Academic Self-Regulation in Three Children with ADHD

Andrea Jideimy Bonilla Vivas,Jorge Carlos Aguayo Chan,Martha Vanessa Espejel López ,Efraín Duarte Briceño

doi:10.22158/wjer.v5n4p368

Abstract

The current research aimed to submit a proposal for an intervention based on behavior modification training in academic self-regulation program for elementary school students in order to improve their academic performance. The program was developed through a quantitative methodology in which data were collected through field observations, interval rate records, permanent products and the application of the Self-Regulation Assessment in School Activities Questionnaire (Flores &amp; Cerino, 2000); 22 sixth-grade students participated, divided into two groups (experimental/control) from an urban private elementary school in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. Within the experimental group, work was focused on three children with disorder Attention Deficit (ADD) and disorder attention deficit with hyperactivity (ADHD) through behavior modification to ensure greater control over their learning process. The results show the effectiveness of the intervention in the students, since it is possible to increase self-regulation in the academic field. From the improvements found in academic performance, it can be concluded that the knowledge of students about their own ability in problem solving and supporting actions that impact on their tasks’ outcomes, are aspects that make a difference have an effect on the academic performance which is reflected in the scorings.

Highlights

The self-regulation processes can reach to the level of elementary education and according to Zimerman, there is empirical, qualitative and experimental evidence of it (Ramdass & Zimerman, 2011)
It is very likely that students diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, with limited basic processes like attention and control, have academic difficulties and display poor academic performance, which was characteristic of the three children who participated in the current research
To establish the relationship between academic self-regulation and academic performance in the experimental group, taking into account the number of participants, a nonparametric correlation analysis of Spearman’s Rho was conducted; the results showed that -in this case- there was no significant correlation between these variables

Summary

Introduction

The self-regulation processes can reach to the level of elementary education and according to Zimerman, there is empirical, qualitative and experimental evidence of it (Ramdass & Zimerman, 2011). There are several reasons why a student may fail to self-regulate in any given subject, for example, perhaps he/she does not ascribe value to a task or any other activity to commit and decide to do it; ignores how set goals or manage the time to achieve them; holds negative beliefs about the subjects or his/her ability to learn about them; he/she doesn’t know how to use social resources in a favorable way; or thinks that success in the task depends on circumstances beyond his/her control All these possible causes describe situations often experienced by students with learning disabilities (Flores, 2008; Flores & Macotela, 2002). It is a priority to provide students all those strategies that will help them to improve their performance among which training in self-regulation could be included

Methods

Results

Motivation

Discussion