Self-regulated Instruction Research Articles

Strategic and self-regulated instruction in synthesis tasks in the university context.

The aim of the study was to improve student skills in writing good-quality synthesis texts through a strategic, self-regulated instruction program aimed at ensuring that students properly activated reading and writing strategies required by the synthesis task. The sample consisted of 84 university students who were randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions. The experimental group received an instructional program based on the development and self-regulated implementation of reading and writing strategies for producing synthesis texts. The control group received a program involving metacognitive knowledge of various academic text types. Both programs involved eight 60-min sessions, taught by teachers in a compulsory degree subject. For the evaluations, students produced synthesis texts from different source texts. The syntheses were graded considering text product measures: information selection, idea connection, text organization, and holistic quality; and measures of reading (underlining and note-taking) and writing (planning and review) strategies. The results show that the experimental group exhibited greater improvements in synthesis quality and greater improvements in activation of information organization processes, note-taking while reading, and text planning. In conclusion, university students can, following implementation of a strategic instructional procedure in the context of a study plan, adapt and re-work their own reading and writing strategies and apply them in a self-regulated manner to synthesis tasks, improving text quality and some of the cognitive processes involved.

Pendampingan Kegiatan Self-Assessment dan Self-Regulation Adiksi Game Online Berbasis Sekolah di SMA Negeri 21 Makassar

Addiction to video games will harm adolescents' mental and emotional health, as well as their personality. During the three-year offline-to-online learning transition period, the Covid-19 era boosted exposure to smartphone use and the possibility to play games nearly nonstop. Awareness of school-based mental problems must be increased in order to prevent this aggressive conduct. This community service project intends to assess the extent of the potential for internet gaming addiction among adolescents and to provide a remedy in the form of self-regulation instruction for adolescents at SMAN 21 Makassar. In Makassar City in July 2022, the three phases of this activity were assessment, education, and evaluation. Students were only able to establish self-regulation of addiction management in one of the seven dimensions of addiction, specifically the conflict dimension, after completing the educational process. This aspect of the dispute involves parental control and active resolution of smartphone use at home. We propose that the other six characteristics of addiction be established in schools as a youth-friendly counselling model, making it easier for students to gain access to excellent resources in order to reduce the long-term route of online game addiction as cognitive and mental diseases.

Implementing Genre-Based Self-Regulated Instruction (GBSRI) to Enhance the English Writing Ability of Thai Undergraduate Students

In an EFL context, writing in English is often considered challenging for second language learners. Previous studies (Khumphee & Yodkamlue, 2017; Owu-Ewie & Williams, 2017; Richard & Renandya, 2002) suggest that a lack of sufficient cognitive and rhetorical skills for generating ideas and producing coherent compositions can be one of the challenges faced by learners. The transformation of education in this digital era means that learners ought to master their own learning path while dealing with many learning distractions. A ‘Genre-Based Self-Regulated Instruction’ (GBSRI) may therefore help language learners, particularly those with limited language proficiency, to accumulate competency in language, which in turn may encourage them to pursue independent writing and learning. This is due to GBSRI’s distinguishing features pertaining to genre-based writing instructions (Derewianka, 2003; Hyland, 2004; Macken-Horarik, 2002) and the practice of self-regulated learning (Schmitz & Wiese, 2006; Schunk & Zimmerman, 2007; Zimmerman, 2013). The objectives of this study were: (1) to examine the English writing ability of Thai undergraduate students by exploiting language features, text organization, and writing mechanics with a particular focus on two genres, namely: procedural writing and descriptive writing; and (2) to investigate Thai undergraduate students’ opinions as it related to GBRSI. The sample group in this study consisted of 32 Thai undergraduate students. For the purposes of the investigation, a one-group pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design was utilized. The research instruments included: (1) pre-test and post-test paragraph writing, (2) a GBSRI questionnaire, and (3) semi-structured interviews. The results of the pre-test and post-test revealed that the ability of the participants’ paragraph writing was significantly improved subsequent to participating in GBSRI. Moreover, the qualitative data from the questionnaires and the semi-structured interviews indicated that most students expressed satisfaction with GBSRI and acknowledged its benefits. Furthermore, they stated that both their writing ability and self-regulation in learning had improved after participating in GBSRI, especially in explicit instruction, collaborative learning, and self-regulated writing activities. This study also showcases other considerations regarding the implementation of GBRI in different contexts.

Teaching Readers to Recognize Negative Thoughts and Use Positive Self-Talk

The contribution of self-regulation to academic achievement is supported by robust research evidence. Incorporating practices to enhance self-regulation during small-group reading instruction is associated with improved outcomes for upper-elementary students with learning disabilities in reading. Two evidence-based self-regulation practices are (a) recognizing negative thoughts and (b) using positive self-talk. However, there are challenges with effectively teaching these self-regulation strategies during reading instruction. In particular, special education or reading intervention teachers may find it difficult to incorporate this kind of self-regulation instruction during reading lessons in a way that does not overburden student working memory or take too much time from explicit, systematic instruction in reading skills. This article defines self-regulation, describes how to support students in recognizing negative thoughts and using positive self-talk, and provides guidance to enable teachers to implement self-regulation strategy instruction in a way that complements reading instruction.

Explicit strategy-based instruction in L2 writing contexts: A perspective of self-regulated learning and formative assessment

Recent studies have pinpointed the critical and optimal role of self-regulated learning (SRL) in strategy instruction in second/foreign language (L2) research. To provide empirical grounding for developing self-regulated, strategic learners, this study developed an integrated model of SRL strategy instruction which was integrated with formative assessment and a process-genre approach and then examined its effects on L2 writing quality and motivational beliefs. This was a quasi-experimental research design, in which the experimental group received a 16-week SRL strategy instruction while the comparison group received a regular writing course over the same time period. Pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest of writing performance were conducted to examine students’ changes in writing quality in terms of content, organization, vocabulary, language, and mechanics. A self-report questionnaire was administered to both groups in the pretest and the posttest to investigate the development of motivational beliefs (i.e., task value, intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal orientation, control of learning beliefs, and self-efficacy of learning and performance). Results of mixed factorial ANOVAs revealed the experimental group outperformed the comparison group in the overall writing scores and the subscores (e.g., content, organization, vocabulary, and language) in the posttest and the delayed posttest. In addition, the intervention helped students develop a higher level of task value, extrinsic goal orientation, control of learning beliefs, and self-efficacy of learning and performance. Data collected from reflective journals showed that EFL students reported increased levels of self-regulated, strategic behavior as a results of engaging in classroom formative assessment activities. • Formative assessment promotes effects of self-regulation instruction. • Self-regulation strategy intervention improved L2 writing quality. • The intervention improved students’ task value and extrinsic goal orientation. • The intervention helped students develop active control of their learning beliefs. • The intervention helped students become more self-efficacious in learning to write.

Self-Regulation in Early Writing Strategy Instruction

Experimental research on strategy instruction for beginning writers has only recently begun. This study investigated the role of self-regulation instruction in Grade 1 strategy learning. In a pretest-post-test quasi-experiment, 120 Grade 1 students participated in a unit of study on personal narrative in one of three conditions: (1) Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD), which included instruction in goal-setting, strategy steps, coping, self-monitoring, and self-reinforcement; (2) strategy instruction only (SO), which focused on the goal and steps of the strategy; (3) a control condition. Students in both strategy conditions, relative to the control, made large, statistically significant gains in text quality, word count, story features, and self-regulation knowledge. The SRSD condition resulted in greater self-regulation knowledge than the SO condition, which resulted in greater knowledge than the control. Pretest text quality did not interact significantly with condition. The effect of instruction on text quality was largely mediated by post-test self-regulation knowledge.

Exploring the effects of strategy-focused instruction in writing skills of 4TH grade students

The improvement of writing skills is one of the aims of the educational system. The present study implemented strategy-focused instruction through the Cognitive Self-Regulation Instruction (CSRI) program which included three instructional components: Direct Teaching, Modelling, and Peer-Practice. The aim was to explore the short- and long-term effects of different sequences of the three CSRI instructional components on writing skills (reflected in greater Coherence, Structure and Quality of the text product). Six 4th grade primary education classes from three different schools (N = 126) were randomly allocated to the experimental conditions which differed in the order in which the instructional components were implemented: Direct Teaching, Peer-Practice, and Modelling (experimental condition 1, n = 47); or Modelling, Peer-Practice, and Direct Teaching (experimental condition 2, n = 36). A control condition (n = 43) was also included in which students received traditional instruction. Writing performance was measured through compare-contrast writing tasks. In addition, writing performance was assessed through the anchor text procedure (considering three variables: Coherence, Structure and Quality). Findings supported the effectiveness of strategy-focused instruction after four sessions of the CSRI program. Experimental conditions 1 and 2 showed a significant gain relative to the control condition and were equally effective for the improvement of writing skills over a short-term period. More specifically, the Peer-Practice component was associated with the largest gains in the 4th grade students’ writing skills.

Exploring the short-term and maintained effects of strategic instruction on the writing of 4th grade students: should strategies be focused on the process?

The principal aim of strategy-focused instruction is to teach students strategies to control their writing processes and achieve quality writing. For this purpose, nine 4th grade Elementary School classes from three different schools (N = 215) were randomly allocated to two forms of strategy-focused program called cognitive self-regulation instruction (CSRI). The full-CSRI (experimental condition 1, n = 72) taught students a strategic approach to set appropriate product goals along with planning strategies. However, in the brief-CSRI (experimental condition 2, n = 69), the direct teaching of planning procedures was removed. These two experimental conditions were compared with a control condition (n = 74). We used a pre-test/post-test design and we also collected a maintenance writing performance 7 months after the intervention. Writing performance was holistically evaluated through reader-based measures made up of aspects related to structure, coherence, and quality. Only the full-CSRI condition wrote better compare–contrast texts than the control group in both the short term and at the maintenance timepoint. The study discusses the effects of the intervention on each measure and whether or not it is necessary to train process strategies.

Designing an Intervention in Reading and Self-Regulation for Students With Significant Reading Difficulties, Including Dyslexia

The purpose of this feasibility study was to inform the development of an intervention to support reading and self-regulation for students with significant reading difficulties and disabilities (RDs), including dyslexia. Participants were 21 special educators, dyslexia specialists, and reading interventionists and 48 students in Grades 2 to 4. Student outcomes were compared using a quasi-experimental design; some teachers provided the research intervention (Idea Detectives [ID] group), whereas others provided the reading interventions typically offered in their schools (business-as-usual [BAU] group). Nearly 90% of BAU students received alternate evidence-based interventions. Results showed that student outcomes did not differ between the ID and BAU groups. Observational data indicated that revisions were needed to improve the intervention’s feasibility, and qualitative teacher data identified barriers to consistent implementation, as well as strengths and shortcomings of the intervention. Teacher data suggested strong support for the inclusion of self-regulation instruction with reading intervention. This study illustrates the importance of teacher–researcher collaborations for the development of instructional interventions.

Embedding Self-Regulation Instruction Within Fractions Intervention for Third Graders With Mathematics Difficulties

The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of fractions intervention with and without an embedded self-regulation (SR) component for third-grade students at risk for mathematics disabilities. Fractions intervention focused on magnitude understanding and word problems. Embedded SR was designed to support a growth mindset (fostering belief that intellectual and academic abilities can be developed) along with SR processes in which students set goals, self-monitor, and use strategies to engage motivationally, metacognitively, and behaviorally through challenging tasks. Students (n = 69) were randomly assigned to business-as-usual control and the two versions of fractions intervention. Multilevel models, accounting for the nested structure of the data, identified a moderation effect on fraction word problems: For students receiving fractions intervention with embedded SR, response to intervention was robust across the continuum of students’ pretest word problem skill; by contrast, without SR, response to fractions intervention depended on students’ pretest word problem skill. On the remaining outcomes, results reflected stronger outcomes when fractions intervention embedded SR instruction without moderation.

Probing Teachers’ Lesson Planning: Promoting Metacognition

Classrooms are complex systems, with dynamic interactions of different kinds among their composing varied elements. Such complex interactions lead to the system's unpredictable emergent learning behaviors. To support teachers’ lesson planning and monitoring in the complex environment of classrooms, the present article examines the core metacognitive skills of goal-directed lesson planning and monitoring and presents a novel tool for scaffolding teachers’ self-regulated instruction by increasing their awareness of goals, activities, discrepancy cues, and instructional time management. The chapter describes a qualitative pilot study with two experienced teachers working in a secondary school and a particular teachers’ professional development program. It investigates their utilization of this metacognitive scaffolding tool that has been previously validated as promoting ninth graders’ metacognitive awareness and adapted for teachers’ use. This Lesson Planning-Monitoring Scaffold (LPMS) supported teachers’ lesson planning (including activities sequences, learning settings, and time management), monitoring of plans’ enactment, and postlesson as well as yearly reflections on lessons’ goal achievement and tool's support. The rationale and structure of this metacognitive tool are described, and teachers’ use of the tool is analyzed. Finally, implications for future research on the LPMS and its uses are discussed.

Promoting preservice teachers’ dual self-regulation roles as learners and as teachers: effects of generic vs. specific prompts

Researchers have recently suggested that teachers must undertake important dual self- regulation roles if they want to become effective at improving their students’ self-regulation. First, teachers need to become proficient at self-regulated learning (SRL) themselves, and then teachers need to learn explicitly how to proactively teach SRL – termed self-regulating teaching (SRT). Considering that both roles are difficult to attain by novice teachers, supports (prompts) are essential. We examined an intervention comparing the usefulness of two prompting conditions – generic versus specific – for developing both SRL (as learners) and SRT (as teachers) among 90 preservice science teachers engaging in explicit self-regulation instruction and reflective group discussion about learning/teaching experiences (observed learning clips, in-action teaching). We compared the two group conditions by using two SRL assessments and two SRT assessments. Mixed methods indicated that, as expected, the specific-prompts condition outperformed the generic-prompts condition on self-awareness of own SRL, skills for accurately noticing authentic videotaped students’ SRL, and explicit usage of SRT during actual teaching experiences. As expected, no differences emerged between generic and specific prompts in applying SRT to a novel lesson-design task (far-transfer measure). These findings, supported by two case studies’ sequential pattern analysis, offered an important contribution to theoretical and practical understanding of novice teachers’ self-regulation prompting approaches, practice modes, and multidimensional assessments of teachers’ professional development.

The Impact of Training EFL Learners in Self-Regulation of Reading on their EFL Literal and Critical Reading Comprehension: Implementing a Model

Self-regulation is the ability to regulate one’s thoughts and actions to attain goals. Accordingly, self-regulated learning (SRL) involves plans and behaviors to achieve learning goals. With this in mind, in this study we investigated whether training English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners on the basis of a Self-regulated Learning (SRL) model improved their literal and critical reading comprehension. The study also sought to find out whether the learners’ proficiency level could moderate the impact of self-regulation training. Two intact experimental groups were taught self-regulatory reading processes, while two control groups received the traditional, routine reading instruction. The data of the study were collected by College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) reading sub-tests including both critical and literal reading comprehension parts. Statistical analyses showed that self-regulation instruction could significantly improve participants’ EFL literal and critical reading comprehension, but their proficiency level did not moderate the effectof self-regulation training. These findings can encourage EFL teachers to apply SRL strategies to reading tasks and activities.

Erratum

The effect of self-regulation instruction on the performance achievement, musical self-efficacy, and practicing of advanced wind players by Peter Miksza. Psychology of Music March 2015 43: 219–243, doi: 10.1177/0305735613500832 .

Self-regulation and music learning: A systematic review

Recent research into how individuals achieve their musical goals has been enriched by studies investigating music practice through the lens of self-regulation, or the goal-orientated planning, cyclical adaptation, and reflection of an individual’s thoughts, feelings and actions. The article aims to review the available empirical evidence in order to identify the relationship between processes contained within Zimmerman’s (2000) model of self-regulation and specific music learning variables. It also attempts to discover how self-regulatory behavior relates to both general music instruction and interventions designed to enhance self-regulation. Findings indicate weak, positive relationships with the variables of interest, but suggest self-regulation instruction is the most strongly related variable. The discussion proposes that future research may benefit from investigations of self-regulation within a broader spectrum of musicians and an exploration of participant-driven understandings of self-regulation theory.

The effect of self-regulation instruction on the performance achievement, musical self-efficacy, and practicing of advanced wind players

This study is an investigation of the effect of self-regulation instruction on collegiate wind players’ performance achievement, practice behavior, and self-efficacy. Volunteers ( N = 28) were randomly assigned to an experimental condition that included either (a) instruction in the application of practice strategies (slowing, repetition, whole-part-whole, chaining) or (b) instruction in self-regulation principles (concentration, goal-selection, planning, self-evaluation, rest/reflective activity) in addition to the aforementioned strategies. The instruction was delivered via videos across 5 days and consisted of narrative descriptions and aural/visual models of each approach. Recordings of pre-test performances, 20 minutes of practice, and post-test performances were collected at days 1 and 5. Participants provided ratings of self-efficacy beliefs at days 1 and 5. Both groups made significant gains in performance achievement at each day. Those who received the self-regulation instruction made significantly greater gains in performance achievement on day 5 than those in the other group when controlling for gains made on day 1, and chose nuanced (dynamics, articulation, interpretation, etc.) as opposed to basic (e.g. notes, rhythms) musical objectives in their practice sessions with significantly greater frequency.

Self-regulatory teaching in mathematics: relations to teachers' motivation, affect and professional commitment

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between teachers' reports on self-regulatory strategy use in mathematics instruction and individual motivational and affective factors. Two hundred and ninety-two Greek primary school teachers responded to two questionnaires assessing (a) the strategies they use themselves to plan, monitor and evaluate mathematics instruction and (b) the strategies they use to activate and enhance students' self-regulated learning in mathematics. Path analysis showed that teachers' self-regulation strategies both for their own teaching and for enhancing students' self-regulation in mathematics were predicted by their self-efficacy beliefs in teaching mathematics, the value they attribute to mathematics and their emotional commitment to their profession. Teachers' enjoyment of mathematics teaching did not directly predict their reported use of self-regulatory instructional strategies. The implications of the study are related to the development of teachers' training programmes in self-regulated instruction.

Strategy and self-regulation instruction as contributors to improving students' cognitive model in an ESL program

Writing instruction has often neglected the personal and strategy variables. It has also often neglected students' relationship need as writing is often done alone. An actual classroom implementation of strategy and self-regulation instruction was carried out to find out whether instruction would help students to plan and revise their essays and if students had the competence and ability to regulate their writing, would it improve their attribution, self-efficacy and self-determination. Findings suggest that strategy and self-regulation instruction has equipped students with the knowledge on how to plan and revise their essays. This improvement is mainly due to the utilization of four self-regulation variables: self-evaluation, organizing and transforming, seeking information and seeking social assistance. Furthermore, strategy and self-regulation has improved students' self-efficacy. After instruction, they responded more positively to negative feedback. Strategy and self-regulation instruction also helped to improve students' self-determination. Students realized that writing more would not improve their writing unless they were able to diagnose their mistakes. Therefore, more students sought peer help after instruction. Strategy and self-regulation instruction did not have an obvious effect on attribution. This was probably because students already have good attribution. Nearly all the students quoted ability and effort as the cause of their success. They also believed that intelligence was developmental and so had a desire to improve themselves.

A survey of students' prewriting activities and their implications for teaching

Writing instruction has often neglected the personal and strategy variables. It has also often neglected students' relationship need as writing is often done alone. An actual classroom implementation of strategy and self-regulation instruction was carried out to find out whether instruction would help students to plan and revise their essays and if students had the competence and ability to regulate their writing, would it improve their attribution, self-efficacy and self-determination. Findings suggest that strategy and self-regulation instruction has equipped students with the knowledge on how to plan and revise their essays. This improvement is mainly due to the utilization of four self-regulation variables: self-evaluation, organizing and transforming, seeking information and seeking social assistance. Furthermore, strategy and self-regulation has improved students' self-efficacy. After instruction, they responded more positively to negative feedback. Strategy and self-regulation instruction also helped to improve students' self-determination. Students realized that writing more would not improve their writing unless they were able to diagnose their mistakes. Therefore, more students sought peer help after instruction. Strategy and self-regulation instruction did not have an obvious effect on attribution. This was probably because students already have good attribution. Nearly all the students quoted ability and effort as the cause of their success. They also believed that intelligence was developmental and so had a desire to improve themselves.