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Self-regulation in a computer literacy course.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

Computer Literacy courses are offered by many colleges and universities and are often taken by students from various academic majors. Since the course may be unlike others in their major, students may be unfamiliar with strategies that may be useful for learning these concepts. Participants (n=291) completed a survey consisting of course-related selected-response questions, questions adopted from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), and openended questions focusing on their study habits. Results indicated several strategies strongly related to success as indicated by course grade.

Introduction

Research has shown that self-regulated learning is an important aspect of student academic performance in the classroom. Students practicing self-regulation behaviors initiate and direct their own efforts to acquire knowledge and skill rather than relying on teachers, parents, or others. In general, self-regulated learning consists of three essential elements: commitment to academic goals, self-efficacy perceptions, and self-regulated learning strategies (Zimmerman, 1989). Student academic goals are the underlying reasons for students' learning behaviors and are most often described as either mastery or performance goals (Ames, 1992; Urdan, 1997). Students possessing mastery goals are considered to be intrinsically motivated, primarily focusing on learning or mastering course material. These students often seek out challenging assignments, put forth more effort to learn the material and tend to use more effective learning strategies while studying. In contrast, students with performance goals are considered to be extrinsically motivated and tend to focus on the outcome of their learning. They are primarily interested in earning a good grade in the course, or gaining social esteem (Pintrich, 1995). Extrinsically motivated students oftentimes use less effective learning strategies (Meece, Blumenfeld & Hoyle, 1988).

Self-efficacy is the student's beliefs about his or her ability and not only influences the type of goals students set for themselves but can also influence an individual's willingness to attempt a particular task, the level of effort employed, and persistence in accomplishing the task (Bandura, 1986; Pintrich, 1995). Lack of self-efficacy has also been associated with the debilitating affect of high test-anxiety (Pajares, 2002). Self-regulation also consists of students' use of learning strategies, such as organizing and applying new information, self-monitoring one's performance, seeking assistance, and managing time and student environments (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia & McKeachie, 1991; Zimmerman, 1989). Students' use of self-regulated learning strategies depends not only on their knowledge of strategies but also on their academic goals and self-efficacy perceptions. Students with learning goals tend to use deep processing strategies that enhance their understanding of concepts (Pintrich & Garcia, 1994). Conversely, students with performance goals, tend to use strategies that promote only short-term and surface level processing, like memorizing and rehearsing (Weinstein, Husman & Dierking, 2000). Much of the previous research on self-regulated learning has indicated that self-regulatory processes are linked with content domains, and individuals learn how to apply these skills in a given learning or applied context (Kiewra, 2002; Zimmerman, 1998). Determining specific self-regulation processes associated with successful learning in particular content domains is an important next step in this line of research.

Computer Literacy courses are offered by many colleges and universities and are often taken by students from various academic majors. For many students, this course is a requirement of their degree programs. For others, importance and applicability of content information are influential factors. Since these courses are very prevalent and the content a necessity to many students, it is therefore important to determine the relationship of motivation and learning strategies affecting learning and performance. This information may then be used to improve student success in future courses. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship among students' reports about their goal...

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