Abstract:
There were three objectives of this study relating to the undergraduate students of Ramkhamhaeng University Regional Campuses- to study their styles of learning, to identify the self-directed learning characteristics, and to compare them among the students with different genders, ages, fields of study and styles of learning.Questionnaires were distributed to a sample of 365 undergraduate students of Rarnkhambaeng University Regional Campuses. Of this total, 304 or 83.29 % were returned, of which 130 were from students in the Faculty of Law, 52 in the Faculty of Business Administration, majoring in general administration, 29 in the Faculty of Humanities, majoring in mass communication, and 93 in the Faculty of Political Science, majoring in public administration.To obtain the sample groups, the stratified random sampling and the simple random sampling methods were employed, and percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, and one-way ANOVA used in analyzing the collected data. The results of the research were as follows:1. Regarding the styles of learning of the students, 227 students or 74 % engaged in self-directed learning, while 40 students or 13.10 % and 37 students or 12.20 % attended to class occasionally and regularly, respectively.2. Both all and individual components of the self-directed learning characteristics- self-learning needs analysis, identification of learning objectives, learning assessment, resource inquiry, and studying plans- were reflected in the students at high level. Taken the 40 item of the five components into consideration, it was found that, on average, 23 items were rated at high level and 17 at moderate level-none at low level.3. Tn terms of gender distinction, there was no significant difference in the overall and individual comparisons, but there was in the self-learning needs analysis and resource inquiry components.4. No significant difference was found in the overall and individual comparisons as far as age was concerned except in the resource inquiry component.5. With regard to the difference in the fields of study, no significant difference was found in the overall and individual comparisons of the fields of study, except in the component of the learning objective identification.6. The comparison of styles of learning indicated the significant difference at0.05 level in the overall picture and individual components, except in the components of the self-learning needs analysis, resource inquiry and learning assessment.