An intervention study for the development of self-regulated learning skills

Abstract

The present study is based on the social-cognitive perspective of self-regulated learning and focuses on its development in academic settings. This study examined the impact of an intervention on the development of self-regulated learning strategies at a course-specific level. The transferability of the trained strategies on different learning context and the possibility that the training lead to the improvement of learning motivation and behavioural strategies, although they were not explicitly trained were also examined. In addition, the effects of a prolongment of the intervention in the second semester were investigated. The improvement of the learning skills was also assessed through the content analysis of the learning journals competed by the students during the intervention program. We used a mixed method design to examine the changes in students’ self-regulated learning produced before and after the intervention. The participants were first year Psychology and Education Sciences students. During an academic year, the students were trained to use techniques combining cognitive and metacognitive skills. All the strategies were implemented through implicit training, being included as course tasks, and practiced in a domain specific context. The study revealed that the intervention had positive effects on self-regulated learning skills, the students in the intervention group differed significantly at the end of the intervention from the students in the control group. Another finding was the transferability of the trained strategies to different learning contexts. Even if self-regulated learning skills are practiced implicitly in a context, their practice could lead to generalization and increase the transfer opportunities.