Have you ever wondered why some students are consistently scoring poorly on exams, missing deadlines, and lacking confidence in themselves– despite your (and sometimes even their) best efforts? This may stem from the students’ struggles to self-regulate their own learning. "Self-regulation" refers to a process that requires setting clear goals for oneself, monitoring one’s progress, and reflecting on the outcome, which is a skill that develops with practice over time. This curation will discuss key beliefs students need to cultivate for effective learning, classroom activities that foster a productive learning environment, and practical steps to help students develop self-regulation skills.
The Underpinnings of Self-Regulation
Having students understand the value of learning--and helping them consciously observe their learning process--is essential for their academic success and personal growth. The research I'm sharing below explores three core values: connections, views about failure, and perception of self and others.
Connections:
Imagine you’re teaching an abstract concept or a difficult topic, and your students are struggling to understand. How can you apply what you’re teaching in the classroom to yourself, the students, real-life situations, or any other materials? One effective approach is to encourage connections – linking students' pre-existing knowledge to new concepts, new experiences, and real life scenarios. Many successful students instinctively link what they are learning to other topics – making the topic understandable and relevant to them. In the classroom, you can encourage them to form connections with the material by integrating real-life examples, applying knowledge in broader contexts, assigning interactive simulations, and using experiential learning to bring abstract topics to life.
Views about Failure:
Many students perceive feedback and constructive criticism as a personal attack on their ability to succeed. However, it’s important to realize that failure is a universal process, an essential part of learning, and a life skill to cultivate. Helping students learn how to acknowledge small failures gives them the opportunity to grow, reflect, and improve. As an instructor, you can encourage acceptance of "failure" by framing course content as informational and a learning journey, rather than a challenge that is intentionally difficult to overcome. You could also assign low stakes assignments to reduce the fear that could block learning, since these assignments won’t make students panic if they do not perform as well as they'd hoped. When students view failure as part of the learning process, they become more resilient and motivated to tackle challenging situations.
Perspective of Self and Others:
How can you encourage a student lacking confidence to independently solve problems? The key lies in helping students build trust in themselves. “Ask Three Before Me”–a rule where students should ask three peers before approaching the instructor reinforces problem-solving skills and resourcefulness. Additionally, providing positive reinforcement, such as praising a student for working out a solution on their own, can motivate and empower them to take initiative. By driving the student to find alternative sources of help and providing encouragement, you prepare them to tackle challenges independently.
Classroom Activities That Support Self-Regulation
You can actively support your students’ learning by incorporating targeted, engaging activities into your classroom. These activities not only encourage critical thinking, they provide valuable opportunities for self-reflection. To help you get started, I'll offer four activities that you could try in your course at any time.
#1 Pre-Lecture and Post-Lecture Reflection Questions:
Before the lecture starts, invite students to respond (or even jot down their answers) to these questions to help them prepare for the class:
- How well do I understand this topic and what do I need to listen for?
- How will I record my notes and how should I set up my notebook?
- What is a pressing question I have about this topic that I will ask during Q&A?
Of course, it's possible that students might not be aware of the gaps in their own mastery of concepts and information, so it's important for faculty to help them develop that awareness. During and after the lecture, in exam prep or exam review, have your students answer questions like these to help them monitor their understanding of the content:
- What’s the most valuable or useful thing I learned?
- What’s the most surprising idea?
- What is still confusing me and why?
- How would I use this information in my life/career/the lab/my writing, etc.?
- How could I explain the central idea to my roommate?
- What contradicts what I have previously understood?
- How does this connect to something I’ve learned in another course?
- What do I think the professor’s three main points are?
#2 Thumbs-Up/Thumbs-Down:
This activity helps you gauge your students’ understanding of the lesson with no extra preparation. As you wrap up your lecture or a discussion, ask students to respond to your goals for the day: As them to give a thumbs-up for content, concepts, or skills they feel they have mastered, or a thumbs down to indicate when the topic still feels unclear or confusing. Encourage them to share what went well, connections they made, and what they found enjoyable or interesting (thumbs-up), as well as what didn’t go well, connections they didn’t make, and what they did not find enjoyable or interesting (thumbs-down). This activity will encourage valuable feedback, as well as foster self-reflection and peer discussion.
#3 “3-2-1”:
When the lecture or chapter ends, have your students discuss or write 3 new insights, 2 connections made, and 1 question they still have. This self-reflection assignment gives students the opportunity to deeply review and evaluate their understanding of the material. No need to grade it or even look at it if you don’t want to, but you could invite them to ask their questions either in class or in office hours. If you’re using the “three before me” approach mentioned above, invite them to ask their peers!
#4 Reflective Dialogue:
As an instructor, stepping back allows your students to collaborate and discuss their learning in a more relaxed and supportive environment. This gives the opportunity to build class communities, enrich collaborative thinking, and encourage individual reflection. Engaging in reflective dialogue gives the chance for students to voice their thoughts and actively listen to their peers, which can play an important role in cognitive growth and emotional development. Modeling this by reflecting on the lesson with the students can help them learn how to reflect more purposefully.
3 Steps Toward Self-Regulation
It’s important to help your students realize that self-regulation is a cyclical process, and that progress develops with practice over time. However, you choose to support their development of effective learning strategies, help your students achieve self-regulation by moving them through three essential steps: establishing a plan, self-monitoring, and evaluation.
1. Establishing a Plan:
The first important step is creating a clear plan for completing the task at hand, for example, studying for an upcoming test. You can encourage your students to plan out a timetable for their studying (when, where, and how much), identify strategies they’ll use (look back at a past exam to see where their studying didn’t pay off as well, study with a friend, review their notes, take practice tests, etc.) and set specific goals and expectations for the outcome, focusing less on the grade and more on seeing improvement. “Get an A” is not that helpful, but “double check calculations to avoid careless errors,” “move on when I get stuck on an item and come back to it,” or “crush the section on the topic I’ve been struggling with” could prepare them for the next steps in self-regulation.
2. Self-Monitoring:
It’s important throughout the learning process (always, really!) for students to keep track of their progress and the efficiency of their methods. Observing their progress helps to identify what’s working and what needs to be improved. As an instructor, providing a syllabus with a clear evaluation scheme can help track their own performance. During midterms, you can have students calculate their grades, reflect on their strategies, and consider the weight the remaining assignments. If you use participation points, this is a good time to check in with students about where they are, and what they might want to change.
3. Self-Evaluation:
After completing a task, small or large, have students reflect on their performance. What strategies were most effective for them? What strategies did not end up helping them? How can they improve for next time? Reflecting on their own performance, their results, and the effectiveness of strategies used creates a path for improvement and growth
References
Blackburn, B. R. (2023, February 8). 3 key beliefs to help students move in a positive direction. MiddleWeb. https://www.middleweb.com/48468/three-key-beliefs-that-impact-students-learning/ Reflective dialogue. David J Voelker. (n.d.). https://davidjvoelker.com/reflective-dialogue/
Rockwell, J. (2023, April 12). The role reflection plays with self-regulated learning. Teaching Channel. https://www.teachingchannel.com/k12-hub/blog/self-regulated learning/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Core+States+_+PMax&utm_term=&hsa_acc=1570617608& hsa_cam=21383172421 hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_ source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmt24BhDPARIsAJFYKk0U6-0R3_Zr4MZ_ a2MNW5gXmRWVKET2zVih5r8vT7MSVcCcXyXeYNUaAjAqEALw_wcB
SAGE 2YC. (2024, February 29). What is self-regulated learning?. Develop Self-Regulated Learners. https://serc.carleton.edu/sage2yc/self_regulated/what.html
UAlbany. (n.d.). Help your students become self-regulated learners. Minerva. https://www.albany.edu/teaching-and-learning/teaching-resources/help-your-students-become-self-regulated-learners
Vahidi, S. (2015, July 17). How-to instruction for self-regulated learning strategies: The National Research Center on the gifted and talented (1990-2013). The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. https://nrcgt.uconn.edu/underachievement_study/self-regulation/sr_section8/
A CELT collection by Linda Lam, Nursing, class of 2027, Immersive Scholar
