and Learning Contexts

Abstract

This paper aims at investigating learner autonomy of students at university level in terms of learning environment and gender. The participants were 100 university students, 43 of whom were male and 57 were female. An equal number of traditional (n=50) and distance education students (n=50) participated the study. In the study, Likert type Learner Autonomy Questionnaire (LAQ) developed by Egel (2003) was used to evaluate the learner autonomy in different dimensions. SPSS 20 was used to analyze the data. The results showed that there was a significant correlation between learner autonomy and education type of the students. Students getting conventional education were of the opinion that they were more autonomous.  Results also indicated that some dimensions regarding learner autonomy such as readiness for self-direction and importance of class teacher changed according to gender type and there was a positive correlation between all the dimensions in questionnaire and learner autonomy.

Keywords

• learner autonomu,, distance education

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