The Importance of Task Understanding for Learning in Young Students

• In Event: Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: Instructional Approaches and Intervention Programs Designed to Promote Optimal Academic Performance

Abstract

The current study explored elementary students’ task understanding for a school activity. Participants included 13 grade two students. Research was incorporated into regular classroom activities; students learned about animal lifecycles and completed an associated instructional task. Data included students’ responses to a Task Understanding Questionnaire designed to target their perceptions of explicit (e.g., task requirements) and implicit (e.g., task purpose) task features. Findings illustrate that students successful in learning instructional concepts also evidenced a strong understanding of both explicit and implicit task features. Students who struggled to learn the instructional concepts demonstrated a poor understanding of specifically implicit task features. Implications for self-regulated learning theory and research are also discussed.

Authors

• Stephanie Catherine Helm, University of Victoria

• Allyson F. Hadwin, University of Victoria