Abstract

Distance learners’ perceptions of their learning environments are frequently reported as one of the main factors that influence the learners’ intention to participate actively or to be autonomous in their learning. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of the adult learners’ perceptions of their learning environments and their learner autonomy. A questionnaire survey was distributed to 370 distance learners coming from a range of academic departments in public and private universities in Malaysia. Two hundred and forty-nine completed surveys were collected via stratified structured sampling and used for analysis in this study. Learner autonomy is defined as the characteristic of the individual who exhibits intentional behavior with respect to learning activities. These behavioral intentions are associated with desire, resourcefulness, initiative, and persistence. The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between the perceived learning environment and learner autonomy. In this study, learning environments that promote personal relevance, authentic learning, and student interaction enhance learner autonomy the most while indications of student satisfaction explain less variance in learner autonomy scores than any of the other dimensions assessed. Specific recommendations regarding ways to capitalize on these findings are provided by the authors.