10.1177/1052562903252653 ARTICLE JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT EDUCATION / October 2003 Rhee / SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING: TO BE AWARE OR NOT TO BE AWARE Kenneth S. Rhee Northern Kentucky University Although prior research on outcome assessment on skill development has doc- umented students’improvement through self-directed change, it is not clear whether students are aware of their own change. This study focused on stu- dents’awareness of self-directed change at a professional management school. A group of students were given repeated opportunities to reflect about their self-directed change process during the program, and their awareness of change was compared with other students who were not given a similar oppor- tunity. Although both groups improved their managerial skills during the pro- gram, the reflective group had a greater awareness of its own change than the comparison group but overestimated the amount of improvement. Interest- ingly, despite the greater behavioral change, the comparison group displayed an extremely low level of awareness of change. A number of explanations for this discrepancy are offered, and the implications for learning and education are discussed. Keywords: self-directed learning; self-directed change; management educa- tion; outcome assessment One of the primary goals of management education is to help develop capable leaders who can produce outstanding results. However, employers and practitioners often have been critical of the management programs, espe- cially given students’ lack of preparation in dealing with the complex 568 JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT EDUCATION, Vol. 27 No. 5, October 2003 568-589 DOI: 10.1177/1052562903252653 © 2003 Organizational Behavior Teaching Society Author’s Note: I wish to thank the editors and reviewers of the Journal of Management Educa- tion for their helpful comments and support. Special appreciation goes to Professor Richard Boytazis for his continued encouragement and support throughout the publication process. Additional thanks to Professors Rob Snyder and Dan Kent for their editorial comments and