Independent learning requires students to acquire knowledge by his or her own efforts developing the ability for enquiry and critical evaluation. It should promote self determination , allowing students to become intrinsically motivated.
(Philip Candy, in ‘Self-direction for lifelong learning’ (1991), quotes Forster (1972) to define independent learning. https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/Independent_learning.pdf)