Evaluating Improvements in Self-Regulated Learning Among College Students Enrolled in an Online Learning-to-Learn Course

• In Event: Designing Effective Digital Programs to Help Students Develop and Deploy Self-Regulated Learning Skills

Abstract

Objectives/Purpose. Based on a self-regulated learning (SRL) framework and available at many postsecondary institutions, learning-to-learn (L2L) courses represent a comprehensive support designed to improve college students’ academic success. Through the assignments, classroom activities, and other curricular requirements, students in an L2L course are expected to develop an array of beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, strategic skills, and behaviors that foster improved SRL and academic engagement (Hofer et al., 1998; Weinstein et al., 2000). One purpose of this study was to evaluate whether college students evidenced improvement in their SRL and academic engagement across the semester they were enrolled in an asynchronous online L2L course. As part of the presentation, instructional practices used to support the observed improvements will be discussed.

Perspectives/Theoretical Framework. SRL refers to the processes through which students take an active, purposeful role in managing their own academic efforts (Panadero, 2017). Students engaged in SRL strive to achieve academic goals by managing different dimensions of the learning process including their cognition, motivation, behavior, and the social and instructional context (Pintrich & Zusho, 2007; Zimmerman, 2000). Hence, SRL includes students’ effective use of various strategies associated with metacognition, motivational regulation, time management, and environmental control (Pintrich, 2004; Kim et al., 2020). As well, SRL is a function of an array of interconnected beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions that influence students’ achievement motivation (Zimmerman, 2011). The benefits of L2L courses may also extend to positive change in students’ academic engagement, a broad framework that includes behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dimensions (Fredricks et al., 2004; Reschly & Christenson, 2012).

Methods and Data Sources. Participants were 302 students enrolled in a credit-bearing elective online learning-to-learn course at large university (see Table 1). Instruction was provided via various asynchronous distance education methods such as recorded presentation of course topics, readings, individual do-at-home assignments, and group discussion boards. Data originated primarily from self-report surveys that students completed during the second (Time 1) and thirteenth week (Time 2) of a fifteen-week semester or from university records. For both surveys, students responded to items that assessed various indicators of their motivation, use of self-regulation strategies and emotional and behavioral engagement (see Table 2).

Results. Primary analyses focused on evaluating whether students evidenced adaptive change in their engagement and self-regulated learning across the semester using within-subject repeated measures MANOVAs. Results indicated that students tended to report improved motivation, increased use of regulatory strategies, and more adaptive behavioral and emotional engagement at the end of the semester (see Table 2).

Significance. Many students struggle with the increased rigor and academic demands of college. Our findings indicate that online L2L coursework represents a powerful tool that may aid otherwise at-risk students to be successful in their studies. Findings have implications for post-secondary policymakers as well as educators interested in supporting college students’ academic learning and achievement.

Authors

• Christopher A. Wolters, The Ohio State University
  Presenting Author

• Leah Janikowski, The Ohio State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Huy Nguyen, The Ohio State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lauren C. Hensley, Ohio Wesleyan University
  Non-Presenting Author