THIS DOCUMENT TRACES RESULTS OF EXPLORATORY STUDIES IN SELF-DIRECTED (SD) LEARNING OF 5 TYPICAL LEARNING TASKS. GOAL WAS TO ASCERTAIN KINDS OF LEARNING SITUATIONS FOR WHICH PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION COULD BE IMPROVED VIA SELF-DIRECTION, I.E. MAXIMUM STUDENT FREEDOM TO CONTROL THE LEARNING PROCESS. RATIONALE FOR THE RESEARCH CAME FROM A COGNITIVE-PREDICTIVE-THEORETICAL MODEL. 2 FACTORS IMPORTANT TO LEARNING RATE AND VIEWED IN TERMS OF SELF-DIRECTION WERE--MEANINGFULNESS TO THE STUDENT OF THE LEARNING TASK AT ANY MOMENT AND MOTIVATION. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS SHOWED THAT THE MOST PROMISING LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR SD ARE THOSE IN WHICH PROBLEM SOLVING AND TRANSFER OF TRAINING ARE REQUIRED. UNCOACHED SD APPEARED TO MAGNIFY EFFECTS OF MOTIVATION AND ABILITY OF LEARNING. THE MOST PROMISING SINGLE RESULT WAS THE BENEFICIAL EFFECT OF A WEEK OF SD PRACTICE DURING WHICH CRITICAL SELF-APPRAISAL OF STUDY TACTICS WAS ENCOURAGED. THIS SUGGESTED THAT TO MAKE SD SUCCESSFUL, REMOVAL OF STUDENTS' STRONG HABIT OF PASSIVE ACQUIESCENCE IS NECESSARY. (LH)