Timothy J. Cleary

Self-Regulation Differences during Athletic Practice by Experts, Non-Experts, and Novices

Basketball experts, non-experts, and novices were studied for differences in their self-regulatory forethought and self-reflection processes regarding their free-throw shooting. Forty-three adolescent boys participated individually in the study, which involved a practice session in a gymnasium. The subjects were queried regarding their forethought goals, strategy choice, self-efficacy as well as their self-reflection attributions and feelings of satisfaction as they practiced their shooting. Among the significant results, experts set more specific goals, selected more technique-oriented strategies, made more strategy attributions, and displayed higher levels of self-efficacy than non-experts and novices. Forethought phase processes intercorrelated significantly as did self-reflection phase processes. In addition, self-reflection attributions were predictive of forethought strategy selection during further efforts to learn. The results were discussed in terms of a social cognitive model of self-regulation.

Effectiveness of the Self-Regulation Empowerment Program With Urban High School Students

Impacting the academic performance of high school students in core academic content areas is important because of the high-stakes nature of secondary school course grades relative to their vocational and post-secondary pursuits. Getting students to become more active, strategic participants in their learning by teaching them empirically supported learning strategies as well as specific forethought and reflective thinking skills is an important pathway to academic success. The importance of self-regulation processes also has been established in recent survey research with teachers and school psychologists showing that students who are referred for academic problems often have self-regulatory skill and motivation deficits. Intervention programs like the Self-Regulation Empowerment Program (SREP) can be conceptualized and implemented within the context of school-based service delivery frameworks. Tier I interventions typically occur at a classroom level and thus are designed to provide all students with the potential benefits of an intervention. With regards to classroom-wide self-regulation interventions, there are many empirically supported techniques that teachers can readily infuse into the daily routine of a school day, such as requiring all students to set performance goals, engage in progress monitoring, and utilize self-reflective processes. Students who do not respond (i.e., continue to exhibit poor test performance) to this general level of intervention support would be eligible to receive more intensive, Tier II pull-out programs, such as SREP.

Self-regulation theory: Applications to medical education: AMEE Guide No. 58

Self-regulation theory, as applied to medical education, describes the cyclical control of academic and clinical performance through several key processes that include goal-directed behaviour, use of specific strategies to attain goals, and the adaptation and modification to behaviours or strategies to optimise learning and performance. Extensive research across a variety of non-medical disciplines has highlighted differences in key self-regulation processes between high- and low-achieving learners and performers. Structured identification of key self-regulation processes can be used to develop specific remediation approaches that can improve performance in academic and complex psycho-motor skills. General teaching approaches that are guided by a self-regulation perspective can also enhance academic performance. Self-regulation theory offers an exciting potential for improving academic and clinical performance in medical education.

Training physical education students to self-regulate during basketball free throw practice

The additive effects of self-regulation training in forethought, performance, and self-reflection phase processes on acquiring a novel motoric skill (i.e., basketball free throws) and self-reflective beliefs were studied with 50 college students. The results showed a positive linear trend between the number of self-regulatory phases, in which the participants were trained, and their free throw shooting performance and shooting adaptation. The two- and three-phase training groups displayed significantly more accurate free throws and were able to self-correct their shooting form more frequently following missed shots than all other groups. Participants who received three-phase training displayed the most adaptive motivational profile, characterized by making strategic attributions and adaptive inferences and by using self/process criteria during self-evaluations.

Assessing self-regulatory processes during clinical skill performance: A pilot study

Background: Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a cyclical process involving the proactive use of strategies and feedback to optimise performance. Previous research has used SRL microanalysis to assess and inform the training of athletic skills but there has been no previous research in clinical contexts. Aims: The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the use SRL microanalysis to assess the regulatory profiles of students who were successful and unsuccessful in a venipuncture task. Method: A SRL microanalysis protocol was administered to seven 3rd-year undergraduate medical students whilst they performed a venipuncture on a simulation mannequin arm. Results: The use of SRL microanalytic questions had good inter-rater reliability. Students who were successful in venipuncture had high levels of strategic thinking before, during and after the clinical task, whereas the students who struggled on this task tended to focus on outcomes. Conclusions: The results shown in this study mirror the findings from previous research using SRL microanalysis. SRL microanalysis has strong potential as a structured assessment technique targeting the self-regulatory processes underlying clinical skill performance. Further research is recommended, especially on how the assessment of self-regulatory skills can be used to guide training for struggling students.

Examining the Correspondence between Self-Regulated Learning and Academic Achievement: A Case Study Analysis

Four high school students received 11 weeks of a self-regulated learning (SRL) intervention, called the Self-Regulation Empowerment Program (SREP), to improve their classroom-based biology exam scores, SRL, and motivated behaviors. This mixed model case study examined the correspondence between shifts in students’ strategic, regulated behaviors with their performance on classroom-based biology tests. The authors used traditional SRL assessment tools in a pretest-posttest fashion (e.g., self-report questionnaires, teaching rating scales) and gathered SRL data during the intervention using field note observations and contextualized structured interviews. This multidimensional assessment approach was used to establish convergence among the assessment tools and to facilitate interpretation of trends in students’ biology test performance relative to their SRL processes. Key themes in this study included the following: (a) the close correspondence between changes in students SRL, biology exam performance, and SREP attendance; (b) individual variability in student performance, SRL behaviors, and beliefs in response to SREP; and (c) the importance of using a multi-dimensional assessment approach in SRL intervention research. Furthermore, this study provided additional support for the potential effectiveness of SREP in academic contexts.

Exploring clinical reasoning in novices: a self-regulated learning microanalytic assessment approach.

The primary objectives of this study were to examine the regulatory processes of medical students as they completed a diagnostic reasoning task and to examine whether the strategic quality of these regulatory processes were related to short‐term and longer‐term medical education outcomes.

School-Based Motivation and Self-Regulation Assessments: An Examination of School Psychologist Beliefs and Practices.

One hundred eight practicing school psychologists participated in an online survey designed to examine the need for school-based self-regulation and motivation assessments, the frequency with which they engage in these assessment practices, and the nature of this apparent gap in school psychology practice. In general, results showed that even though school psychologists frequently encounter student referrals involving motivation and self-regulation deficits and recognize the importance and value of assessing these processes, they rarely conduct these types of evaluations. Although many factors may contribute to this phenomenon, it appears that school psychologists have insufficient knowledge and familiarity with motivation and self-regulation assessment methods as well as limited training in working with youth exhibiting these types of difficulties. Implications for practice and future research are highlighted and discussed.

Student Self-Regulated Learning in an Urban High School: Predictive Validity and Relations Between Teacher Ratings and Student Self-Reports

This study examined the predictive validity of a teacher rating scale called the Self-Regulation Strategy Inventory–Teacher Rating Scale (SRSI-TRS) and its level of convergence with several student self-report measures of self-regulated learning (SRL). Eighty-seven high school students enrolled in one of four sections of a mathematics course in an urban high school and one mathematics teacher participated in the study. Correlation analyses revealed moderate correlations between the SRSI-TRS and self-report questionnaires targeting students’ motivation beliefs (i.e., mathematics interest) and regulatory behaviors in mathematics. Students’ self-efficacy perceptions correlated with all SRL and achievement measures, but not the SRSI-TRS. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the SRSI-TRS emerged as the primary SRL predictor of achievement although student reports of their maladaptive SRL behaviors was a significant predictor in the final model.

Examining the Level of Convergence Among Self-Regulated Learning Microanalytic Processes, Achievement, and a Self-Report Questionnaire:

This study examined the convergent and predictive validity of self-regulated learning (SRL) microanalytic measures. Specifically, theoretically based relations among a set of self-reflection processes, self-efficacy, and achievement were examined as was the level of convergence between a microanalytic strategy measure and a SRL self-report questionnaire targeting similar strategic behaviors. Using a sample of 49 college students, we found that SRL microanalytic self-reflection measures evidenced high inter-correlations and demonstrated medium to large relations with self-efficacy and achievement, respectively. Although non-significant relations were observed between a microanalytic strategy measure and a SRL self-report questionnaire, the microanalytic measure was shown to be a more robust predictor of future performance in the college course. Consideration for the types of scoring procedures used with microanalysis and the implications and limitations of our results are also discussed.