Danielle Ribeiro Ganda

Fostering Self-Regulated Skills in an Educational Psychology Course for Brazilian Preservice Teachers

The relevance of self-regulated learning is well acknowledged by research, and converging evidence suggests that people can be taught self-regulatory skills, thus improving their behavior as learners. Researchers have recommended that educational psychology courses for preservice teachers should help future teachers become better learners as well as more effective teachers. An attempt was made to explore the challenge of creating an effective teaching approach to increase preservice teachers’ awareness of their personal learning. This idea was implemented in an educational psychology course for 26 Brazilian students in a teacher education program at a public university in the interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The procedures employed to foster self-regulatory skills and the results obtained from the experience are discussed in this article. Data were collected on 2 occasions using a self-efficacy for self-regulated learning scale and a general self-reflective activity. A structured diary about the students’ learning experiences was also required. Results showed reported gains in self-regulatory skills, greater awareness of affective and motivational states, and an improvement in study practices. Findings are discussed in terms of both the importance of improving students’ self-regulatory skills and the implications that such an initiative may have for future teaching practices.

Self-regulation of Learning: Key Concepts and Theoretical Models

Self-regulation of learning is defined as a process of self-reflection and action in which the student to structure, to monitor and to evaluate their own learning. The self-regulated learning is associated to better absorption of content, greater involvement with the studies and better academic performance. In Educational Psychology, especially in the socio-cognitive theory, many theoretical models have been built in order to understand this process. This article aims to present the basic theoretical concepts that underlie self-regulation. In addition, also aims to describe and to analyze the main contemporary models developed according to socio-cognitive perspective of learning. Although there are some distinct characteristics, it is observed that all the theoretical models show the role of the student as the main agent of their learning and point out that self-regulation can be developed at any level of education, from basic to higher. Thus expected to contribute to the discussion on the topic and to guide theoretically the teachers in developing programs to encourage self-regulation of their students.

Promoting Self-regulated Learning of Brazilian Preservice Student Teachers: Results of an Intervention Program

Self-regulation is the process by which individuals monitor, control and reflect on their learning. Self-regulated students have motivational, metacognitive, affective and behavioral characteristics that enhance their learning. As the importance of self-regulated learning is well acknowledged by research nowadays, the aim of the present study is to examine the effectiveness of an innovative course designed to promote self-regulated learning among Brazilian preservice student teachers. The innovative approach was developed in the format of a program of intervention based heavily on self-reflection. The content involved student exposure to self-reflexive activities, lectures on the self-regulated learning framework, and theoretical tasks aimed at fostering self-regulation of students in a double perspective: as a student and as a future teacher. The efficacy of the approach was tested by comparison with both the results of students who had taken a course with theoretical content only and those who had not taken any course at all. The sample consisted of 109 students in four different freshman classes in a Teacher Education Program in a Brazilian public university in an inner city in the state of Sao Paulo. The research was conducted using a quasi-experimental design with three stages: pretest, intervention and post-test. The classes were randomly assigned to experimental and control conditions as follows: an experimental group involving intervention, an experimental group exposed to theory and two control groups not taking the course. Before and after the intervention program all the participants responded to the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory and the Self-efficacy for Self-regulated Learning scales. Overall, the results showed that the intervention program format had a positive impact in enhancing student self-regulation. Moreover, students in both the experimental groups reported both higher gains in self-efficacy for self-regulated learning scores and an increase in employment of learning strategies when compared to the control groups.

As Atribuições de Causalidade e as Estratégias Autoprejudiciais de Alunos do Curso de Pedagogia

La auto-regulacion del aprendizaje es el proceso por el cual un estudiante monitorea y orienta su propio aprendizaje. Debido a su importancia para un aprendizaje de calidad, este estudio tuvo como objetivo investigar dos variables relacionadas a la auto-regulacion: las atribuciones de causalidad y el uso de estrategias auto-perjudiciales. La muestra fue compuesta por 164 estudiantes, de ambos sexos, de 18 a 48 anos de edad, matriculados en el 2o y el 4o ano del curso de Pedagogia en universidades publicas de Brasil. La recoleccion de datos se realizo a traves de dos escalas de auto-informe de tipo Likert. Los resultados indicaron que los estudiantes que atribuyeron causas internas al fracaso y causas externas al exito fueron los que relataron el uso mas frecuente de estrategias auto-perjudiciales. Se discute la necesidad de analizar las creencias de atribucion y el comportamiento estrategico de estudiantes universitarios en situaciones de aprendizaje.

The Causal Attributions and Self-Handicapping Strategies of Pedagogy Students

La auto-regulacion del aprendizaje es el proceso por el cual un estudiante monitorea y orienta su propio aprendizaje. Debido a su importancia para un aprendizaje de calidad, este estudio tuvo como objetivo investigar dos variables relacionadas a la auto-regulacion: las atribuciones de causalidad y el uso de estrategias auto-perjudiciales. La muestra fue compuesta por 164 estudiantes, de ambos sexos, de 18 a 48 anos de edad, matriculados en el 2o y el 4o ano del curso de Pedagogia en universidades publicas de Brasil. La recoleccion de datos se realizo a traves de dos escalas de auto-informe de tipo Likert. Los resultados indicaron que los estudiantes que atribuyeron causas internas al fracaso y causas externas al exito fueron los que relataron el uso mas frecuente de estrategias auto-perjudiciales. Se discute la necesidad de analizar las creencias de atribucion y el comportamiento estrategico de estudiantes universitarios en situaciones de aprendizaje.

Las Atribuciones de Causalidad y las Estrategias Auto-Perjudiciales de Alumnos del Curso de Pedagogía

La auto-regulacion del aprendizaje es el proceso por el cual un estudiante monitorea y orienta su propio aprendizaje. Debido a su importancia para un aprendizaje de calidad, este estudio tuvo como objetivo investigar dos variables relacionadas a la auto-regulacion: las atribuciones de causalidad y el uso de estrategias auto-perjudiciales. La muestra fue compuesta por 164 estudiantes, de ambos sexos, de 18 a 48 anos de edad, matriculados en el 2o y el 4o ano del curso de Pedagogia en universidades publicas de Brasil. La recoleccion de datos se realizo a traves de dos escalas de auto-informe de tipo Likert. Los resultados indicaron que los estudiantes que atribuyeron causas internas al fracaso y causas externas al exito fueron los que relataron el uso mas frecuente de estrategias auto-perjudiciales. Se discute la necesidad de analizar las creencias de atribucion y el comportamiento estrategico de estudiantes universitarios en situaciones de aprendizaje.