Self-Regulated Learning and Instructional Factors in the Scientific Inquiry of Scientifically Gifted Korean Middle School Students

Abstract

This correlational study investigated the direct and indirect effects of instructional factors and motivational and cognitive components of self-regulated learning on scientific inquiry performance in a sample of scientifically gifted middle school students. A total of 166 students were selected from nine gifted classes in the public school system with after-school enrichment programs in Korea. Students responded to self-report measures of mastery-oriented learning goals, self-efficacy, self-regulatory strategy use, and inquiry activities in science class. Performance data were obtained from work on a scientific inquiry task. Results of a path analysis revealed that students' self-efficacy and perceived degree of inquiry activities in science class were the only factors directly influencing their scientific inquiry skills. Whereas open inquiry learning that allows for choices and decisions in students' inquiry procedure directly influenced use of self-regulatory strategies, the extent of inquiry activities directly influenced self-efficacy. Self-regulatory strategy use was not a significant predictor for scientific inquiry skills. Based on the results, implications for future science gifted education are discussed. Putting the Research to Use: This study, by incorporating instructional factors in the framework of self-regulated learning of gifted students, extended the previous research that had examined the relationships among the components of self-regulated learning in relation to achievement. Also, it explored such relationships in a much less studied area, science, and extended the scope of science achievement by including scientific inquiry skills as a criterion of academic performance. In general, it reveals that inquiry learning increases gifted students' scientific inquiry skills while open inquiry does not contribute much to this process and that the only learner characteristic influencing scientific inquiry skills is self-efficacy. For educators working with scientifically gifted students, this study urges them to plan open inquiry learning more systematically and make it accessible to students, by providing assistance and guidance with the inquiry process at the outset of learning and increasingly incorporating the open nature of inquiry. Motivational beliefs of gifted students in their abilities also need to be encouraged and fostered in the classroom.