Explore, Exploit, and Prune in the Classroom: Strategic Resource Management Behaviors Predict Performance

• In Event: Contextualizing Knowledge and Decision Making in Strategic Learning

Abstract

Purpose:
Self-regulated learners strategically manage the many, varied resources available for learning—by selecting resources that could be useful, reflecting on their use, and adjusting resource-use accordingly (Karabenick, 2014; Zimmerman, 2008). Are there general mechanisms of strategic resource regulation that relate to academic achievement? We (a) defined and operationalized key resource regulation behaviors, and (b) tested how well each of these resource regulation behaviors tracked students’ exam performance among 4 cohorts of 4,766 college students.

Framework:
We proposed a model of resource regulation that focuses on learners’ self-reflective decisions to explore new resources, exploit previously useful resources, and prune previously ineffective resources. Exploration is defined as using a resource that was not previously used; exploitation as continuing to use a resource; and pruning as discontinuing the use of a resource that was previously used and perceived as not useful. These processes have been conceptualized as strategic behaviors in other fields, such as evolutionary biology (Charnov, 1976), decision-making (Daw et al., 2006), and neuroscience (Casey, Tottenham, Liston, & Durston, 2005). But to our knowledge, this is the first research to define and apply them in the context of human resource regulation during learning.

Method:
We modeled 4,766 students’ (NCohort1=1,172, NCohort2=1,071, NCohort3=1,347, NCohort4=1,176) reported exploration, exploitation, and pruning between three class exams among 4 cohorts of an Organic Chemistry class (i.e., over 100,000 resource-use data points). In a survey, students were presented with a comprehensive list of 12 different kinds of resources available to all learners in the class (e.g., lectures, course pack problems, office hours, peer study groups). They indicated (1) whether or not they had used each of the 12 different kinds of resources to study for the exam (yes/ no), and (2) if they had used a particular resource, how useful they had found it for learning (1-5 scale from “extremely useless” to “extremely useful”). We computed our indices of explore, exploit, and prune, based on our aforementioned definitions.

Results:
We analyzed the results from each cohort and then conducted an internal meta-analysis across the 4 cohorts (see Table 1). The extent to which students engaged in exploring (linear regression b's range from 0.40 to 1.77), exploiting (b's range from 1.10 to 1.49), and pruning (b's range from 0.57 to 3.83) resources over time positively predicted their exam performance. Our internal meta-analysis showed that all three behaviors had robust meta-analytic effect sizes ranging from 1.13 to 1.55 percentage points, controlling for prior exam performance.

Significance:
Worldwide, billions of dollars are invested in providing more and better educational resources. Understanding how learners can make effective use of their available resources is scientifically and practically important. We identified exploration, exploitation, and pruning as general self-regulatory processes by which learners select, monitor, and adjust their resource-use according to what benefits their own learning. Our findings underscore the importance of capturing resource regulation as an active process of trial and error, reflection, and change.

Authors

• Patricia Chen, National University of Singapore

• Desmond Ong, National University of Singapore

• Jessica C Ng, National University of Singapore

• Brian P Coppola, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor