Self-Regulation in a Web-Based Course: A Case Study

Little is known about how successful students in Web-based courses self-regulate their learning. This descriptive case study used a social cognitive model of self-regulated learning (SRL) to investigate how six graduate students used and adapted traditional SRL strategies to complete tasks and cope with challenges in a Web-based technology course; it also explored motivational and environmental influences on strategy use. Primary data sources were three transcribed interviews with each of the students over the course of the semester, a transcribed interview with the course instructor, and the students’ reflective journals. Archived course documents, including transcripts of threaded discussions and student Web pages, were secondary data sources. Content analysis of the data indicated that these students used many traditional SRL strategies, but they also adapted planning, organization, environmental structuring, help seeking, monitoring, record keeping, and self-reflection strategies in ways that were unique to the Web-based learning environment. The data also suggested that important motivational influences on SRL strategy use—self-efficacy, goal orientation, interest, and attributions—were shaped largely by student successes in managing the technical and social environment of the course. Important environmental influences on SRL strategy use included instructor support, peer support, and course design. Implications for online course instructors and designers, and suggestions for future research are offered

Culture and Personal Epistemology: U.S. and Middle Eastern Students’ beliefs about Scientific Knowledge and Knowing

Middle Eastern (Omani) and Western (U.S.) students’ beliefs about knowledge and knowing in the sciences were compared on four dimensions of personal epistemology proposed by Hofer and Pintrich ( Review of Educational Research (1997), 67 , 88–140). As predicted, given their experiences with comparatively traditional political and religious institutions, Omani more so than U.S. college students were more likely to accept scientific authorities as the basis of scientific truth. Furthermore, Omani men were more accepting of authorities than were Omani women, but there was no gender difference among U.S. students. Omani more than U.S. students also believed that knowledge in the sciences was simpler and more certain, which is consistent with comparisons between U.S. and Asian students (e.g., Qian & Pan, 2002, A comparision of epistemological beliefs and learning from science text between American and Chinese high school students. In B. K. Hofer & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Personal epistomology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (pp. 365–385), Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum). Students in the two countries did not differ, however, in whether their beliefs were based on personal opinions versus systematic evidence. Suggestions for further research included directly assessing experiences with, and attitudes toward, authorities in academic and other areas of students’ lives.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43812/1/11218_2005_Article_1826.pd

Antecedents of Educational Goal Commitment : an Experimental Investigation of the Role of Goal Abstraction, Integration, and Importance

This study investigated the antecedents of educational goal commitment regarding the transition from high school to college among 702 high-school students. A theoretical model based on assumptions from the expectancy-value framework (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002) and the hierarchical goal structure (Carver & Scheier, 1998) was tested. This model is composed of one proximal antecedent—goal importance—and two distal antecedents—goal abstraction and integration. The distal antecedents were experimentally manipulated. The results showed that (a) goal commitment is influenced by goal abstraction and integration, and (b) goal importance is a mediator of this effect. In addition to theoretical implications, a suggested pragmatic outcome is the development of a tool to guide students in the more effective structuring of their educational goals

Heterogeneity of student perceptions of the classroom climate: A latent profile approach

Student perceptions are a pivotal point of measurement for understanding why classroom learning environments are effective. Yet there is some evidence that student perceptions cannot be reliably aggregated at the classroom level and, instead, could represent idiosyncratic experiences of students. The present study examines whether heterogeneity in student perceptions of the classroom climate has implications for student achievement. We use data from 1428 seventh grade students in 75 mathematics classrooms from the Michigan Study of Adolescent and Life Transitions. Three dimensions of student perceptions of the classroom were measured: emotional support, autonomy support and performance focus. To obtain a measure of heterogeneity, we first reduced the data using latent profile analysis to describe profiles of students’ perceptions of the classroom. Next, we quantified the heterogeneity of student perceptions within classrooms using Simpson’s D. Classroom-level heterogeneity (Simpson’s D) of students’ perceptions was negatively associated with students’ mathematics achievement, even after controlling for individual- and classroom-level previous achievement, student’s prior perceptions and other variables. Findings suggest that measures of heterogeneity in student perceptions might be important for understanding classroom- and teacher-level effects on student outcomes

Less direct than you thought : Do teachers transmit math value to students through their cognitive support for understanding?

Students' valuing of subject domains is an important contributor to students' educational success. As one avenue to foster students' valuing, social-cognitive motivational theories suggest that teachers might transmit their value beliefs to students through their instructional strategies. Accordingly, the current study examined the transmission of teacher's math value to students' math value via the content-related instructional strategy of cognitive support as reported by teachers and students. Using a longitudinal dataset of 1429 students (51% males, 68% Hispanic) and their 26 teachers (48% female), manifest-latent multilevel regression analyses showed some indication that teacher's endorsement of math valuing for their students, but not their personal value beliefs, might be associated indirectly with class average students' interest value through teacher's provision of cognitive support. Furthermore, teacher's reported cognitive support was related to the class average of students' value beliefs through class average students' perceptions of cognitive support, highlighting the importance of students' perceptions

To the means and beyond: Understanding variation in students’ perceptions of teacher emotional support

Student perceptions of the classroom environment are used as a policy-relevant marker of teacher quality. Yet the influences on students' perceptions are less well understood. We examined (a) whether individual-level factors (achievement goals, perceptions of their previous classroom, and teacher ratings of ability) were associated with students' perceptions of teacher emotional support, and (b) whether classroom observations of teacher unfairness/unfriendliness predicted systematic within-classroom variation in students' reports of emotional support. Multilevel analysis of 1303 students in 80 7th grade mathematics classrooms indicated that students' perceptions of their 6th grade teacher, mastery orientation, and the teacher's perceptions of ability predicted end-of-the-year perceptions of emotional support. Although the observed level of teacher unsupportiveness did not predict mean-level of emotional support, students' perceptions of their teachers were more variable in classrooms observed as higher in unfairness/unfriendliness. Investigating heteroskedasticity highlights the importance of using methods for understanding variability in students' perceptions of the classroom