Self-Regulated Learning (SRL)

Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) involves the decisions students make while they study on their own, away from an educator’s guiding hand. SRL is an important aspect of student learning as it assumes that one can ‘potentially monitor, control, and regulate certain aspects of their own cognition, motivation, and behavior as well as some features of their environment’ (Pintrich, 2004, p. 387) and thus, may be indicative of a student’s development of lifelong learning skills (Bandura, 1993, 1994). Zimmerman (2008) expressed:

…self-regulated learning (SRL) refers to the self-directive processes and self-beliefs that enable learners to transform their mental abilities, such as verbal aptitude, into an academic performance skill, such as writing. SRL is viewed as proactive processes that students use… such as setting goals, selecting and deploying strategies, and self-monitoring one’s effectiveness... (pp. 166-167)        

From the associated literature, Table 1 presents an array of study strategies, techniques and advice for students to enhance and advance their academic performance (e.g., Cleary & Zimmerman, 2004; Hartwig & Dunlosky, 2012; Karpicke, Butler, & Roediger III, 2009; Paris & Paris, 2001; Vrugt & Oort, 2008).

Table 1. Academic and non-academic study strategies and recommendations for students

Care needs to be exercised, however, in generalising such a listing as this runs the risk of producing an ‘unrealistic’ image of a ‘model’ student; one who may have all the motions, but still not succeed. Moreover, although points are listed independently and in a linear-type fashion, they are should not be regarded as ‘discrete entities’ (Allan & Clarke, 2007) as ‘[successful] students are able to vary their strategies to accomplish academic tasks... they are able to monitor their strategy use and, if necessary, modify their strategies if task demands change’ (Heikkil? & Lonka, 2006, p. 101).

Wolters (2003, p. 189) stated that ‘[s]elf-regulated learners are autonomous, reflective and efficient learners, and have the cognitive and metacognitive abilities—as well as the motivational beliefs and attitudes—needed to understand, monitor and direct their own learning’. Wolters (2003) further described self-regulated learners as being actively engaged in the learning process and likely to demonstrate an ability to assess their own capabilities and to be positively receptive/responsive to feedback on their performance (Allan & Clarke, 2007, p. 66). Significantly, ‘[strategies] are cyclical in that feedback from previous performances is used to make adjustments during future learning efforts and attempts’ (Cleary & Zimmerman, 2004, p. 538).

Learners use a variety of strategies to achieve their learning goals and the ‘quality’ of strategy-use is oftentimes related to performance (Hartwig & Dunlosky, 2012). Not all students will use the same strategies as individual differences exist between/among students with regards to tried, preferred and proven techniques. Some study strategies, such as re-reading text materials and cramming for tests, are commonly endorsed by students even though they may not yield durable results. Other strategies, such as self-testing, have been demonstrated to be highly effective, but are mentioned less frequently in the literature (Hartwig & Dunlosky, 2012, p. 126).

There are too, ‘other’ important variables to consider, such as: (a) any strategy could be used effectively or ineffectively and this may obscure how valuable that strategy may be when used ideally; (b) educators set the kinds of curricula and assessment activities presented to students that may enable more or less thoughtful engagement (McCabe & Pavela, 2004; Paris & Paris, 2001); and (c) factors such as intelligence, prior experience, and/or degree of motivation will also play an influential role. Additionally, certain strategies may be best suited to a specific discipline (Paris & Paris, 2001), but academic staff should endeavour to provide ample opportunities for the development of these skills and attributes (Pittaway, 2012).

Zimmerman (2002, p. 66) articulated, ‘[b]ecause of their superior motivation and adaptive learning methods, self-regulated students are not only more likely to succeed academically, but to view their futures optimistically’. Taking personal responsibility for learning requires active participation by learners to initiate and control their learning processes coupled with support services. Thus, whatever the strateg(ies), the core assumption underlying the ability to take responsibility for directing and improving one’s own study behaviours, is a requisite for academic success, and by implication, for future employment (Allan & Clarke, 2007, p. 64).