Self-Regulation: Instructional Applications

Self-regulation, much akin to other proficiencies, is a faculty that may be acquired through diligent instruction (B. Zimmerman, 2000). Efficacious methodologies for the inculcation of self-regulatory behaviours often encompass the exposure of students to instructive social exemplars, the didactic conveyance of efficacious learning strategies, the provision of opportunities for practical application coupled with corrective appraisal, and the rendering of assistance in the evaluation of progress towards pre-established learning objectives (Schunk & Ertmer, 2000). As previously elucidated within this discourse, the sine qua non lies in the students' assimilation of the variegated social influences extant within their milieu, such that these influences become intrinsically interwoven with their self-regulatory processes (Schunk, 1999).

The tenets of self-regulation expounded within this chapter lend themselves propitiously to instructional implementations. The most propitious applications are those wherein self-regulatory processes are integrated seamlessly into the very fabric of academic learning instruction. Three domains of particular pertinence in this regard are academic study, composition, and mathematics.

Many a student doth encounter difficulty in their academic pursuits, and considerable research hath been directed towards the examination of students’ self-regulated learning during such endeavours (Weinstein & Palmer, 1990; Weinstein, Palmer, & Schulte, 1987; Zimmerman, 1998). There exist published materials designed to aid students in the cultivation of more efficacious study habits (Kiewra & Dubois, 1998; Weinstein & Hume, 1998; Zimmerman et al., 1996), as well as instructive courses, integrated with academic subject matter, intended to promote effective study (Hofer, Yu, & Pintrich, 1998; Lan, 1998). Research doth indicate that academic study doth benefit from instruction in both strategic methods and the management of time.

Strategic Instruction

Researchers have investigated the influence of strategic instruction upon academic study. Dansereau (1978; Dansereau et al., 1979) did develop a strategic instructional programme for students attending college. These researchers did draw a distinction between primary strategies, being those directly applied to the subject matter, and supportive strategies, employed by learners to foster and maintain a conducive psychological environment for learning. The latter include affective techniques and strategies intended to monitor and rectify primary strategies during their application.

Effective study doth necessitate that students comprehend, retain, retrieve, and utilise information. These are the cardinal elements of the Survey-Question-Read-Recite (Recall)- Review (SQ3R) method (Robinson, 1946), later modified to the SQ4R method with the addition of Reflection. When students employ the SQ3R method, they initially survey a text chapter by perusing headings and print rendered in boldface (or italics), whereafter they formulate questions. Learners then proceed to read the text, bearing in mind the questions previously devised. Subsequent to reading, students endeavour to recall the contents of what they have perused. Finally, they review the material.

In Dansereau’s learning strategies programme, students comprehend material by the underscoring of salient ideas, recalling material without recourse to the text, digesting and expanding upon the information, and reviewing it. The expansion of information entails relating it to other information within Long-Term Memory (LTM), thereby forging connections between memory networks. Students are instructed to pose questions to themselves, akin to the following: “Imagine that thou art granted the opportunity to converse with the author. What queries wouldst thou pose? What criticisms wouldst thou offer?” “How may this material be applied?” and “In what manner couldst thou render this material more comprehensible and engaging to fellow students?”

This programme doth extend beyond the SQ3R method, as it doth incorporate support strategies such as the setting of goals, management of concentration, and monitoring with diagnostic assessment. Students are instructed in the setting of daily, weekly, and longer-term objectives through the establishment of schedules. Learners monitor their progress and adjust their work or goals as necessitated by discrepancies between their performance and pre-established expectations. The management of concentration is fostered by aiding students in the coping with frustration, anxiety, and vexation. The employment of self-directed discourse is encouraged, and students may undergo desensitisation through the mental rehearsal of anxiety-provoking scenarios whilst in a state of relaxation (Chapter 3). Monitoring and diagnosis necessitate that students determine in advance the points within the text at which they shall cease reading in order to assess their level of comprehension. Upon reaching each designated point, they evaluate their understanding and undertake corrective measures (e.g., rereading) as deemed necessary. Evaluations of the strategic instructional programme have demonstrated its capacity to improve academic behaviours and attitudes (Dansereau et al., 1979).

Dansereau (1988) did adapt this programme for employment in cooperative learning dyads. Each member of the pair, in turn, undertook the reading of approximately 500 words of a passage comprising 2,500 words in total. One member then assumed the role of recaller, providing an oral summary of what had been read; the other listened, correcting any errors in recall and elaborating upon the knowledge imparted through the addition of imagery and connections to prior knowledge. Dansereau did report that this cooperative arrangement facilitated learning and transfer more effectively than individual study.

Time Management

Investigators hailing from diverse theoretical persuasions (e.g., social cognitive, information processing) have, with increasing assiduity, directed their attention to the cognitive and behavioural processes that students employ in the planning and governance of academic studying time (Winne, 2001; Zimmerman, Greenberg, & Weinstein, 1994). Effective time management demonstrably contributes to both learning and academic achievement. Britton and Tesser (1991) ascertained that the time management components of short-range planning and temporal attitudes served as significant predictors of grade point averages amongst collegians. The efficacious deployment of time appears, in part, to be a function of students' recourse to goal setting and judicious planning (Weinstein & Mayer, 1986). These procedural applications, in their turn, incite students to engage in ancillary self-regulatory activities, such as the self-monitoring of academic progression. Time constitutes an important dimension of self-regulation and can serve as a veritable performance outcome (e.g., the quantum of time to be devoted to a particular task).

Ineffectual time management may intimate underlying complications in several salient areas (Zimmerman et al., 1994). Such shortcomings can manifest when students fail to adequately self-observe, self-evaluate, and self-react in response to their performance outcomes. It may also arise when students do not avail themselves sufficiently of planning adjuncts, such as watches, alarms, and appointment books. Unrealistic goals, attenuated self-efficacy, attributions of learning difficulties to a perceived paucity of innate ability, and suppositions that strategic approaches are of negligible import can all exert a deleterious influence on time management capabilities (Zimmerman, 1998; Zimmerman et al., 1994).

Students are amenable to instruction in the more efficacious management of their time. Weinstein et al. (1987) incorporated time management as one of the constituent areas of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI), a diagnostic and prescriptive self-report measure of strategic, goal-directed learning for students, which concentrates upon thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours intrinsically related to academic success and which are amenable to alteration. The completion of the LASSI, or a commensurate instrument, is typically requisite to ascertain the extent of a student's extant study-related impediments.

Programmes designed to facilitate the more judicious utilisation of time typically incorporate instruction and practical exercises pertaining to subjects such as the cultivation of a strategic approach to learning; the salient roles of goal setting and self-management; time-management planning; various study strategies, inclusive of note-taking, attentive listening, underlining, summarisation, and the effective management of stress; test-taking strategies; and the meticulous organisation of a propitious setting for learning.

A salient issue concerning study time is that students oft fail to apprehend the actual manner in which they expend their time. A propitious assignment is to enjoin students to maintain a time log for a hebdomad, thereby illustrating the quantum of time they have devoted to each particular task. It is not uncommon for them to express astonishment at the sheer amount of time they have dissipated. Instruction must, therefore, address means by which to eliminate or mitigate such wasteful practices.

Another prevalent problem resides in the failure to fully comprehend the temporal demands entailed in the completion of tasks. One student, on one occasion, informed the pedagogue that she believed she would require approximately two hours to peruse eight chapters of her educational psychology textbook. At a rate of fifteen minutes per chapter, devoid of any intervening respite, such a feat would be tantamount to what one might term 'speed reading'! A useful exercise is to require students to estimate the amount of time various tasks will necessitate, and then to diligently maintain a log of the actual times, recording these in conjunction with the original estimates, thereby facilitating a determination of the correspondence between estimated and actual durations.

Students frequently require a modicum of alteration in their customary work environment. They may attempt to study in locales encumbered with potential distractions, such as the presence of friends, cellular telephones, televisions, refrigerators, stoves, video and audio equipment, and sundry other encumbrances. Certain students may derive benefit from the presence of light music or ambient noise in the background; however, nearly all find it inordinately difficult to concentrate when confronted with a potent distraction or a multiplicity of potential diversions. It proves advantageous for students to complete an inventory of their study preferences and the prevailing study conditions, subsequent to which they can determine whether environmental modifications are, in fact, necessary.

As with other disciplines of erudition, the advancement of penmanship is contingent upon both motivation and self-regulation (Graham, 2006). Bruning and Horn (2000) did characterise this advancement as 'a highly fluid process of problem solving requiring constant monitoring of progress toward task goals' (p. 25). Cognitive models of penmanship do incorporate components of self-regulation (Hayes, 2000; Chapter 7). Students are observed to be active processors of information, employing both cognitive and metacognitive strategies in the exercise of their writing.

The establishment of goals and the self-monitoring of progress toward those goals constitute key self-regulatory processes (Schunk, 1995). Zimmerman and Kitsantas (1999) ascertained that scholars of the upper schools who transposed their objectives from the process (adhering to the prescribed steps in a strategy) to the outcomes (quantifying words within sentences) exhibited a superior capacity for the revision of their penmanship, a more pronounced self-efficacy, and a heightened degree of interest when juxtaposed with their peers who pursued solely process or outcome-oriented goals. These findings intimate that, concurrent with the development of skills, scholars may beneficially redirect their attention from the mere adherence to a strategic methodology to the tangible outcomes engendered by the application of such a strategy (e.g., the diminution of errors). Albeit further inquiry is requisite to elucidate the ramifications of instructional procedures upon the impetus to write, it is posited that the motivation for penmanship may be amplified through the employment of authentic writing tasks and the cultivation of a supportive context for writing (e.g., ensuring the task appears feasible with the requisite exertion).

Klassen (2002) did conduct a review of the extant literature pertaining to self-efficacy in penmanship. The majority of studies did indicate that self-efficacy constitutes a salient predictor of achievement in writing. Certain investigations did reveal disparities predicated upon gender in self-efficacy, with the estimations of boys tending to surpass those of girls, notwithstanding the absence of discernible differences in performance. The establishment of a classroom milieu conducive to the augmentation of self-efficacy is thereby conducive to the amelioration of penmanship.

Penmanship is demanding and necessitates the judicious control of attention, meticulous self-monitoring, and volitional command. Graham and Harris (2000) did observe that self-regulation exerts influence upon penmanship in two discrete manners. Firstly, self-regulatory processes (e.g., planning, monitoring, and evaluating) furnish the foundational elements that are subsequently assembled to consummate a writing task. Secondly, these very processes may instigate strategic adaptations in writing and enduring long-term ramifications. Thus, efficacious planning will augment the probability of its future deployment and cultivate self-efficacy in penmanship, which, in its turn, exerts a propitious influence upon motivation and subsequent writing endeavors. The instruction of scholars in self-regulatory skills, within the ambit of writing assignments, culminates in heightened achievement and motivation (Graham & Harris, 2000; Schunk & Swartz, 1993a, 1993b).

The self-regulated strategy development model has been extensively implemented in the realm of penmanship (Glaser & Brunstein, 2007; Graham, Harris, MacArthur, & Schwartz, 1998; Harris & Graham, 1996; Zito, Adkins, Gavins, Harris, & Graham, 2007; Chapter 7). This model avails itself of teacher modeling of writing strategies, collaborative peer group practice, and independent practice, wherein assistance (scaffolds) is progressively attenuated. The model has been employed with demonstrable success amongst scholars grappling with writing impediments, learning disabilities, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders (Harris et al., 2006; Reid & Lienemann, 2006). The model encompasses both general and genre-specific strategies (as underscored in the introductory scenario), in conjunction with motivational components (e.g., self-reinforcement). De La Paz (2005) did ascertain that the model aided scholars of diverse cultural backgrounds in the refinement of their skills in argumentative essay writing.

Given that penmanship is inextricably intertwined with language and mirrors the thoughts and cognitive processes of the individual, it has been regarded as a conduit to the amelioration of learning capabilities and academic attainment. This conception of 'writing to learn' accentuates the imperative of engaging scholars in writing across a spectrum of disciplines. Bangert-Drowns, Hurley, and Wilkinson (2004) did conduct a review of the research literature pertaining to writing-to-learn interventions and did discern a modest yet positive effect upon overall academic achievement. These selfsame researchers did additionally ascertain that prompting scholars during the act of writing to reflect upon their extant knowledge and learning processes proved efficacious in the elevation of achievement. These findings intimate that the 'writing-to-learn' paradigm holds promise as a potentially valuable modality for the augmentation of content-area erudition.

The edification of students in mathematics may be augmented through the inculcation of efficacious strategies, both general and specific. This tenet underpins the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model (Fuchs et al., 2003a; vide supra). Fuchs et al. conducted investigations with pupils in the third form, concerning mathematical problem-solving. Self-regulation strategies encompassed the establishment of goals for individual sessions, alongside the self-monitoring and self-assessment of progress towards the attainment of said goals. These general strategies were supplemented by specific strategies tailored to the resolution of problems. In contradistinction to conventional pedagogic instruction, instruction in self-regulation yielded an augmentation in students' performance and the transfer of skills. Further research evinces that the instruction of strategies to children afflicted with learning disabilities, and those who have encountered impediments in acquiring mathematical skills, enhances self-efficacy and academic attainment (Schunk, 1985; Schunk & Cox, 1986). Jitendra et al. (2007) discovered, with respect to third formers, that specific strategy instruction was more efficacious in fostering word problem-solving skills than instruction in general strategies, albeit both modalities of instruction elevated students' computational proficiencies.

Extensive discourse has been devoted in recent years to disparities in mathematical achievement pertaining to gender and ethnicity (Byrnes, 1996; Halpern, 2006; Meece, 2002). Some evidence suggests that boys are wont to outperform girls, and that Asian Americans and White Americans exhibit superior performance compared to African Americans and Hispanic Americans; however, the corpus of literature is complex, often contradictory, and not readily amenable to facile interpretation. Royer et al. (1999) ascertained that, amongst higher-performing students, boys manifested a swifter retrieval of mathematical facts than did girls. Nothwithstanding, girls typically attain superior grades in mathematics than boys (Meece, 2002). Gender-related disparities favouring boys have also been observed in other cultural milieus (e.g., Germany; Rustemeyer & Fischer, 2005).

Motivational variables and self-regulatory aptitudes have been implicated as determinants of mathematical performance (Meece, 2002; Schutz, Drogosz, White, & DiStefano, 1998). Among sixth formers, Vermeer, Boekaerts, and Seegers (2000) observed that girls reported diminished perceived competence (i.e., self-efficacy) compared to boys in applied problem-solving, and were more inclined to attribute substandard performance to limited ability and pronounced task difficulty (attributions to uncontrollable variables). Girls frequently report lower self-efficacy in mathematics than boys (Rustemeyer & Fischer, 2005), albeit this gender-related disparity is not invariably consistent (Meece, 2002). Self-efficacy, however, constitutes a potent predictor of mathematical performance (Chen, 2003; Pajares & Schunk, 2001; Pietsch, Walker, & Chapman, 2003). Goal setting (McNeil & Alibali, 2000) and interventions aimed at augmenting self-efficacy (Schunk & Ertmer, 2000) are efficacious in fostering motivation in mathematics. The concepts for enhancing self-regulation, as discussed in this chapter, may cultivate motivation and self-efficacy (Schunk, 1995).

Ethnic disparities in mathematical achievement are more consistent and pronounced. Based on several investigative studies, experts proffer the subsequent conclusions (Byrnes, 1996):

• White American students demonstrate superior performance compared to African American and Hispanic American students.
• Asian American students exhibit superior performance compared to White Americans.
• Researchers discern no significant disparity in mathematical achievement between African American and Hispanic American students.

A number of caveats are warranted. A confounding factor resides in socioeconomic status (SES); Stevenson, Chen, and Uttal (1990) discovered that disparities between White American, African American, and Hispanic American students attenuated when SES was taken into consideration. Irrespective of ethnicity, mathematical achievement evinces a significant and positive correlation with SES. Secondly, disparities are most pronounced in the context of formal (curriculum-based) mathematical achievement (Byrnes, 1996). Researchers find scant evidence for ethnic disparities in children's informal (constructed) knowledge. These findings are congruent with Geary's (1995) contention that biologically primary abilities should be manifest across cultures, whereas biologically secondary abilities are more susceptible to cultural influence.

Another variable that has been demonstrated to exert influence on mathematical achievement is the transition between forms. Anderman (1998) scrutinized adolescents with learning disabilities and ascertained higher achievement among those who did not undergo a transition until the ninth form, as compared to students who transitioned earlier. School transitions may precipitate declines in motivation and achievement (Chapter 8), and they appear particularly problematic for students with learning difficulties. When pedagogues spanning transition forms (e.g., fifth and sixth forms) collaborate, they may facilitate the mitigation of transition-related challenges and sustain students' motivation for learning. For instance, prior to the transition, pedagogues may instruct students in self-regulatory aptitudes that will aid them in the subsequent form (e.g., organising, planning). Subsequent to the transition, pedagogues may ensure that students are competent in the mathematical skills and self-regulatory processes requisite for success.

Self-regulation (or self-regulated learning), doth pertain to those processes whereby learners systematically direct their cogitations, sentiments, and actions toward the attainment of their objectives. The application of self-regulation to the domain of learning originated as an outgrowth of psychological inquiries into the development of self-control, both in adults and in children. Early research into self-regulation tended to be conducted within clinical settings, wherein researchers instructed participants in the modification of dysfunctional behaviours, such as aggression, addictions, sexual disorders, interpersonal conflicts, and behavioural problems manifest both at home and within the scholastic environment. In latter years, researchers have broadened their focus to encompass academic learning and achievement.

By its very nature, self-regulation doth encompass the choices of the learners. To engage in self-regulation, students must needs possess sundry options available to them, such as whether to participate, which method they shall employ, what outcomes they shall pursue, and within which social and physical setting they shall labour. Self-regulation doth involve behaviours, inasmuch as individuals regulate their actions to maintain their focus upon the attainment of their goals. Individuals also regulate their cognitions and affects. Whilst engaged in learning, they self-regulate cognitions and affects by maintaining their self-efficacy for learning, valuing the learning, holding expectations for positive outcomes as a result of the learning, evaluating their progress toward their goals, ascertaining the effectiveness of their strategies, and altering them as necessary, and maintaining a positive emotional climate.

Self-regulatory processes and strategies that learners apply may be either general (applicable to many types of learning) or specific (applicable only to a particular type of learning). Self-regulatory processes, such as the setting of goals and the evaluation of progress toward those goals, may be employed with different types of learning (e.g., academic skills, motor skills), whereas others pertain solely to specific content areas or tasks (e.g., mathematical formulae, grammatical rules).

Self-regulation hath been addressed by divers theories of learning. Behavioural theories stress the setting of stimuli and conditions to which learners respond, after which they are reinforced for their efforts. Key behavioural subprocesses are self-monitoring, self-instruction, and self-reinforcement. Learners decide which behaviours to regulate, set discriminative stimuli for their occurrence, participate in instruction as needed, monitor performance, and administer reinforcement when it doth match the standard. Behavioural principles are useful for self-regulation, but by ignoring cognitive and affective processes they offer an incomplete account of the range of self-regulation possible.

The classical social cognitive theoretical account of self-regulation viewed it as comprising three subprocesses: self-observation, self-judgment, and self-reaction. Students enter learning activities with sundry goals, such as acquiring knowledge and skills and completing assignments. With these goals in mind, they observe, judge, and react to their perceived progress toward their goals. This classical view was broadened to emphasise the cyclical nature of self-regulation and to include activities before and after task engagement. This cyclical process reflects the social cognitive emphasis on reciprocal interactions between personal, behavioural, and social/environmental factors. The forethought phase precedes actual performance and refers to processes that set the stage for action, such as setting goals, deciding upon a strategy, and assessing self-efficacy for learning. The performance control phase involves processes that occur during learning and affect attention and action, such as applying strategies and monitoring progress. During the self-reflection phase that occurs during breaks and after task completion, learners respond to their efforts by setting new goals, adjusting their strategies, and making attributions for outcomes.

Information processing theories emphasise that self-regulation reflects metacognitive awareness. Self-regulation requires that learners understand task demands, personal qualities, and strategies for completing the task. Metacognitive awareness also includes procedural knowledge. The basic unit of self-regulation may be a problem-solving system in which the problem is to reach the goal and the monitoring checks progress to determine whether the learning is occurring. Information processing research historically focused on cognitive variables, but increasingly researchers in this tradition are including motivational variables.

Constructivist theories stress that self-regulation involves the coordination of mental functions, such as memory, planning, evaluation, and synthesis. Learners use the tools of their cultures, such as language and symbols, to construct meanings of content and situations. A key feature is the internalisation of self-regulatory processes; although learners may acquire self-regulatory strategies from their environments, they alter and adapt them for use in their personal self-regulatory systems.

Self-regulation and motivation are related. Such processes as goal setting, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations are important motivational variables that affect self-regulation. In turn, engaging in successful self-regulated learning can motivate learners to set new goals and continue learning. Researchers increasingly are examining the role of volition in achievement settings and especially as it relates to self-regulation. Other motivational variables involved in self-regulation include values, goal orientations, self-schemas, and help seeking. Collectively, these variables may help to determine how achievement behaviour is instigated and sustained as learners engage in choices regarding the content, location, timing, and outcomes of their learning.

Like other skills, learners can be taught self-regulatory skills and can become better self-regulated learners. An effective teaching model begins with social (environmental) influences, such as teacher models explaining and demonstrating self-regulatory strategies. As students practice and become more skillful, they transform these social influences in idiosyncratic ways and internalise them into their personal self-regulatory systems. Self-regulation instruction is most effective when it is linked to academic content. Self-regulation principles have been applied to such areas as academic studying, writing, and mathematics.