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Welcome
Promoting Self-Regulated Learning Skills in Undergraduate Students Using a Group-Based Training
Programme
Catherine MahonÚna Crowley
National University of Ireland, Maynooth
Email – [email protected]
Being Prepared for Learning in Higher Education
• How can we help students to acquire the skills needed to become more effective learners?
The Learning Transition
Second level education
Higher education
Explicit instruction
Self-regulated learning
Performance
ReflectionForethought
See Pintrich (2000); Zimmerman (2000).
Self-Regulated Learning
• Links between academic achievement and use of self-regulation (e.g., Kitsantas, Winsler, & Huie, 2008).
• Many components of self-regulated learning can be acquired (e.g., Hofer & Yu, 2003; Tuckman & Kennedy, 2011).
• A question of time? Supplementary supports alongside structured programmes.
The Critical First Year
• Continued emphasis on the importance of early interventions.
• Non-presence rates highest in the first year of undergraduate study at 15% (Higher Education Authority, 2010).
• In 2012, 86% of incoming first year NUI Maynooth students stated that the provision of academic supports was very important.
Aims of Current Research• Explore ways to help students who may be
struggling academically.
• Develop and test a new programme to promote skills related to self-regulated learning:• Specific learning techniques• Reflection*
• Track academic performance (pre- and post- sessions).
• Refine the programme based on initial evaluations.
The INSTALL Project
• Narrative Mediation Path (Freda, Esposito, Martino, & Monteagudo, 2012).
• Encourage reflective thinking skills in students at risk of academic underachievement through use of narrative stimuli:• Metaphors and proverbs• Vignettes• Writing• Role play
• Components modified to local context.
Method
Participants (cycle one)• Seventeen undergraduate NUI Maynooth students.
• Median age = 19 years (range, 18 to 22 years).
• Academic performance• Eight participants previously did not pass one examination at
the initial attempt.• Nine participants ‘self-selecting’.
• “I think that I would benefit from completing a programme about learning to learn.”• All participants agreed or strongly agreed with this statement.
What Learning Strategies Do The Students Currently Engage In?
• Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire [MSLQ] (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991).
Organisation
Help seeking
I make simple charts, diagrams, or tables, to help me organise course
material.
I ask the instructor to clarify concepts I don’t understand well.
Not at all true of me Very true of me
1 7
Influence of Pre-Training Data on Session Content
MSLQ• “When reading for this course I make up questions to
help focus my reading.”• 12 participants (not at all true of them).
• “When studying for this course, I often try to explain the material to a classmate or friend.”• 11 participants (not at all true of them).
• “I ask the instructor to clarify concepts I don’t understand well.”• Four participants scored ≥ 4.
“Sometimes it is hard to balance everything; lectures, assignments, reading and the social side.”
“Trying to manage my time well and organise myself so I can get everything done.”
“Bad experiences have come from not knowing enough information …”
“Making friends impacted greatly, found it difficult, and therefore chose not to attend.”
“Being unsure of what to learn and where to start.”
“Sometimes lecturers can seem uninterested in their students so speaking to them about problems related to their lecture is difficult.”
“Being slightly overwhelmed at all the differences (from secondary school) at first did affect my performance.”
“Not enjoying my subjects I feel that if I was enjoying them more I would work harder at them.”
“Studying!!! Always found it difficult to find a study technique.”
“What kind of difficulties have you encountered at university?”
Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire
Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire
Interviews
Overview of procedure
Additional questionnaires – usefulness of training, changes in learning strategies
Recruiting participants
Measuring pre-training use of learning strategies
Group training sessions
Measuring post-training use of learning strategies and evaluation
of programme
Follow-up measures of academic performance
Training cycle
one
Refining the training
Training cycle
two
Group Sessions
Learning to learn
Memory
Study strategies
Time management
Goal setting
Motivation
Components of learning
Organisation, elaboration, mnemonics
Reading texts, question generating, peer learning
Planning and schedules
Forming goals, implementation, review
Links to goal setting, beliefs, self-efficacy
Proverbs ‘if at first you don’t succeed …’
Sessions Session Focus Narrative Stimuli*
Writing
Vignettes of university scenarios
Role play
Mea
n sc
ore
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Rehearsal Organisation
Elaboration Critical thinking
Metacognition
Time & study environment
Effort
Peer learning Help
seeking
Not at all true of
me
Very true of me
MSLQ resultsPre-sessions Post-sessions
* p < .05
** p < .01
* ** ** **
Programme Evaluation
Programme Evaluation• First year relevance.
• Social benefits associated with group training.
• Subject-specific learning strategies.
• Additional sessions.
“It gave me an opportunity to meet other students and to discuss issues without feeling I was stating the obvious.”
“Would like more information given on how to structure an answer for arts subjects (e.g., essay style answers).”
“The programme covered relevant materials that are useful for studying and I would recommend it to friends who don’t know how to study at all for college.”
“More follow-up sessions on how you can continue to apply the programme.”
Discussion and Future Directions• Limitations
• Short time frame for sessions.• Small sample size.• Lack of a control group.• Subjectivity versus objectivity.
• Monitoring academic progress and use of learning strategies over a longer period of time.
• When? Why? Why not?
• Influence of student characteristics (e.g., prior knowledge).
Acknowledgements• This research has been funded by the European Commission (Erasmus
Multilateral Projects No. 517750-LLP-1-IT-ERASMUS-ESIN).
• This presentation reflects the views only of the presenters and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of
the information contained therein.