Self-regulated Learning course – Solo phase 3

Planning

Describe your solo phase task

My task is to read and understand the lecture material and three articles about SRL and make ICE notes. More specifically, define three main concepts from each paper and describe 2 ideas that arose while studying this material and make notes ICE notes for them.

What topics and concepts are related to your task?

Self-regulated learning and metacognition

Set a goal for this work period

Improving my understanding of the topic. Completing the assignment.

How confident you are that you will achieve your goal?

I’m pressed for time. This and the collaboration phase have to be done for tomorrow and I just got started on the solo phase and I haven’t heard anything from my collaboration partner. I think I can still reach my goal of improving my understanding if I come back to this material after tomorrow.

Read articles and make ICE notes and concept definitions

Three important concepts from each article

Weinstein, C. E., Acce, T. W., & Jung, J. (2011). Self-regulation and learning strategies. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 126, 45–53. doi:10.1002/tl.443

Types of learning strategies

1. Rehearsal Strategies. Passive rehearsal strategies are just simple repetition and they don’t involve much cognitive processing. Active rehearsal strategies involve more cognitive processing and meaning building where the strudent thinks about the meaning of the information, connects it to other information and applies it to new problems.

2. Elaboration Learning Strategies. Elaboration involves active cognitive processing from the student by adding to or modifying the material to make it more meaningful.The simplest forms of elaboration are things like paraphrasing and summarizing. More complex forms like creating analogies, comparing and contrasting similar material, and practising the application of a new principle require greater cognitive effort and more complex thinking. This can lead to deeper understanding and more accessible memory structures.

3. Organization Strategies. A category of elaboration stratergies where material is reorganized in graphic form (outlines, cause-effect diagrams, mind maps, relationship diagrams). These can help with understanding relationships among and within related topics.

It’s important to note that some methods work better for others and some strategies are better suited for particular learning tasks.

Dinsmore, D. L., Alexander, P. A., & Louglin, S. M. (2008). Focusing the conceptual lens on metacognition, self-regulation, and self-regulated learning. Educational Psychology Review doi:10.1007/s10648-008- 9083-6.

The study takes a look at the use of, and the similarities and differences between, the terms metacognition, self-regulation and self-regulated learning.

An early definition for metacognition was “thinking about thinking”. The mind of the individual can be seen as the foundation for metacognition as it emphasizes learner development over learner environment interactions.

Self-regulation initially emphasized behavioral and emotional regulation, compared to the cognitive orientation of metacognition studies. Emphasis was on the interaction between person, behavior and environment instead of the mind of the individual.

The newer, emerging, term of self-regulated learning seems to incorporate aspects of both metacognition and self-regulation, while casting a broad focus on the regulatory activities of the learner.

Butler, D. L. and Cartier, S. C. (2004). Promoting Effective Task Interpretation as an Important Work Habit: A Key to Successful Teaching and Learning. Teachers College Record, 106 (9), pp. 1729-1758.

Tasks can be defined in terms of three interrelated characteristics: task purpose, task structure, and task components. A succesful student has productive metacognitive knowledge about tasks reflective of each of these qualities.

Task purpose

Different types of tasks have different purposes. Succesful learners interpret task requirements and modulate their learning activities with the help of their metacognitive knowledge about task purposes.

Task structure

Students’ metacognitive knowledge about task structures influences how they interpret task demands. Understanding the general structures of certain academic tasks can help in understanding the task demands and defining the goals for the task.

Task components

Effective learners have metacognitive knowledge about typical task components. This knowledge affects the interpretation of tasks and selection of strategies.

The metacognitive knowledge about these three interrelated features of task interpretation is essential to a succesful strategic learner.

Reflection

Recall your Solo phase planning. How well did you succeed? Why?

Ok

Describe one challenge that you had during your task performance.

Being pressed for time. Having to do the collaboration phase alone.

What did you do to help yourself when facing a challenge?

Tried to contact my partner. Then just deciding to do it alone.

What could you do differently next time?

Start working earlier and communicate better with my partner.