Procrastination in a distance university setting

Procrastination, putting off until tomorrow what should have been done today, is a self-regulation failure that is widespread among students. Although plenty of research has emerged regarding academic procrastination, hardly any research endeavor regarding procrastination in distance university settings exists. This lack of research is even more astonishing when considering that the demands on self-regulation are higher in distance education settings than in traditional university settings. The present (questionnaire) study was intended to shed light on procrastination in an actual distance university setting by exploring its relationship to grades, learning strategies (e.g., cognitive, meta-cognitive strategies), and life satisfaction in students from a distance university in comparison to students from a traditional university.     

Motivation and Self-Regulation as Predictors of Achievement in Economically Disadvantaged Young Children

The primary purpose of the present study was to better understand the roles of motivation and self-regulated task behavior for early school achievement differences among young, economically at-risk and not-at-risk children. Of the at-risk participants, 43 were 5-6-year-olds and 42 were 7-8-year-olds. Of the not-at-risk participants, 21 were 6-year-olds, and 21 were 8-year-olds. Results of the study showed that child-and-teacher-reported motivation levels were comparable among the at-risk and the not-at-risk children. However, the at-risk children showed poorer abilities to regulate their task attention than the not-at-risk children did. In addition, younger at-risk children's achievement scores were predicted by their levels of attention-regulation abilities. Results are discussed in relation to the importance of at-risk children's attention-regulation skills.     

Homophily Among Peer Groups Members’ Perceived Self-Regulated Learning

The present study is one of the first examining whether peer group members hold similar levels of self-regulated learning. The study specifically addresses the potential homophily among group members’ regulative abilities (metacognition, environment regulation, effort regulation, peer learning, and help seeking) and whether group members’ regulative abilities predict affiliates’ academic performance. The study surveyed 9th-grade students from a Midwestern high school about their regulative abilities for mathematics. Results suggest that peer groups members’ effort regulation is similar among peer affiliates but not other regulative abilities. In addition, peer group members’ regulative abilities do not predict each others’ academic performance.     

Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Beliefs,Coping Strategies,and Academic Performance: An Evaluation of Theoretical Models

Research has identified factors associated with academic success by evaluating relations among psychological and academic variables, although few studies have examined theoretical models to understand the complex links. This study used structural equation modeling to investigate whether the relation between test anxiety and final course grades was mediated by personal control, self-efficacy, goal orientation, coping strategies, and self-regulation. Participants were 297 undergraduate students taking an algebra course designed for engineering students. Results indicated that the proposed theoretical model was supported by the data, although a modified model produced a better fit. Other competing models were also tested. Collectively, analyses revealed that the psychological variables played important roles in predicting students’ grades, as all the structural coefficients and R ² statistics were statistically and practically significant. Findings suggest value in the development and testing of additional models that contribute to the expansion of intervention programs to enhance academic outcomes among students.     

基于项目式学习的同伴在线协作学习活动设计与应用研究

近年来,基于项目的协作学习研究主要集中在项目式学习的模型、程序、分组、策略、优缺点等方面,在项目式同伴协作在线学习过程中,学生如何通过自我调节和共享调节来实现项目目标仍未得到充分研究。文章依据活动理论框架和协作学习中共享调节模型,通过设计持续时间8周的PBL同伴在线协作学习来组织教学活动,借助同伴评价表、自我报告调查表、团队项目成果评价表,进行自我调节和共享元认知调节对项目协作学习结果的影响研究。研究结果表明:自我调节和共享调节在PBL同伴在线协作学习中发挥着关键作用,有效的共享调节主要受到学习者自身强大的自我调节的支持,在共享调节的作用下,协作同伴之间相互影响,共同推进项目协作过程。     

行业组织对美国法学教育的影响研究

行业组织的形成有其历史必然性,对美国法学教育产生的影响是深刻久远、历久弥新的。在市场主导机制作用下,美国律师协会和美国法学院协会在共同互动、相互监督中,从法学院招生、办学、教学到毕业就业,都提出了具体的标准要求,且持续强化,促进了法学教育专业化,也提高了法律人才培养质量,逐步控制了美国法学教育的入口和出口。行业组织对美国法学教育的影响是全过程、全方位的,并且持续贯彻、落到实处,推进了行业自律,也为美国法学教育卓越做出了巨大历史贡献。     

Exploring changes in student teachers’ meaning-oriented learning

This study reports on changes in student teachers’ meaning-oriented learning during teacher education and their perceptions of what enhances this learning. Students with a meaning-oriented learning pattern view learning as an active process of knowledge construction, are capable of regulating their learning, want to understand a topic thoroughly, form their opinions about it and draw their own conclusions. This study is situated in Dutch academic primary teacher education, covering student teachers’ entire study period. Quantitative data on changes in their learning patterns were collected using a pre-test/post-test design (N = 21). The student teachers’ perceptions of what enhanced meaning-oriented learning were explored by conducting semi-structured interviews after their graduation (N = 9). At the group level, changes were limited to an increasing use of deep processing strategies. At the individual level, changes varied from a moderate decrease to a high increase in meaning orientation. Increases appeared to be related particularly to student teachers’ perceptions of opportunities to learn from their own interests and to regulate their own learning; student teachers who reported having experienced such opportunities increased their meaning-oriented learning. The study indicates that student teachers could benefit from explicating and discussing these opportunities.     

Self-regulation in three types of online interaction: a scale development

The purpose of this study was to develop a scale with which to examine students’ self-regulation (SR) in three types of online interaction. Using scale development steps, we constructed the online self-regulation questionnaire (OSRQ), a self-report survey. A total of 799 online students participated in the study. Data from 400 randomly selected participants were used for exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and data of the remaining 399 participants were used for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The EFA yielded three factors as hypothesized: SR in interaction between student and content, SR in interaction between student and student and SR in interaction between student and teacher. The CFA demonstrated that the factor structures appearing in the EFA were also observed with different participants. In addition, we found convergent validity in the OSRQ. The study contributes to understanding SR in online learning settings.