SELF-REGULATED LEARNING: A PRACTICAL GUIDE

September 15, 2009

Before we begin I want this to be helpful for you

Focus on your interests, questions, experiences…

We’re going to have to self-regulate (co-regulate) during our time together Define the task / activate relevant prior

knowledge Make a plan Execute, monitor, and adapt plan as

necessary Speak up! Interject!

Once finished: evaluate our effectiveness

Defining the Task

Questions for you How can school counselors contribute to

the academic mission of the school? Who taught you how to study?

Learning strategies? Monitoring? Adaptation when things go awry?

Activating Prior Knowledge

Self-Regulated Learning SRL is “an active, constructive process whereby

learners set goals for their learning and then attempt to monitor, regulate, and control their cognition, motivation and behavior, guided and constrained by their goals and the contextual features in the environment” (Pintrich, 2000, p. 453)

Four assumptions: Students are not passive learners Students monitor and adapt Students use goals to monitor and adapt SRL mediates between learner, context, and

performance

Self-Regulated Learning SRL “compensates” for individual

differences Intelligence Personality/temperament Processing differences

SRL is not a skill or ability Self-directive process

Zimmerman’s Model

SRL Processes Setting specific, proximal goals Adopting powerful strategies to attain

goals Monitoring one’s performance Restructuring context Effective time management Adapting future processes

Boekaerts’ Model of SRL Key points:

Social goals and cues influence upon how SRL is enacted

Social influences can lead to negative affect that must be regulated, or else rumination

Argues for dual-processing SRL model: Growth pathway: students value academic goal, want

to put energy into achieving, initiate activity Well-being pathway: students focus on cues in

learning environment, sensitive to unfavorable learning conditions, obstacles, drawbacks Use energy to prevent more bad things from happening

Boekaerts’ Model SRL can be adaptive OR maladaptive

Regulate to achieve academic and social goals Students self-regulate to:

Develop competencies Increase sense of belonging Assist and empower others Protect own well-being and self-esteem Protect well-being and self-esteem from others

Above goals may be incompatible Students must then balance performance and well-

being

Making a Plan

Why Don’t Students Self-Regulate? “It looks boring!” – Situational and long-term

interest (catch and hold) “It IS boring!” - Motivation

“Whatever, I’m not even paying attention” – Self-handicapping

“I’m just not smart enough” – Implicit Theories of Intelligence

“I don’t think I can do it” – Self-efficacy “I don’t know how” – Expertise development “I don’t need to SR to do well” – Classroom

context; the dangers of “innate ability”

Executing, Monitoring, and Adapting the Plan

INTEREST

Interest Personal Situational Both related to greater cognitive

engagement, persistence, enjoyment Some evidence situational may lead to less

cognitive processing, poorer recall, inability to transfer learned info

Catch and hold ideas

Interest Situational interest fostered by:

Variety Novelty Diversity Meaningfulness Relevance Fantasy embellishment

MOTIVATION

Motivation matters! Two dominant theories of motivation:

Self-determination theory Achievement Goal/Goal orientation theory

Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci)

Emphasizes intrinsic motivation: need to be competent and autonomous in relation to environment Intrinsic motivation is a natural state; it

does not need to be created; rather, it is often extinguished

Extrinsic motivation: motivation to engage in actions that lead to desired results

Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci)

Relative to extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation associated with more: Interest Excitement Confidence Persistence Creativity Vitality Self-esteem

All of above associated with better academic performance

Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci)

Intrinsic motivation fostered when needs met

Focus on three innate psychological needs: Competence: need for mastering

environment Autonomy: internal locus of control Relatedness/belongingness: desire to

belong to or feel connected to group(s)

SDT Intrinsic motivation decreases when people

cannot be autonomous/self-determining Not free to make choices Not free to take responsibility for actions Believe actions are extrinsically determined

External rewards squelch intrinsic motivation (sometimes)

Extrinsic motivators are not all bad! Working on paper to earn BA and get a good job: ok Working on paper just because parents will give you

$50: bad

SDT Extrinsic motivation can grow into

intrinsic External regulation can grow into self-

regulation How? By meeting these needs:

Competence: optimal challenges; informative, encouraging but honest feedback; foster self-efficacy

Autonomy: feeling of choice, opportunities for self-direction, educators creating climate of support for choice, lack of perceived threats/consequences

Relatedness: feeling of connection with others

SDT

Achievement Goal Theory Achievement motivation Goal theory Goal orientation theory

Why do students choose to engage in some tasks and not others?

What are students’ goals when engaging in learning and academic tasks? Standards of comparison

Personal v. classroom goals

Goal Orientations

Mastery goals: (learning or task goals) desire for increased knowledge or academic competence Internal success criteria, self-

comparison Willing to work toward

understanding Value learning Take risks to achieve goals

Goal Orientations Performance goals: (ability, relative ability,

competitive, ego-involved goals) desire to do well to get recognition or avoid shame/embarrassment Want to be seen as smart Comparisons with others as the standard Competition, ranking = success Avoid errors, loss of status Grades more important than knowledge

Goal Orientations Work-avoidant goals: exert

the least amount of effort to complete work Newer view

Reasons for work-avoidant goals May see no purpose to learning May find work boring, easy May be socially uneasy in

classroom Beliefs about intelligence:

work hard = dumb May have other needs

Elaborating Mastery and Performance Goals

Mastery Performance

Approach: working for positive outcomes

(Map) Focus on mastering task; deep understanding

(Pap) Focus on being known as better than others; grades

Avoidance: working to prevent undesired outcomes

(Mav) Focus on avoiding misunderstanding, maintaining past performance no risk taking

(Pav) Focus on not looking dumb in comparison to others, being seen as dumb by others

Performance Avoidance Do not want to look dumb

Self-handicapping Reducing effort Setting unattainably high goals Taking on too much Procrastinating Cheating Using alcohol, drugs

Allows students to justify poor grades using something other than their ability (or lack thereof)

These students consistently do the worst in school

Goal Orientations and Achievement Mastery: consistently found to relate to

positive outcomes, choice, persistence Deep metacognitive and self-regulatory

strategy use Less frequent self-handicapping BUT NOT ACTUAL GRADES!

Performance: findings mixed Due to failure to consider approach v.

avoid? Pav: bad Pap: mixed

IMPLICIT THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE Entity to incremental Predictive of persistence, academic

performance Can lead to self-handicapping

SELF-EFFICACY

Self-Efficacy Bandura Judgments about ability to perform task Domain-specific Future-oriented Controllable outcomes only Self-Efficacy = “How well”

Sources of Self-Efficacy Beliefs

Verbal persuasion: feedback Mastery experiences: past actions Vicarious experiences: observations of

like others More similar = more impact upon self-

efficacy Physiological arousal: “My heart is

racing, I must be worried about doing this.”

Other Influences on Self-Efficacy Environmental conditions

Complexity of task, materials Nature and quality of support Importance of task Kind of evaluation Significance of feedback

Person’s domain knowledge and beliefs

Effects of Efficacy Beliefs Choice of tasks

School/career choices Motivation Effort Persistence

Low efficacy = less effort, persistence Learning

EXPERTISE

What is expertise? Expertise =

Ability (less important) + Effort + Deliberate, sustained practice + Expert feedback

What is expertise? Sternberg says:

Large schema/strategy/skill toolbox Choosing good strategies Understanding problems quickly High levels of automation Monitoring of problems and self Takes 5-10 years / 50,000 hours

Skill Acquisition Stages

Knowledge accumulation: declarative Knowledge integration: conceptual

knowledge and scripts Automation and tuning: faster, stronger,

better Do skills differ from strategies?

Deliberate Practice Intentional Goal oriented Systematic In authentic setting Feedback

Experts Self Books/guides

What comes first?

Practice Talent Expertise

Talent Practice Expertise

Talent

Practice

Expertise

Limits of expertise Can’t be expert >1 field?

Expertise is domain-specific Conceptual rigidity Expert blind spot effect

CLASSROOM CONTEXT, INNATE ABILITY

Classroom Tasks that Support Student Motivation

Think about context! Dewey: interesting, complex, authentic

tasks Blumenfeld: classroom tasks socialize

students to academic domains, expectations

McCaslin: kinds of tasks in classrooms help students determine importance of academic domain

Classroom Tasks that Support Student Motivation

Task characteristics are not static! Vary by:

Personal characteristics (understood prior to sociocultural)

Domain of study Instructional goals Familiarity with instructional processes Time of year

Classroom Tasks that Support Student Motivation

Motivation fostered by: Moderate challenge Interest Curiosity Increased student control Embedded short-term goals

All of above determined by interaction of individual with context How teacher designs, presents task Sociocultural values

Classroom Tasks that Support Student Motivation

Students want a sense of control of tasks and their difficulty Start complex but allow for control Hands-on experimentation and research Problem-based science

Students also want a sense of meaningfulness of tasks, and themselves to teachers

Instructional Practices that Support Student Engagement

Generally good practice: Clearly communicate expectations Provide motivational messages about

success and failure Give informative feedback Display positive emotions Model and use effective strategies Create sense that teacher has high self-

efficacy for teaching

Instructional Practices that Support Student Engagement

Scaffolded instructional discourse: explaining, modeling, aiding understanding Prompting students to explain and justify

Non-scaffolded instructional discourse: drill and kill, no explanation

Scaffolded motivational discourse: focus on learning and improvement, positive emotions, promote collaboration

Non-scaffolded motivational discourse: focus on student mistakes, negative affect, foster social comparison

Instructional Practices that Support Student Engagement

Teacher curriculum choices Teacher ability to adapt instruction

Don’t lower expectations Adapt scaffolding and support

Cognitive apprenticeship: Joint goal-oriented problem solving Model teacher thinking and planning Encourage metacognition and planning Fade scaffolding

Classroom Relationships that Support Student Motivation

Self-determination theory Belongingness Caring communities

Classroom Relationships that Support Student Motivation

Teachers perceived as caring: Make class interesting Talk and listen to students Are fair Ask if students need help

Teachers perceived as uncaring: Go off topic Do not explain when students confused Embarrass or yell at students Forget students names, demeaning

Classroom Relationships that Support Student Motivation

Students need to feel that adults value: Students Students’ input Students’ learning styles Students’ future success

Students view support for autonomy as respect Leads to engagement

SRL-specific findings

Paris & Paris Adults and peers shape SRL and knowledge construction

through Guided participation Scaffolded assistance Apprenticeship

Educators can: Teach what strategies are and how to use them Teach how, when, and why to use strategies Help students want to know how, when, and why to use

strategies Set up environments that foster students’ wanting to know how,

when, and why to use strategies Motivation, volition, emotion control Skill, will, thrill

12 Principles of SRL in Classrooms (Paris & Winograd, 1999) Self-appraisal leads to deeper understanding of learning

1. Analyze and compare personal styles and strategies to others2. Evaluate what you know/don’t as well as depth of

understanding3. Get in habit of periodic self-assessment of learning processes

and outcomes Self-management of thinking, effort, and affect promotes

flexible approaches to problem solving that are adaptive, persistent, self-controlled, strategic, goal-oriented4. Set appropriable goals that are challenging but attainable,

embody mastery goal orientation5. Manage time and resources through effective planning and

monitoring6. Review own learning, revise approaches

12 Principles of SRL in Classrooms (Paris & Winograd, 1999)

SRL can be taught in diverse ways7 Directly: lecture, metacognitive discussions, practice with

experts, etc8 Indirectly: modeling, reflective analysis of learning9 By promoting assessing, charting, and discussing

evidence of personal growth SRL is woven into narrative experiences and the

identity strivings of each individual10 How individuals choose to appraise and monitor their

behavior is usually consistent with their preferred or desired identity

11 Gaining an autobiographical perspective on education and learning allows for framework to deepen personal awareness

12 Participate in reflexive community

Evaluation Hope this was helpful! Feedback, questions, etc:

Jeff Greene 113 Peabody Hall jagreene@email.unc.edu