Deborah L. Butler

Feedback and Self-Regulated Learning: A Theoretical Synthesis

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a pivot upon which students’ achievement turns. We explain how feedback is inherent in and a prime determiner of processes that constitute SRL, and review areas of research that elaborate contemporary models of how feedback functions in learning. Specifically, we begin by synthesizing a model of self-regulation based on contemporary educational and psychological literatures. Then we use that model as a structure for analyzing the cognitive processes involved in self-regulation, and for interpreting and integrating findings from disparate research traditions. We propose an elaborated model of SRL that can embrace these research findings and that spotlights the cognitive operation of monitoring as the hub of self-regulated cognitive engagement. The model is then used to reexamine (a) recent research on how feedback affects cognitive engagement with tasks and (b) the relation among forms of engagement and achievement. We conclude with a proposal that research on feedback and research on self-regulated learning should be tightly coupled, and that the facets of our model should be explicitly addressed in future research in both areas.

A reflective analysis of medical education research on self-regulation in learning and practice.

Medical Education 2012: 46: 71–79

Qualitative Approaches to Investigating Self-Regulated Learning: Contributions and Challenges

ISSN: 0046-1520 (Print) 1532-6985 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hedp20 Qualitative Approaches to Investigating SelfRegulated Learning: Contributions and Challenges Deborah L. Butler To cite this article: Deborah L. Butler (2002) Qualitative Approaches to Investigating SelfRegulated Learning: Contributions and Challenges, Educational Psychologist, 37:1, 59-63 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326985EP3701_7

In Search of the Architect of Learning A Commentary on Scaffolding as a Metaphor for Instructional Interactions

In this article, I accept Stones invitation to reevaluate the metaphor of scaffolding, building on his helpful analysis. Specifically, I identify what has been appealing about the scaffolding metaphor by describing how, as an intervention researcher working with students with learning disabilities, I have used the metaphor to describe a specific instructional approach in my own research. Then, I revisit and critique scaffolding as an instructional metaphor. I also comment on Stones assertion that a more explicit description of communicative interchanges is required to more clearly describe instructional scaffolding. Finally, I conclude that the scaffolding metaphor is fundamentally flawed and advance an alternative view that may more successfully promote correspondence between instructional activities and our emerging vision of the dynamics of teaching and learning.

Structuring Instruction to Promote Self-Regulated Learning by Adolescents and Adults With Learning Disabilities

When alternative models for teaching strategies for academic tasks such as reading, studying, writing, and math are compared, certain common pedagogical activities stand out as central to effective instruction. For example, in empirically validated models, instruction is contextualized in meaningful work, long term, explicit, and interactive. At the same time, in devising models, researchers draw on different theoretical assumptions to justify instructional practices, and, correspondingly, the models vary in the degree to which direct instruction of strategies is emphasized. In this article, I describe 1 strategies-training model-strategic content learning (SCL)-that integrates cognitive-behavioral, sociocultural, and constructivist learning theories as a way to shift focus away from the direct instruction of predefined strategies. The article begins with a description of the theoretical rationale for SCL. This description is followed by a review of research documenting SCL efficacy for postsecondary students with learning disabilities. Next, a naturalistic, multischool study at the secondary level is described, and preliminary findings are outlined. Finally, conclusions focus on defining theoretical issues in need of further research.

Investigating conditions for meaningful feedback in the context of an evidence-based feedback programme.

We developed, implemented and evaluated an evidence‐based programme of feedback designed to address limitations identified in the current literature.

Learning in the health professions: what does self‐regulation have to do with it?

As Robert Sternberg observed, ‘... the main constraint on achieving expertise is not some fixed prior level of capacity but purposeful engagement.’ Helping our students to understand that this purposeful engagement is not only productive but also satisfying may involve making them aware of their self-theories and learning goal orientations. It does not mean that we hang out a notice declaring ‘Entity theorists need not apply’.

Identifying Productive Inquiry in Virtual Labs Using Sequence Mining

Virtual labs are exploratory learning environments in which students learn by conducting inquiry to uncover the underlying scientific model. Although students often fail to learn efficiently in these environments, providing effective support is challenging since it is unclear what productive engagement looks like. This paper focuses on the mining and identification of student inquiry strategies during an unstructured activity with the DC Circuit Construction Kit (https://phet.colorado.edu/). We use an information theoretic sequence mining method to identify productive and unproductive strategies of a hundred students. Low domain knowledge students who successfully learned during the activity paused more after testing their circuits, particularly on simply structured circuits that target the activity’s learning goals, and mainly earlier in the activity. Moreover, our results show that a strategic use of pauses so that they become opportunities for reflection and planning is highly associated with productive learning. Implication to theory, support, and assessment are discussed.

Adults with Learning Disabilities

Publisher Summary This chapter emphasizes the importance of adopting a lifespan developmental perspective for understanding Learning Disabilities (LDs) and overviews research in each of these topic areas. Research on LD in adulthood is not only relevant to researchers, practitioners, community members, and policymakers concerned with adult populations; understanding how LDs play out over time also provides important benchmarks for parents and educators charged with preparing youngsters for the adult years. Three general approaches have been used to examine challenges faced by adults with LDs.

Control of Variables Strategy Across Phases of Inquiry in Virtual Labs

Control of Variables Strategy (CVS) is the process of isolating the effect of single variables when conducting scientific inquiry. We assess how CVS can help student achieve different levels of understanding when implemented in different parts of the inquiry process. 148 students worked with minimally-guided inquiry activities using virtual labs on two different physics topics. The virtual labs allowed for exploration, data collection, and graphical analysis. Using student log data, we identified how CVS manifests itself through these phases of students’ inquiry process. We found that students using CVS during data collection and plotting was associated with students achieving more qualitative and quantitative models, respectively. This did not hold, however, for more complicated mathematical relationships, emphasizing the importance of mathematical and graphical interpretation skills when doing CVS.