Examining the ontological and epistemic assumptions of research on metacognition,self-regulation and self-regulated learning

While research on metacognition, self-regulation and self-regulated learning is quite mature, these studies have been carried out with varying methodologies and with mixed results. This paper explores the ontological and epistemological assumptions of theories, models and methods used to investigate these three constructs to examine the underlying assumptions of all three. Using oft-cited theories and models of the three constructs along with highly cited studies identified in a previous review of these constructs, this paper examined facets of two popular frameworks: Cartesian-split-mechanistic tradition (CSMT) and the relational tradition specifically looking at the role of intra-individual development, the inclusiveness of categories and notions of causality in these theories, models and methods. While the theories and methods contained elements of both traditions, methods to investigate these constructs relied almost exclusively on assumptions from CSMT. Future directions for research include incorporating more studies examining intra-individual change and multiple notions of causality. Future directions for practice include better contextualisation of research results to strengthen the link between theory and practice.     

Gifted underachievement within a self-regulated learning framework: Proposing a task-dependent model to guide early identification and intervention

Current theoretical and operational definitions of underachievement require that students show sustained suppressed academic achievement. Yet, early detection may allow for effective intervention before underachievement becomes a chronic issue. While existing identification procedures were not designed to detect underachievement before low academic performance occurs, the integration of self-regulated learning (SRL) into these practices may promote earlier identification and intervention. This conceptual paper (a) anchors gifted underachievement within Zimmerman's SRL model, (b) examines existing gifted literature investigating SRL components to demonstrate the benefits of applying an SRL model, and (c) proposes a comprehensive measurement and intervention technique to capture important motivational variables at the task level. By measuring SRL processes and underachievement at a task-specific level, we can target interventions to specific needs, address underachievement before it becomes a persistent problem, and help learners reach their academic potential.     

语文自主学习策略和实践指导

从自主的角度考虑,学习策略应用的关键在于调控技能。如何让学生具备对学习过程及自我意识的调控,拟以《花的话》的学习为例,探讨提高学生自主阅读理解能力的策略和实践指导的方法。     

Instructional practices and self-regulated learning in Chinese language classes

This study investigated the relation between teachers’ instructional practices and students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) in Hong Kong Chinese language classes using quantitative and qualitative methods. Participants were 1121 Grade 10 students from six secondary schools in Hong Kong. A Chinese reading comprehension (RC) test was used to assess the students’ reading performance and a self-reported questionnaire measured their perception of reading instruction, strategy use and reading motivation. Classroom observations and in-depth interviews were conducted in one class at each school to explore what and how instructional practices supported or impeded SRL in real contexts. The findings of this study generally support the positive relation between SRL-based instruction and Chinese students’ SRL. Among the four instructional variables, instrumental support from teachers showed the strongest relation with students’ strategy use, motivation and RC. The degree of autonomy was low in Chinese language classes and was associated with students’ negative reading behaviours.     

从生态学习观的视角看自主学习者的成长

生态学习观从整体性、适应性和多元性的角度来审视学习,认为学习是对环境的感知和作用于环境的行为之间互动的结果.自主学习者是有意图的信息探测者,是主动的、相互交流的、善于反思的、情境性的学习者,他具有自组织性、情境适应性和学习多样性等生态特征.学习共同体的构成与特征揭示了其就是最有利于自主学习者成长的外层环境.从学校、班级和学生的层面看,促进自主学习者成长的措施包括设置多元化的课程、构建学习共同体以及培育学习者的自我调节能力.     

An investigation of the stability and variability in young children's self-regulated learning behaviors in kindergarten

The authors examined the relative stability and variability of self-regulated learning (SRL) in kindergartners across various contexts (teacher-directed activities, small-group work, and independent work). They assessed the role of temperament and context on children's use of SRL while seeking to identify if there are optimal contexts for promoting SRL in particular children. The results revealed that although temperament was not related to SRL, children's regulation strategy usage was heavily dependent on context, contradicting the idea that children are either high or low self-regulators. The relative stability of SRL varied by child, with some children showing more sensitivity to context than did others. Optimal contexts for eliciting SRL also differed by children, with some children exhibiting elevated regulation during small-group activities and others during teacher-directed activities.     

Cultivating student skills in self-regulated learning through evaluation of task complexity

In order to self-regulate, students need to honestly reflect on their learning and to take appropriate corrective action. A simple procedure to cultivate student skills in self-regulated learning, known as the Task Evaluation and Reflection Instrument for Student Self-Assessment (TERISSA) is discussed in this paper. TERISSA guides students through two evaluations of the complexity of a task: the first is undertaken just before solving the task and the second straight after completing the task. This study involved 63 undergraduate students and observed a statistically significant difference (p = 0.007) in performance between the students who did (6.1/10) and did not (4.1/10) use TERISSA during tutorials leading up to an assessment task.     

Self-assessment in the process of self-regulated learning and its relationship with academic achievement

Abstract

Despite the theoretical argument and empirical evidence regarding the impact of self- assessment on academic achievement and self-regulated learning (SRL), the mechanism for this impact is understudied. The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of self-assessment practices at different SRL phases and its relationship with academic achievement. Using a course assignment as the learning task, sixty-three students enrolled in a one-year master programme in a teacher education institute responded to an instrument assessing their self-assessment practices (including four self-assessment actions) at the SRL Preparatory, Performance and Appraisal phases of the task. Their final scores of the assignment were also collected. The results showed that self-assessment is a fundamental skill for SRL and occurs at each SRL phase with different patterns. Autoregressive relationships were found for all self-assessment actions between different SRL phases. Self-reflection at Performance phase was found to influence feedback seeking at Appraisal phase. Self-directed feedback seeking through monitoring at Performance phase was the strongest and positive predictor of academic achievement; and achievement had negative impact on all self-assessment actions at Appraisal phase. This study may assist educators and researchers to better understand the complexity of self-assessment in relation to learning process.     

Occurrences and quality of teacher and student strategies for self-regulated learning in hands-on simulations

For many decades, teacher-structured hands-on simulations have been used in education mainly for developing procedural and technical skills. Stimulating contemporary learning outcomes suggests more constructivist approaches. The aim of this study is to examine how self-regulated learning (SRL), an important constructivist learning environment characteristic, is expressed in hands-on simulations. Via structured observations of teachers’ SRL promoting strategies and students’ SRL strategies in eight hands-on simulations, along the three phases of SRL, this study is the first to expose whether students and teachers use SRL in hands-on simulations, what these strategies look like and what their quality is. The results show that both students and teachers demonstrate SRL behaviour in the forethought, performance and reflection phase to some extent, but that they vary considerably in their occurrences, form and quality and provide opportunities for improvement. For example, teacher strategies ‘modelling’ and ‘scaffolding’ were often used, while ‘giving attribution feedback’ and ‘evaluation’ were lacking. The student strategy ‘proposing methods for task performance’ was used regularly, while ‘goal-setting’ and ‘self-monitoring’ were often absent. An overview shows exemplary teacher and student behaviours in the SRL phases with lower, medium and higher quality in hands-on simulations.     

Promoting self-regulated learning through portfolio assessment: testimony and recommendations

Portfolio assessment (PA) has been extensively adopted for writing development in the past three decades. Much research on PA primarily investigates students’ and teachers’ perceptions of its benefits, and how it influences students’ motivation and general writing abilities. Despite its purported effectiveness, not much has been done to understand the relationship between PA and self-regulated learning (SRL) especially in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) or English as a Second Language (ESL) writing research. This paper contends that PA can productively foster SRL in EFL writing classrooms, and, more specifically, it develops a conceptual model of SRL within the context of writing portfolios and iterative feedback processes. Supporting evidence emphasising how PA can facilitate SRL is discussed and evaluated. The paper ends with six recommendations and implications proposing how SRL can be promulgated in EFL portfolio-based contexts. Finally, possible future research is suggested.     

大学物理教学中激发学生自主学习动机的途径

探讨大学物理教学中激发学生内在和外在学习动机的途径,以期通过激发维持学生自主学习的动机,提高学生学习物理的主动性和积极性,从而提高大学物理教学效率。     

Structural relationships among self-regulated learning,learning flow,satisfaction, and learning persistence in cyber universities

Learning persistence in a cyber-learning environment is not only an index determining the success or failure of individual learners but also a source of important information to establish the management direction of educational programs in an organization. Accordingly, learners need to be motivated to continue to grow in order to ensure both qualitative improvement and quantitative growth of cyber learning. However, previous research on successful and continuous learning has considered the factors relevant to learning persistence independently from satisfaction and only investigated the correlation and prediction, rather than examining the comprehensive causal relationships. Accordingly, the current study established self-regulated learning as an exogenous variable, and learning flow, satisfaction, and learning persistence as endogenous variables. We investigated the structural causal relationships among these variables by using structural equation model (SEM). We collected data from 594 students in W Cyber University and conducted surveys regarding self-regulated learning, flow, satisfaction, and learning persistence. In the study results, the self-regulated learning ability of cyber-university students directly affected learning flow (β = .420), learning flow directly affected satisfaction, and learning flow (β = .464) and satisfaction (β = .354) directly affected learning persistence. The SEM results showed that learning flow intermediated between self-regulated learning ability and satisfaction and between self-regulated learning ability and learning persistence. In addition, satisfaction intermediated between learning flow and learning persistence. In the concluding remarks, we suggest the necessary strategies for planning and managing a successful learning process for effective cyber education.     

Enhance low-achieving students' learning involvement in Taiwan's higher education: an approach via e-learning with problem-based learning and self-regulated learning

This study explored the effects of web-enabled pedagogies on students' involvement in learning. A series of quasi-experiments were conducted to investigate whether students' involvement increases over time if intervened, respectively, by problem-based learning (PBL), self-regulated learning (SRL), and their combinations. Two classes of 102 first-year students at a vocational school in a one-semester course were chosen for this empirical study. The results were generally supportive. The authors further discuss the implications for schools, scholars, and teachers engaged in e-learning.     

Leveraging complexity frameworks to refine theories of engagement: Advancing self-regulated learning in the age of artificial intelligence

Capturing evidence for dynamic changes in self-regulated learning (SRL) behaviours resulting from interventions is challenging for researchers. In the current study, we identified students who were likely to do poorly in a biology course and those who were likely to do well. Then, we randomly assigned a portion of the students predicted to perform poorly to a science of learning to learn intervention where they were taught SRL study strategies. Learning outcome and log data (257 K events) were collected from n = 226 students. We used a complex systems framework to model the differences in SRL including the amount, interrelatedness, density and regularity of engagement captured in digital trace data (ie, logs). Differences were compared between students who were predicted to (1) perform poorly (control, n = 48), (2) perform poorly and received intervention (treatment, n = 95) and (3) perform well (not flagged, n = 83). Results indicated that the regularity of students' engagement was predictive of course grade, and that the intervention group exhibited increased regularity in engagement over the control group immediately after the intervention and maintained that increase over the course of the semester. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to the future of artificial intelligence and potential uses for monitoring student learning in online environments.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Self-regulated learning (SRL) knowledge and skills are strong predictors of postsecondary STEM student success.
• SRL is a dynamic, temporal process that leads to purposeful student engagement.
• Methods and metrics for measuring dynamic SRL behaviours in learning contexts are needed.

What this paper adds

• A Markov process for measuring dynamic SRL processes using log data.
• Evidence that dynamic, interaction-dominant aspects of SRL predict student achievement.
• Evidence that SRL processes can be meaningfully impacted through educational intervention.

Implications for theory and practice

• Complexity approaches inform theory and measurement of dynamic SRL processes.
• Static representations of dynamic SRL processes are promising learning analytics metrics.
• Engineered features of LMS usage are valuable contributions to AI models.

     

Collaborating with front-line teachers to incorporate self-regulated learning in Chinese language classes

This study aimed to initially explore the possibility of helping front-line teachers to integrate the principles of self-regulated learning (SRL) into Chinese reading instruction in a 1-year collaborative project. A total of 197 Secondary 3 students and 6 Chinese language teachers from a secondary school in Hong Kong participated in the study. The findings of quantitative and qualitative data in this study generally support the feasibility of incorporating the elements of SRL in Chinese reading instruction. Students improved their comprehension performance, intrinsic motivation, strategic knowledge, and strategy use after this learning experience. Teachers also expressed positive attitudes towards the new instruction and made constructive changes on the instructional materials and activities. However, the study found teachers' traditional beliefs might affect theimplementation of SRL instruction. The implications of these findings for understanding Chinese students' capacity for SRL and planning effective reading instruction to enhance their SRL abilities are discussed.     

Exploring the role of university students’ online self-regulated learning in the flipped classroom: a structural equation model

ABSTRACT

The flipped classroom has gained a great deal of attention in educational research and practice in recent years. The purposes of this study are to understand the relationship between students’ online self-regulated learning (SRL) and their perceptions of learning in a flipped classrooms (FC), to identify possible mediators in this relationship, and to explain how this relationship predicts students’ intentions to participate in an FC. Two questionnaires were used to gather data from 576 undergraduate or graduate students in Taiwan. The structural equation model showed that students’ in-class interactions and online SRL are predictors of their perceived quality of usefulness of online learning activities and positive experience of FC, and these, in turn, associate with their intentional behaviours of participating in FC. While students’ perceived value of interactions in physical classrooms directly related to their intentions to participate in FC, their online SRL predicts their intentions to participate in flipped learning only when mediated by the perceived quality of the usefulness of the online learning activities and positive experience of FC.     

学业不良大学生自主性学习能力开发模式研究

本研究在学业不良大学生学习问题成因调查结果基础上,依据自主性学习理论,自行设计学业不良大学生自主性学习能力开发模式.经实验证实该模式对学业不良大学生自主性学习能力提升有良好效果,能有效促进学业问题改善.     

网络环境下《中学物理教材教法》自主学习平台的设计与研究

网络环境对以学为中心的自主学习有其得天独厚的土壤。本文力求从网络教育学的全新理论出发,辅以本人参加《中学物理教材教法》微格试教课的授课实践经验,对高师院校《中学物理教材教法》自主学习网站进行探索性的设计和研究。     

大学生自主性学习量表编制方法的研究

鉴于国内迄今为止尚没有专门用于测量自主学习的工具,无法对学生的自主学习能力是否改善作出直接、准确的评价,影响实验结果的科学解释和说明。有鉴于此,本文试图首先编制一份大学生自主性学习量表,以此作为评估自主学习的工具,并为以后的实验研究做准备。本文把自主学习分为7个维度,每个维度又包括若干次级维度,由此编制出分量表和总表。实证研究部分的结果表明,大学生自主性学习量表具有较好的信度和效度,可以初步用于测评大学生的自主学习能力。     

基于计算机网络的大学英语自主学习管理研究

在基于计算机网络的大学英语自主学习中,教师角色要转变为管理者,要加强对学生的日常管理和有效指导,要着力培养学生的信息素养,并提高学生的自我效能感。