How to Create a Self-Study Project

Is Self-Study important?

Not everyone is great at self-study or independent learning. In fact, most people struggle with this because of distractions and a lack of organization skills. However, they are probably the most important skills. 

More important than reading and writing? Yes.

More important than sport and exercise? Yes.

More important that healthy eating? Yes.

Why?

Simply because they are such basic skills that are needed for basic survival, they are the skills that enabled to get this far as human beings, and they are the skills that set some of you apart from others as you grew up.

The ability to plot out one’s path, make plans, and self-motivate with constant oversight are skills that were possessed by those that survived, flourished, and led, whether male or female, young or old.

The younger would learn from the older until they no longer needed guidance and could make their own decisions, even better ones.

Today these skills are just as important but not so valued perhaps. Perhaps ‘being a team player’ or ‘following rules’ seem to advance people through life. They do. But only to a point.

At some point you will stand alone. At some point you will face a challenge you didn’t expect. At some point you will have a problem to solve and no one that can fix it but you.

If you can’t think and do independently with minimal guidance then you will eternally be reliant on others: not just their knowledge, but their honesty and good will. You had better hope the whole world is being altruistic at all times because that is the only single way you can always trust others to make the best decisions.

Better that you know how to organize your thoughts and your time and your actions don’t you think?

What does it mean?

This is what self-study is, and independent learning is very much another way of saying self-study, just a broader term.

Self study would refer to when you independently organize your time and order your output on a topic area either self-selected or chosen for you. Independent learning is broader – it might just mean the way you approach learning when around others – how much help you ask for and how you approach finding answers.

How to Study Independently.

The ability to independently self-study need a set of skills. These aren’t some set in stone kind of list at all, but something like this:

A List of skills.

• Resourcefulness. Having a range of places / sources when you have a question. Don’t go straight to the first person available and expect them to do your thinking. Read up. Think. Discuss. Watch. Scribble down ideas. Then ask.
• Planning. Make sure you have a plan or what needs to be done first. It’s always tempting to dive into the most interesting part of any task but sometimes not the best idea. No artist really wants to prepare their canvas. They want to paint. But they know that the one precedes the other. Artists, chefs, writers… all great examples of people that rely on their own self-organizational skills because they have to plan. 
• Scheduling. Really pretty much related to the last point. If you have a deadline to meet you need to keep track of your progress. You can rely on someone else to do it for you but that truly isn’t independent. Don’t just let the end of the day turn up. Decide what you want to complete and pace yourself.
• Prioritization. Some things need to be done first and some things need to be done in more depth. 
• Self-organization. Whether working on a computer or paper, or most likely, both, you need folders and some kind of structure to where things are saved. You also need a naming convention and consider dating things appropriately. Lost work = no work. 

This list isn’t exhaustive and neither are the ways to tackle the things of the list.

A Step by Step Approach.

Here is a walk through of how to independently plan and complete a report or project.

• Resource List. Set up a resource list and add to it as you go along.
• Glossary. Create a basic glossary of terms and add more as you work through.
• Appendix. Organize a place to collect other things such as hand-written notes, pictures and photos, leaflets etc…
• Title. Write a title. This should be simple and clear but might also be punchy and attention grabbing at the same time. It may just be a title or it may end up as a illustrated cover page.
• Main-Headings. Write a set of main-headings. Sometimes it’s cool to pose questions for the main-headings. You will often want some kind of introduction or overview at the start and some kind of conclusion or summary at the end.
• Sub-headings. Beneath the main-headings you might want sub-headings. Again, these could be questions or problems, statements, or simply words.
• Sub-sub-headings. Beneath the sub-headings you might also want even lesser headings called sub-sub-headings.
• Bullets. Beneath each main, sub, or sub- sub-heading make a bullet list of things to cover.
• Initial Draft. Expand each bullet point into a paragraph or more. Sometimes you might expand with photos or diagrams. Some sections may have little or no writing.
• First Check. Check and edit your initial draft yourself.
• Final Draft. Make changes.
• Second Check. Have at least one, but preferably more, people check and edit your final draft for you.
• Final Report. Complete the final report or project.

Any project or report is going to have a similar process, even a more practical one. The planning process is always going to be there, as well as the checking and editing.

Behind The Scenes.

These are the practicalities but behind the scenes there are other things for a truly independent learner to think about during self-study. They all come under the broad area of Fitness for Purpose.

• What is the purpose of the project / report?
  • To educate others or inform?
  • To understand something yourself?
  • To demonstrate your understanding to someone else?
• Who is the project for?
  • A teacher or someone educated on the topic?
  • General population with little to no knowledge?
  • Interested fans of this topic?
  • Yourself?
  • Students / learners of this topic?
• What are the requirements?
  • images?
  • appendices?
  • charts?
  • reference lists?
  • is there an assessment list / rubric that will be used to check your project / report?
• How about the final presentation?
  • Will photos or videos be needed to be taken? 
  • Is there a specific format?
  • Will it be printed or digital or a combination of presentation formats?

Summary & Course of Action

Before you start prepare a short document to answer these areas. This is your project plan. Doing this will save you time later and make sure that your project is fit for purpose, whatever that may be. If someone is going to be assessing your project, show them this short document to ensure you are on the right track.

• Topic Area
  • Given or chosen?
• Audience and / or purpose
  • Who and what is it for?
• Sub-topics
  • What areas to cover under this topic?
• Resources / Materials
  • What tools and practical things do you need? Collect them in advance.
• Deliverables
  • What needs to actually be presented and in what format?
• Timeline
  • What is the deadline for the first and second draft, and the finished project.

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