Understanding Regulated Learning in Situative and Contextual Frameworks

Research on self-regulated learning has focused predominantly on a static individual level to explain various strengths and weaknesses of learners. However, much learning today is highly interactive and technologically enhanced, which an individually oriented perspective to regulated learning does not consider. In this article we discuss regulation by bringing situational and contextual variation of regulated learning into focus. We introduce a situative perspective on regulation of learning and give arguments and examples on how it can offer a way to conceptually and empirically grasp multiple layers of regulated learning in social contexts. We also compare the given perspective with sociocognitive and sociocultural perspectives to regulated learning. We conclude that the situative perspective can significantly enrich understanding about individual and group learning as a regulated activity, because it offers a way to examine regulation beyond the individual while not losing sight of learners as individual subjects.     

Students’ confidence in their performance judgements: a comparison of different response scales

We report results of two studies on metacognitive accuracy with undergraduate education students. Participating students were asked to judge their personal performance in a multiple-choice exam as well as to state their confidence in their performance judgement (second-order judgement [SOJ]). In each study, we compared four conditions that differed in the type of the presented 5-point confidence scale for SOJs. In Study 1, four bipolar scales with different labels were applied; in Study 2, unipolar and bipolar scales were implemented. The results of Study 1 with N?=?420 students show that undergraduates on average provided accurate performance estimations. However, students were not aware of their judgement accuracy, shown by a low fit of SOJ and judgement accuracy. In addition, the type of provided scale significantly influenced the SOJs. Study 2 with N?=?348 students replicated the findings of the first study and gave further insight into the effects of uni- vs. bipolar response scales.     

Decreasing students’ stress through time management training: an intervention study

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a time management training program on perceived control of time and perceived stress in the context of higher education. Twenty-three undergraduate students attended a time management training intervention and reported demands, perceived stress and perceived control of time directly before 2 and 4 weeks after training. We used a “non-equivalent dependent variable design” (Cook and Campbell, Quasi-experimentation: design and analysis for field settings, p. 118, 1979) with perceived stress and perceived control of time as dependent variables, which should be influenced by the training, and demands as control variable, which should not be changed. As expected, perceived stress decreased and perceived control of time increased after training, whereas demands did not change. Therefore, time management training might be beneficial for undergraduate students’ well-being. Nevertheless, more intervention studies in this field are necessary, especially with lager samples, to contribute to more robust results and conclusions.     

How research on self-regulated learning can advance computer supported collaborative learning / El papel de la investigación sobre aprendizaje autorregulado en el desarrollo del aprendizaje colaborativo asistido por ordenador

Abstract

Learning in and for the twenty-first century requires motivational competence and effective learning strategies in individual and collaborative learning settings. Being able to strategically regulate one’s own learning and that of others is a vital and increasingly important skill. Most learners are not equipped to regulate and direct their own learning or might lack the motivation to do so. Additionally, if self-regulation of learning is difficult at the individual level, it becomes even more difficult when interacting with peers and in teams, known as co-regulation and shared regulation. Fortunately, recent research has shown that regulation can be both learned and also often supported with self-regulation tools and/or environments. This paper discusses recent trends in self-regulated learning research, focusing especially on regulating learning in computer supported collaborative learning. It is concluded that today’s education should help learners become aware of their strengths and weaknesses in a learning situation, so as to help them develop skills and strategies to continue to learn throughout their lives.     

Designing interdisciplinary instruction: exploring disciplinary and conceptual differences as a resource

This article presents a “telling case” of an interdisciplinary, team-teaching experience that explores how participants eschewed ethnocentricism of their fields of study in order to learn from each other, while providing instruction to students and analysing data collected from the class (a graduate course on literature and pedagogy). Through the process, the participants (a professor of English education and a professor of literature) ground the perspectives of literary interpretation in their field of study and languaculture, and developed a conceptual framework that guided their interactions and analysis of the discursive actions of the class. An ethnographic perspective served as the conceptual frame and informed how the participants observed, described, and developed claims about classroom interactions. Through this study, the participants answer calls for more examples of how faculty in higher education engage in interdisciplinary teaching and research and the need for faculty to develop conceptual ethnographic frameworks for their collaborations.     

Cardiorespiratory performance and physical activity in normal weight and overweight Finnish adolescents from 2003 to 2010

We investigated changes in cardiorespiratory performance, BMI and leisure-time physical activity among Finnish adolescents from 2003 to 2010. In addition, we compared cardiorespiratory performance levels between normal weight and overweight adolescents, grouped according to their physical activity. Participants were a national representative samples of 15–16-year-old adolescents in their final (ninth) year of comprehensive school in 2003 (n = 2258) and in 2010 (n = 1301). They performed an endurance shuttle run test and reported their height and weight and leisure time physical activity on a questionnaire. Results showed no significant secular changes in cardiorespiratory performance from 2003 to 2010. The mean BMI increased in boys. Leisure-time physical activity increased among normal weight girls. Adolescents of normal weight had better cardiorespiratory performance than those classified as overweight at both assessment points. BMI-adjusted physical activity was a significant determinant for cardiorespiratory performance among overweight adolescents, and very active overweight adolescents had similar cardiorespiratory performance levels as moderately active adolescents of normal weight. The results of the present study support the idea that the physical activity has the great importance for the cardiorespiratory performance in adolescents. Overweight adolescents, in particular, benefit from higher levels of physical activity.     

ADHD in the context of Finnish basic education

Students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are a growing group served under special education services in many western societies. This article describes the history and current state of the services, as well as the assessment procedure. Our conclusion is that the status of students with ADHD in Finnish basic education (Grades 1 to 9) is still unclear. Based on the comparison of the prevalence and the population served in special education we can assume that this group is probably underserved in the Finnish school system. We also present findings from two recent studies among families with ADHD children in Finland. Family viewpoint can contribute to our knowledge and understanding about the diversity of the symptoms’ manifestation as well as the extent and completeness of the possible outcomes of the disorder. In the context of schooling, studying these families’ viewpoints can be of additional use in evaluating the present state of school practices in relation to institutional enactments established in educational acts. Future challenges about meeting the variety of pupils’ needs according to inclusive pedagogy are discussed.     

Conceptual change in adopting the nationwide special education strategy in Finland

Educational reform is rarely considered from the point of view of conceptual change. Typically, reform starts at the policy document level by introducing criteria intended to lead to the adoption of new practices. This study offers a case study of how legal national educational reforms can be localized. The case in focus is the recent legislative change in Finland dealing with special education. The special education strategy (SPES) white paper was launched in 2007 and the related changes in the Basic Education Act were passed in 2010. In 2008–2009 the State invited local municipalities to participate in advance preparations for the reforms. More than half participated by preparing several SPES-related documents over time that allowed us to analyze the main trends concerning the different concepts used, and how they were implemented. The results are interpreted in terms of contrasts between semantics, politics and actual changes.     

Pupils’ views on an ICT-based learning environment in health learning

This paper presents a study that examined pupils’ views on an ICT-based learning environment in health learning. The study was a part of the wider European Network of Health Promoting Schools programme (ENHPS; since 2008, Schools for Health in Europe, SHE) in Finland, and particularly its sub-project, From Puijo to the World with Health Lunch, which sought to renew secondary schools’ health education by developing and utilising an ICT-based learning environment. The research data were collected through a structured questionnaire presented to pupils (N = 92) in two secondary schools, one rural and one urban, in Eastern Finland. The results showed that pupils’ opinions about the ICT-based learning environment were fairly positive. Pupils felt that the ICT-based learning environment was easy to use and supported cooperative learning. Computing and Internet skills positively supported pupils’ favourable attitudes towards the ICT-based learning environment. An interesting result from the point of view of e-learning was that the pupils increased their awareness of how to critically evaluate health information found on the Internet.