Do Direct and Indirect Recommendations Facilitate Students’ Self-Regulated Learning in Flipped Classroom Online Activities? Findings from Two Studies

Abstract

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a prerequisite for successful learning. However, many students report having difficulties in completing individual online tasks outside the classroom in flipped learning contexts. Therefore, additional support for students should be provided to help them improve their SRL skills. Studies have examined the effects of prompts (e.g., questions) to facilitate SRL but have paid less attention to exploring how different types of recommendations for SRL activities may affect students’ SRL skills, course engagement and learning performance. We conducted two studies using direct and indirect recommendations for 77 undergraduate students in the faculty of education in two flipped classroom courses. The direct recommendation approach suggested specific follow-up SRL activities in various learning tasks, whereas the indirect recommendation approach provided students with general SRL hints but left them to identify what specific SRL activities they should use in the next step. To evaluate the impact of each recommendation approach, we measured the students’ self-reported SRL skills, online behaviors, course engagement and learning performance. The results suggested that direct recommendations were useful in improving students’ engagement in online SRL activities and in sustaining their motivation for SRL, while indirect recommendations played a major role in reminding students of the need to self-regulate their learning. Both types of recommendations could significantly affect the quality of students’ online learning. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications for future SRL recommendation research.