The relationship between self-regulated learning behaviors

and academic performance in web-based courses

Robert Cobb, Jr.

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy
in
Curriculum and Instruction

Dr. Mike Moore, Chair

Dr. John Burton
Dr. Nancy Glenz, NC A&T SU
Dr. Glen Holmes
Dr. Barbara Lockee

March 19, 2003

Blacksburg, Virginia

Keywords: self- regulation, self- regulated learning, distance learning, distance education

Copyright 2003, Robert Cobb, Jr.

 The Relationship Between Self-Regulated Learning and
Academic Performance in Web-Based Courses

Robert Cobb, Jr.

(ABSTRACT)

This study investigated self-regulated learning behaviors and their relationships with
academic performance in web-based courses. The participants (n = 106) were distance
learners taking humanities and technical coursed offered by a community college in
Virginia. Data was collected using 28 items from the Motivated Strategies for Learning
Questionnaire and 5 demographically related items. Data analysis included factor
analyses, multivariate analysis of variance, and regression analyses. The employment of
self-regulated learning behaviors differed between humanities and technical courses (p =
.0138). Time and study environment management (p = .0009) and intrinsic goal
orientation (p = .0373) categories reported significant findings in their relationship to
academic performance. The factors affiliated with time and study environment
management and intrinsic goal orientation were used as predictors in the development of
a mathematical formula used to predict academic success in a web-based course. These
predictors explain 21 percent of the variance in the academic success rating calculated
using the mathematical formula developed from this study.
 Acknowledgements
I acknowledge my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for providing me the
perseverance to complete this document. Without Him none of this would have been
possible. I give Him the glory and praise for providing me with a supportive family who
has given me spiritual and emotional support. I thank my grandmother for the
life she has lived for the Lord and giving me the spiritual guidance I need to live my life
for Him. I thank my mother for her work ethic and support of my academic endeavors
and making a way when opportunities seemed to be closed to assure my personal and
academic dreams were fulfilled. I thank all of my family for the prayers, support, and
confidence they had in my ability to accomplish the academic challenges I encountered
up to this point. The things I have been able to accomplish are in honor of and for my
family.
I appreciate the professional guidance of my advisor, Dr. Mike Moore, and the
others who served on my advisory committee who worked diligently to assure the
completion of this work. Your professional insight, consultations, and confidence were
integral pieces that made it possible to make the transition from a student to a
professional in academia. It is at this time I would like to extend my gratitude to all who
have made a positive impact on my spiritual, personal, academic, and professional life.
There were many obstacles that had to be conquered to allow me to grow into the person
you see before you. Your involvement in my life has put me in the position that I am
today. Your influences have been essential in building me into a positive contributor to
society. I acknowledge and thank you at this time for what you have done for me in the
past, and in advance, hope for a continued relationship in the future. I hope you feel a
personal responsibility for the success I have experienced on this day. We share this
accomplishment together.

iii
 I dedicate this to my wife, April,
and my daughters T. Alexia and Olivia.
Thank you for what you have done for my life

iv
 Table of Contents

Chapter One: Introduction And Need For Study

Introduction ……………………………………………………………….. 1
Need For Study ……………………………………………………………… 4
Purpose Of Study …………………………………………………………. 7
Research Questions ……………………………………………………….. 10

Chapter Two: Literature Review

Self-Regulated Learning ………………………………...………………….. 11
Social Cognitive Theory …………………………………………………….. 17
Subprocesses Of Self-Regulated Learning ………………………….. 18
Self-Observation …………………………………………….. 18
Self-Judgment ……………………………………………….. 20
Self-Reaction ………………………………………………... 21
Factors In Self-Regulated Learning …………………………...……. 23
Self-Efficacy …………………………………………..……. 23
Motivation …………………………………………….……. 27
Goals ……………………………………………….………. 30
Self-Regulated Learning Strategies ……………………….……….. 35
Development Of Self-Regulated Learning ………………………… 43
Measuring Self-Regulated Learning ………………………………. 46
Motivated Strategies For Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ)… 46
The Learning And Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) ……. 49
The Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule (SRLIS) … 52
Distance Education ………………………………………………………….. 57
Characteristics Of Successful Distance Learners …………………… 59

Chapter Three: Method

Participants ………………………………………………………………….. 65
Materials …………………………………………………………………….. 67
Procedures ………………………………………….……………..………… 70
Data Analysis ……………………………………..………………………... 72
Factor Analyses ………………………………………………...…… 72
Discriminant Analysis ………………………………………………. 73
Regression Analyses ……………………………………………...… 73

Chapter Four: Results

Item-Factor And Factor-Category Relationships …………………………… 76
The Domain Of Learning …………………………………………………… 89
The Mathematical Formula …………………………………………………. 92

Chapter Five: Discussion …………………………………………………………. 100

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References ………………………………………………………………………….. 106

Appendices ………………………………………………………………………… 126

Appendix A …………..……………………………………..……………… 127
Appendix B ……………………………………………..………………….. 129
Appendix C …………………………………………………………..…….. 130
Appendix D …………………………………………………..…………….. 132
Appendix E ………………………………………………………………….. 135
Appendix F ………………………………………………………………….. 136

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 Table of Figures

Figure 1. Phases of Self-Regulation ……………………………………….……….. 12

Figure 2. Age groups of participants …………………………………….…………. 66
Figure 3. Ethnicity of participants ………………………………….……………… 66
Figure 4. MSLQ Item-Category correlation ……………………………………….. 69
Figure 5. Item-category correlation of MSLQ items used in study ………………… 77
Figure 6. Results of 1st factor rotation ……………………………………………… 82
Figure 7. Results of 2nd factor rotation ……………………………………………… 88
Figure 8. Predictive formula for academic success ……………………………….… 97

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 List of Tables

Table 1. MSLQ Categories and Items ……………………………………………... 49

Table 2. SRLIS Categories and Explanations ……………………………………... 54
Table 3. Conduct of study per week ……………………………………………….. 70
Table 4. 1st factor extraction ……………………………………………….…….… 79
Table 5. Correlations between Item 9 and other items on questionnaire ..………… 85
Table 6. 2nd factor extraction ……………………………………………..………... 87
Table 7. Relationship between type of course and grade ………………………….. 89
Table 8. SRL significance between technical and humanities courses ……………. 91
Table 9. Multiple linear regressions comparing factors of SRL with grade ………. 94
Table 10. Time and study environment management significance values ……….... 95
Table 11. Metacognitive self-regulation significance values ……………………... 96
Table 12. Summarization of multiple linear regression models …………………… 97

viii
 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND NEED FOR THE STUDY

During the instructional process, students are given the instructional goals and

objectives, which address the skills they should be able to perform. They are given

information that is necessary to perform these skills. Opportunities are provided for this

knowledge to be exercised in a controlled environment with accessibility to resources and

assistance, if needed. The learners are given the opportunity to model the appropriate

behaviors in an isolated and independent setting to accomplish their instructional goals

and objectives through the administering of homework. The teacher provides feedback on

their accomplishments and provides insight on strategies that could be used to increase

performance on academic tasks. Once the student has mastered the skills, they are able to

transfer and apply them to other situations that may differ from the one in which the skill

was learned.

From elementary school through high school, the teacher controls the process of

learning. Instructors establish the goals and objectives; and apply a strategy toward how

the student will be taught the information. Activities and assessments are developed to

monitor and evaluate progress toward their accomplishment of tasks. They are developed

based on the criteria of the goals and objectives. At this academic level, goals and

objectives are instituted by external sources (e. g., teachers and administrators). In order

to place a value on what is being learned, a numerical grade is usually issued. Grades and

test scores have come to determine the academic merit of students and schools’ efforts in

educating students. The importance of grading and test scores has influenced teachers to

focus more on the content of what is to be learned. Through the strategies they employ in

1
delivering instruction, teachers have taken ownership in how the students learn the

information.

Instructors also take responsibility for regulating the learning process. They set

the goals, employ the strategic plan, monitor goal progress, and evaluate the level of

success according to criteria they [the teachers] have set. Instructors take it upon

themselves to structure the learning environment and motivate students through extrinsic

rewards or verbal gratification. The student perceives his or her ability from the

evaluation of the teacher. The importance of grades is transferred from the teacher to the

student and grading becomes the motivation for students to learn and accomplish tasks.

This reliance on grades may cause the student to compare their progress to others in the

class. Based on those comparisons, they may attribute their success or failure incorrectly.

This may lead them to make negative attributions and incorrectly perceive their ability.

With varying experiences encountered with different teachers within changing learning

domains, this incorrect perception may transfer across these domains.

The diligence and attention educators take in regulating their students learning

provides evidence of the importance of this ability. However, the student is given

minimal opportunities to practice regulating his or her own learning. The opportunity to

do so occurs when the student is given independent class work or homework. The student

is more concerned about the content and end product of a learning situation. Less

attention is paid to the process and how learning takes place. The skills necessary to self-

regulate learning are not formally taught to “regular” students. The student may

vicariously acquire these skills through observations of strategies that the instructor uses

to teach the material or behaviors of their peers around them. It is the intention of formal

2
education to produce independent, self-regulated learners. Evidence of such is in the

transition from high external involvement with elementary school students to complete

autonomy of learning experienced by undergraduate, graduate, and adult learners. In

order to understand what self-regulated learning is, the learner must be aware of the

phases, processes, subprocesses, and factors responsible for self-regulation. There are

necessary constructs that need to be recognized and the employment of appropriate

actions and behaviors to facilitate this process. They are important to the development

and assessment of self-regulated learning. The value of the constructs, phases, processes,

and strategies of self-regulated learning have been derived and formulated according to a

variety of theoretical frameworks and established practically through empirical findings.

Information in the following pages addresses the empirical findings of research in the

area of self-regulated learning in traditional educational environments and how these

behaviors are hypothesized to effect learning and academic achievement in nontraditional

situations.

3
 Need for the Study

Self-regulated learning has been related to high academic performance

(Zimmerman & Martinez-Pons, 1992). Goal, motivation, and self-efficacy have been

found as influential factors according to the phases, processes, and subprocesses of self-

regulated learning. Goals are the standards by which learners compare and evaluate their

progression. Learners orientate their goals as either intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic goal

orientation has been related to greater self-regulated learning strategy use and skill

acquisition (Schunk & Swartz, 1993a). The belief that one is making progress toward

goals, along with anticipated satisfaction of goal attainment, enhances self-efficacy and

sustains motivation (Schunk, 1996). Stone (2000) summarizes the relationship between

goals, motivation, self-efficacy and self-regulated learning behaviors. Self-efficacy

reflects the confidence in one’s ability to complete tasks, influencing the type of goal

orientation. A positive concept, specifically high self-efficacy, should invoke more self-

regulation. Learners who are confident they can learn the material are more likely to

implement self-regulated learning strategies resulting in academic achievement.

According to social cognitive theory, self-regulated learning includes personal

(cognitive), behavioral, and environmental variables (Bandura, 1986). These three

constructs produce a triadic reciprocity with one another meaning they are

interdependent. The catalyst that sustains this relationship, according to Bandura (1977),

is self-efficacy. In this triadic relationship, the environment prompts the learner to

incorporate strategies to structure it for optimal learning to take place. The learner has to

perceive the strategies as being effective in the environment in which they are to be used.

Observing and emulating the behavior within the environment establish this perception. It

4
is necessary the environment provide social assistance to guide the process of

implementation of the behavior. According to social cognitive theory, the goal

orientation, motivation, and behaviors employed are affected by the self-efficacy of the

learner according to different domains or environments in which they learn. The most

adaptive, self-regulated learners modify and change their beliefs as a function of the task

or context (Garcia & Pintrich, 1994). The environment impacts the self-regulated

behaviors a learner employs.

Distance education technologies deliver instruction in an environment where

student and instructor are separated by time and space. It is an environment that has

promoted a feeling of transactional distance in older distance learners giving them a

feeling of isolation from the instructor (McIsaac & Gunawardena, 1996). Styles and

Zariski (2000) did not perceive web-based environments as optimal in providing

feedback or explanation due to the lack of interaction. Interaction between content,

student, and teacher are immediate and proximal in traditional settings. In web-based

instruction, the interaction between students and instructor is minimized. This type of

isolation requires the learner to self-regulate their motivation, confidence, and cognitive

abilities in an isolated environment. Wilson (1997) hypothesized the use of self-

regulatory behaviors are more critical when distance learning is the primary method of

instruction than in traditional classrooms. He also pointed out modeled behavior is

lacking in distance education environments, especially in web-based instruction. The

isolation minimizes the students’ observation of self-regulation. This lack of observation

hinders emulation and self-controlled opportunities to become self-regulated. This is

necessary in order for a learner to be efficacious about the impact the use of these

5
strategies has on academic performance. The self-regulated learner has to be

behaviorally, motivationally, and metagcognitively aware.

The relationship between self-regulated learning and academic performance has

been empirically established including high school students in traditional settings

(Zimmerman & Martinez-Pons, 1986). Evidence suggests the combination of personal,

environmental, and social factors must be taken into account when predicting academic

success in distance programs (McIsaac & Gunawardena, 1996). The environment or

social variables will influence the learners’ goals, motivation, and self-efficacy. This will

influence self-regulated learning behavior and ultimately academic performance. Social

cognitive theory proclaims self-regulation is context specific. Given this, the contextually

different learning environment, promoted by distance education, requires the relationship

between self-regulated learning and academic performance to be investigated.

6
 Purpose of Study

This study will address the relationship between self-regulated learning behaviors

and academic performance in web-based courses. Institutions responsible for delivering

web-based instruction currently provide their constituents with information concerning

technical requirements necessary to participate in the distance learning experience (Hardy

& Boaz, 1997). They communicate general, non-technical characteristics such as self-

motivated, self-disciplined, self-controlled, and assertiveness. These have been found to

be evident in older distance learners.

Gibson and Graff (1992) recommend learners be informed of different learning

strategies. They contested acquiring information about learning allows students to select

strategies best suited for the situation and context. Information about the success of the

strategies’ use could provide structure and direction toward learning. Self-efficacy and

continued employment of self-regulated learning behaviors are a result of observed

success by others who are similar to them. This study will provide researchers,

institutions, teachers, parents, and students with possible evidence of the relationship

between self-regulated learning behaviors and grades issued upon course completion.

From this information, these beneficiaries may be able to predict the academic success of

potential distance learners in web-based courses by assessing the self-regulated learning

behaviors they employ.

The results of this research will be used in the development of a mathematical

formula. The formula will be a function of the responses made to 28 items of the

Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). The MSLQ, driven by the

formula, will assess a potential students’goal orientation, metacognitive self-regulation,

7
and time and study environment management before participating in a web-based course.

Results from responses using the MSLQ will provide students with information on how

they rate their goal orientation, metacognitive self-regulation, and management of time

and study environment. It will serve as a possible predictor of the learners’ academic

success in a web-based course. This feedback will be relevant to the student in providing

concrete information addressing the relationship between appropriate behaviors and the

resulting academic performance in a web-based environment. The development of this

formula will be based upon the model that is created from information attained through

this research. It would serve as a valuable tool for institutions, teachers, parents, and

students.

The institution providing web-based courses will be equipped to provide specific

information on the relationship between goal orientation, time and study environment

management, and metacognitive self-regulation on academic performance. They would

be able to assess potential students on their reported self-regulated learning behaviors and

inform the student how they may perform in a web-based course. The result of this study

could be included in training teachers to design and develop web-based instruction.

Instructors would be advised to include prompts for the students to employ appropriate

behaviors as the students engage in the instructional experience. These prompts will help

in the students progress in learning and development of appropriate self-regulatory

behaviors. Collaboration between the institutions, designers, developers, and instructors

could implement interventions to include explicit strategy instruction to potential students

before they partake of the web-based instructional experience. One of the most valuable

pieces of this inventory is students will be involved in the continued development. The

8
structure of the model on which the inventory is based will be obtained from students’

self-report of self-regulated learning behaviors and academic performance.

9
 Research Questions

This study will focus on specific self-regulated learning behaviors (i. e. goal

orientation, metacognitive self-regulation, and time and study environment management)

and how they are independently related to a distance learner’s academic performance in a

web-based course. It will also investigate if a relationship exists between the employment

of self-regulated learning behaviors and the domain of learning in which instruction is

taking place. The study will answer the following questions:

1) Is there a relationship between the employment of self-regulated learning

behaviors and the domain (i. e., humanities or technical courses) in which

learning occurs?

2) Is there a significant relationship between a student’s management of time and

study environment and their academic performance in web-based courses?

3) Is there a significant relationship between a student’s intrinsic goal orientation

and their academic performance in a web-based course?

4) Is there a significant relationship between a student’s metacognitive self-

regulation and academic performance in a web-based course?

5) Is there a significant relationship between a student’s extrinsic goal orientation

and their academic performance in a web-based course?

10
 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

This review of literature is divided into two main sections. The major section of

this review focuses on self-regulated learning. This section discusses the phases,

processes, and subprocesses of self-regulation from a social cognitive theoretical

perspective. Three factors influencing self-regulated learning strategy use are

acknowledged. Common self-regulated learning strategies, how they are developed, and

how they are measured concludes this section. The second section addresses general

information regarding distance education. The reader will have a thorough understanding

of the relationship between these two distinct areas.

Self-Regulated Learning

Self control, self-disciplined, and self-directed are a few words synonymous with

self-regulation. Just as self-regulation has several words with which it can be identified, it

also has several definitions. These definitions are the results of different theoretical

perspectives on self-regulated learning. “Self-regulated learning is the ability to be

metacognitively, motivationally, and behaviorally active participants in the learning

process” (Zimmerman, 1986; Zimmerman, 1989, p. 4). Metacognitively, self-regulated

learners plan, organize, self-instruct, self-monitor, and self-evaluate at different stages as

they learn. Motivationally, they perceive themselves as competent, self-efficacious, and

autonomous. Behaviorally, they select, structure, and create their environments for

optimal learning.

Self-regulated learners approach educational tasks with confidence, diligence, and

resourcefulness. They are aware when they have mastered a particular skill or set of skills

and use appropriate strategies for attainment of goals they have yet to accomplish. Butler

11
and Winne (1995) said self-regulated learners begin with a given task; evaluate the task

and set goals according to the information from the evaluation; use strategies to meet the

goal; monitor their progress toward the goal and evaluate the use of the strategy; and

reinterpretation of the task takes place regarding information attained from internal and

external feedback. All theories of self-regulated learning treat motivational processes

used by students interdependent to their learning processes. This definition is one of

generality concerning self-regulation. Each definition, regardless of theoretical

perspective, possesses common characteristics. Theorists and researchers interested in

self-regulation believe it to be a cyclical process. Zimmerman (1998) identified three

phases present in the process of self-regulation: forethought, volitional or performance

control, and self-reflection.

Volition or
Performance

Forethought Reflection

Figure 1. Phases of Self-Regulation

Forethought. The learner, when engaged in a learning task, begins in the

forethought phase. Forethought is the initial phase that embodies processes influencing

beliefs and efforts to learn and sets the stage for learning. Goal setting and strategic

12
planning are two processes that are utilized in the forethought phase of self-regulation.

Goals can be set in accordance to the instructional goal and/or objectives of the lesson or

unit to be covered. Using the goals, learners can establish a strategic plan to assure their

completion of activities or projects. Schunk (1985) conducted a study with learning

disabled students. Some of the students set performance goals; some were assigned goals

to attain; and others were not given nor did they set goals for themselves. The learners

who set their own goals displayed greater achievement than the group who had goals

assigned for them and the group who was assigned no goals. Other processes that present

themselves in the forethought phase are goal orientation, intrinsic interest, and self-

efficacy. After the task has been identified in the forethought phase, the learner moves to

the volitional or performance control phase.

Volitional or performance control. The performance control phase processes

occur during efforts of learning and affect concentration and performance. These

processes include attention focusing, self-instruction or verbalization, and self-

monitoring. While in the learning environment, the learner must take it upon his or

herself to make decisions that will lead them to obtain the goal. One of these decisions is

to minimize the distractions that may present themselves and impede the learning

process. Theorists of volitional control (e. g.,, Kuhl, 1985; Heckhausen, 1991; Corno,

1993) emphasized the need for learners to protect themselves from distractions and from

competing intensions. Teachers have been charged with this task in their efforts of

classroom management or physical arrangement of the classroom. It is up to the learner

to internally make adjustments to focus attention where the external properties of the

environment may fail to do so.

13
 Another group of processes in performance control is self-instruction. Self-

instruction is the learners’ way of guiding themselves through a learning task. Guided

self-instruction could serve as a means of concentrating attention, establishing sequential

steps, or praising oneself to enhance motivation to continue learning. Vygotsky (1978)

pointed out that bringing behavior under verbal control vastly increases human’s power

to plan, by drawing on past experiences and anticipate new situations. Berk (1992) and

Diaz (1992) concluded that observed levels of private speech, while working on a task,

solicits higher gains in achievement over time. Bivens and Berk (1990) reported those

using more private speech, while solving math problems, showed larger gains in

achievement from first to third grade.

A third group of processes present in the performance control phase of learning is

self-monitoring. Self-monitoring is the process learners use to gain information on the

progress toward their goal attainment. Skillful self-monitors can distinguish between

when they are performing well and when they are not. Social or external feedback is not

necessary to formulate this distinction in progress and the information is used to alter

their performance. As learners experience success in attaining skills and strategies, these

skills and strategies tend to become automatic or routine. Carver and Scheier (1981)

suggested when this happens the learner pays attention to the use of these skills as they

relate to changing contexts. Self-monitoring changes focus from the skill to the

environment where the skill is being used. The variety and changes in and between

domains and contexts makes the self-monitoring process difficult but necessary. It could

have an influence on the strategic planning (forethought phase).

14
 Self-reflection. The third self-regulatory phase involves processes that occur after

learner efforts have been exercised. Self-reflection includes the following actions: self-

evaluation, attributions, self-reactions, and adaptively. Self-evaluation is the comparison

of information attained from self-monitoring to some standard whether set by the

instructor or the learners. Immediately following the comparison of these two pieces of

information, attributions are made in response to the results. Self-regulated learners tend

to attribute failure to correctable causes and success to personal competence. Zimmerman

and Kitsantas (1997) found that personal attribution of success and failure to strategy use

are directly related to positive self-reactions, but the attributions of these outcomes to

ability are related to negative self-reactions. Attributional processes are critical in the

self-reflection phase of learning because the results of the information attained when

comparing self-monitoring information to self-evaluative information is what effects the

motivation of learners to continue the learning process and attainment of the desired goal.

Attributions of strategy use also reinforce variations in approach until the learner

discovers the strategy that works best for them in the environment. These variations in

approach are evident in the adaptation of a learners academic learning method. Several

repeated trials are needed for eventual mastery. They [attributions] assist in identifying

the source of learning errors to strategy use, learning methods, or insufficient practice and

adapt the learners’ performance to more successful learning situations (Zimmerman &

Martinez-Pons, 1992). Adaptation is a function of goals, accurate monitoring, and

appropriate self-evaluation.

The phases of self-regulatory processes are self-sustaining in the fact that each

phase (i. e., forethought, volition or performance control, and self-reaction) creates inertia

15
for the next phase. The forethought phase prepares the learner for and influences the

actions and strategies the learner employs in the volitional or performance control phase.

Information gathered during the performance control phase is used in a comparative basis

in the self-reflection phase. The self-reflective phase of self-regulation influences the

forethought phase through self-efficacy of mastering the skill, learning goal orientation

(Dweck, 1988), and intrinsic interest in task (Zimmerman & Kitsantas, 1997). The self-

reflection phase also influences goal setting and strategic planning in the forethought

process. Information from the self-reflection processes of attribution and adaptation will

effect the learner’s motivation to implement a plan that will result in success of goal

attainment. The success of the strategy used, attributed to something correctable, will

motivate the learner to modify the strategy and implement it again. Otherwise, the learner

will attribute the failure of the strategy to ability and may change the goal or set an easy

or difficult goal based on erroneous attribution of failure.

The three phases depicted by Zimmerman (1998) embodied the processes,

terminology, and components of several theoretical perspectives that have been used to

define self-regulated learning. Zimmerman and Schunk (2001) pointed out several

commonalities in the definition of self-regulated learning. The definitions involve the use

of specific processes, strategies, or responses for student to improve academic

achievement. Self-regulation is defined as a cyclical process for monitoring progress in

learning. Definitions of self-regulated learning provide an explanation of what motivates

learners to use particular processes, strategies, or responses. Specifically, more precise

definitions of self-regulation vary depending on the theoretical basis. How the different

processes of self-regulated learning are described and hypothesized to interact vary from

16
theory to theory. Zimmerman and Schunk (2001) illustrated the distinction between

theories of self-regulated learning according to five categories: 1) what motivates

students to self-regulate, 2) what processes or procedures use to become self-reactive or

self-aware, 3) what key processes are used, 4) what are the social and environmental

affects, and 5) how does a learner acquire the capacity to self-regulate.

Social Cognitive Theory

According to Bandura’s (1977) social cognitive theory, individuals posses a self-

system that enables them to exercise a measure of control over their thoughts, feelings,

motivation and actions. This self-system encompasses one’s cognitive and affective

structures and provides reference mechanisms and a set of sub functions for perceiving,

regulating and evaluating behavior. It results from interplay between the self and

environmental sources of influences. Human functioning involves reciprocal interactions

between behaviors, environmental variables, and personal factors (cognitions). Cognitive

processes are influenced by the development of intellect that informs behaviors.

Cognitively, the development of intellect moves the student from a state of “other-

regulation” to internal, self-regulation. Environmentally, the social climate provides

components (e. g., teachers and peers) from whom students can seek assistance (Bandura,

1986). The capacity for students to self-regulate increases as the student develops the

capacity to self-motivate and sustains appropriate cognition and motivation until the goal

is attained. Behaviorally, the gradual acquisition of appropriate study strategies and

attitudes provide the structure for self-regulatory behavior. The student must actively

participate in evaluating the effectiveness of his or her use of behaviors and strategies,

and be willing to make necessary changes. Bandura’s theory communicates the

17
importance of self-efficacy (a cognitive determinant) and the environment in the

development and use of self-regulation.

Subprocesses of Self-Regulated Learning

Learners are actively involved in their learning. Regardless of whether the

instruction is teacher-centered or student-centered, the learner takes it upon himself or

herself to become involved in learning. Self-regulation refers to the processes whereby

students activate and sustain behaviors, cognitions, and affects that are systematically

oriented toward the attainment of learning goals (Zimmerman, 1989, 1990, 1994). Social

cognitive theory views self-regulation as comprising of three subprocesses: self-

observation, self-judgment, and self-reaction (Bandura, 1986; Kanfer & Gaelick, 1986).

These subprocesses are not mutually exclusive events; they interact with and influence

each other. Students observe their behaviors while engaged in learning tasks. The purpose

of observing their behavior is to judge their behavior against the goals or standards that

have been set by the student, the instructor, or the other students through social modeling.

Information obtained from the judgment will conjure a positive or negative reaction

(Zimmerman, 1989). If the student views their progress as positive, they will eventually

internalize the strategies and context that promoted this success; otherwise, modifications

will be made. Negative or positive reactions will be in accordance with the standards set

forth during self-observation.

Self-observation. Self-regulatory processes include attending to and

concentrating on instruction (Schunk, 1997). Self-observation is the attention the learner

gives to his or her behavior while learning (Bandura, 1986). This information gained is a

determinant of the progress toward goal attainment validating a necessary program of

18
change. This subprocess of self-regulated learning is evident in the performance and

volitional control phase of self-regulation. It is here where attention is focused and

strategic planning is developed. This component of the subprocesses of self-regulated

learning establishes standards and goals to which progress will be compared and

evaluations will be made. Bandura’s (1989) theory of human agency implied observation

of one’s own progress instills learners with the belief that goals are attainable. Self-

recording is an activity that assists in the self-observation process where instances of

behaviors are recorded along with the time, place (environmental variables), and duration

of behavior (Karoly, 1982; Mace, Belfiore, & Shea, 1989). Recording those instances

allows the learner to instantaneously gather information about the effectiveness of the

behavior instead of relying on memory.

Schunk (1983) provided third grade students with modeled instruction and

practice over sessions to improve subtraction skills. One group of students self-monitored

by recording the number of problems they completed in a session. An adult monitored

problem completion for a second group of students. A third group of students did not

monitor their completed number of problems. Results of the study showed that self- and

external monitoring lead to higher self-efficacy, persistence, and achievement than the

group who did not monitor their progress. Although in this case, self- and external

monitoring were equally effective, self-monitoring is preferable over longer periods of

time because it requires less teacher assistance and provides students with a sense of

control over their learning outcomes.

Self-monitoring can promote long-term maintenance of strategy use. Research

involving strategy use says that learners practice strategies that benefit their performance

19
but discontinue strategy use when it is no longer required (Pressley et al., 1990). Students

who continue to record strategy use will find it useful in improving their performance;

therefore, minimizing the chances of discontinued use. Self-monitoring is necessary in

self-regulated learning, but is insufficient for sustaining it.

Self-judgment. Self-judgment is the comparison of present performance with

one’s goals. Bandura (1991) provided two important factors in the judgmental component

of self-regulation: self-comparison and referential comparison with others. The decision

to compare one’s progress to social standards or internal standards is dependent upon the

properties of the goals (i. e., absolute versus normative). Both absolute or personal

(internal) goals and normative (external) goals contribute valuable information to self or

internal comparison. Comparing one’s performance with standards informs one of goal

progress. Marsh (1990) reported that students use both absolute and normative

comparisons. Williams-Miller (1998) found that students gave more weight to peer-group

comparisons (normative) than to self or internal (absolute) comparisons. Self-judgments

can be affected by goal attainment. When individuals care little about how they perform,

they may not assess their performance or expend effort to improve (Bandura, 1986).

Judgments of goal progress are more likely to be made for goals one personally values.

According to self-regulated learning theories, students model their behavior and

perceive their ability in comparison to those who are similar to them. This can be

attributed to the competitive environment that is created due to the use of grades to assess

mastery of concepts. After the learner has made judgments about the progress toward

goal attainment, they may attribute their success or failure to strategy use, luck, ability, or

effort. With development, ability attributions become increasingly important. Younger

20
children tend to attribute success with increased effort on a given task, whereas older

children’s attributions become a function of ability. According to Zimmerman and

Martinez-Pons (1992), attributions are a vital self-judgment process that link strategy

monitoring and use. It has been shown that students who report failure attributions to

ineffective strategy use (i. e., something they can control), report high levels of self-

efficacy and remain motivated. Conversely, students who attribute failure to ability,

effort, or luck hold low levels of self-efficacy and hold beliefs they cannot succeed on

their own (Zimmerman & Kitsantas, 1997).

Self-reaction. The ability to self-reflect is considered the most unique human

function of the subprocesses of self-regulation. This form of self-referent thought allows

for one to evaluate and alter their thinking and behavior (Pajares, 1995). Self-reactions to

goal progress initiate behaviors. The belief that one’s progress is acceptable, along with

the anticipation of satisfactory goal accomplishment, enhances self-efficacy and

motivation. Negative evaluations will not decrease if one believes they have the ability to

improve. Conversely, the learner’s motivation will not increase if they lack the belief

they have the ability to succeed and increased effort will not negate the lack of

motivation. Assuming that people believe they are capable of improving, higher goals

will be set leading to greater effort and persistence to attain those goals. Social cognitive

theory postulates that the anticipation of consequences for goal attainment enhances

motivation. Motivation will persist in the absence of external rewards such as grades,

which are not given until the end of the course. The learner must sustain his or her

motivation by setting tangible goals for accomplishing their work. They reward or punish

themselves according to those goals that are established.

21
 At the start of a learning activity, students have such goals as acquiring skills and

knowledge, finishing work, and making good grades. As they work, students monitor,

judge, and react to perceptions of their goal progress. These self-regulatory processes

interact with one another. As students monitor their progress they judge it against their

goals and react positively or negatively, which sets the stage for further observations.

These processes also interact with the environment (Zimmerman, 1989). Students who

judge their learning progress as inadequate may react by asking the teacher for assistance.

In turn, the teacher can suggest or teach students to use a better strategy to foster better

learning. The value of the self-observation or self-monitor process is to address the

learning conditions. These environmental conditions can be altered to improve

performance (e. g., ineffective learning conditions can be altered to promote better

environmental features).

The use of these self-regulatory subprocesses will prompt students to attribute

negative outcomes strategically, preserve their self-efficacy beliefs, sustain their

motivation, and improve their potential to learn and their intrinsic interest in mastering

the task (Kitsantas, 1997). These subprocesses are intergrated in the forethought,

volitional or performance control, and reflection phases of self-regulation (Zimmerman,

1998). The functionality of the subprocesses work similar to the phases in that self-

observation establishes the goals to be attained. Self-judgment provides information on

goal progress while the task is being completed. Self-reaction compares the goal progress

to the goals that were set in order to provide information that will either change the goal

or change the strategies used to attain the goal if they are not sufficient. If the present

progress is favorable, the learner rewards himself or herself accordingly.

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Throughout the execution of the phases, processes, and subprocesses of self-regulation,

there are key components involved: standards (goals), motivation, self-efficacy, and

strategy use. The belief that one is making progress, along with anticipated satisfaction of

goal attainment, enhances self-efficacy and sustains motivation (Schunk, 1996). Self-

regulation is considered a process rather than an end result to learning. Goals, motivation,

and self-efficacy are the necessary components of the phases, processes, and

subprocesses responsible for the sustenance of self-regulated learning.

Factors in Self-Regulated Learning

Self-Efficacy. Self-efficacy refers to personal beliefs about one’s capabilities to

learn or perform skills at designated levels (Bandura, 1986). It is the catalyst to the triadic

reciprocity of personal, behavioral, and environmental interaction. Self-efficacy causality

regulates motivation and actions (Bandura, 1997). It is the central mechanism of

intentional human action. It is relative to one’s confidence to learn or accomplish a task.

Self-efficacy dictates the choice of activities, effort, persistence, and achievement

(Schunk, 1990). Learners weigh and combine factors such as perceived ability, task

difficulty, amount of effort, amount and type of assistance received from others,

perceived similarity to models, and persuader credibility.

Bandura (1986) stated performance accomplishments, observational experiences,

persuasion, and physiological reactions supply information that influence self-efficacy.

Successful academic performances are responsible for enhancing self-efficacy where

failure may reduce efficacy if the development of it [self-efficacy] was not strong.

Learners who observe others similar to them being successful in accomplishing a task

believe they too can accomplish the same task in the same context. Teachers and parents

23
providing persuasive feedback (e. g., “You can do this”) have been proven to increase

self-efficacy in the learner. These factors validate the environmental variables in the

phases of self-regulated learning and the value of social modeling and comparison to

successfully self-regulate.

Schunk (1985) argued a reciprocal relationship exists between students’ goal

setting and their perceptions of self-efficacy. When students set intermediate goals that

are specific and proximal in time, they can perceive their learning progress more readily,

and this, in turn, enhances their self-efficacy. Increased self-efficacy can lead students

reciprocally to set even more challenging ultimate goals for themselves (Zimmerman,

1990). As students work on tasks, they constantly compare their progress to the goals that

have been set. Students who compare their progress toward learning goals are more apt to

experience a sense of self-efficacy for skill improvement and engage in activities they

believe to enhance learning. There has been inquiry regarding the mediating power that a

student’s perception in his or her ability has any relationship between the goals the

student’s choose and their achievement. Elliott and Dweck (1988) provided evidence that

self-efficacy is a mediating factor between goal orientation and achievement. Children

were assessed and grouped according to their perceived low or high ability. They were

given learning goals as well as performance goals. Children, who perceived their ability

as low, selected easier tasks to avoid being judged as incompetent. In 1993, Schunk and

Swartz conducted three experiments that explored the effects of goal orientation and

feedback on self-efficacy. There were four conditions: 1) process learning, 2) process

learning and progress feedback, 3) product (performance) goals, and 4) general goal. In

the three experiments, it was found that process (learning) goals and progress feedback

24
lead to higher self-efficacy than process learning, product goals, or general goals. As the

student works and perceives improvement, self-efficacy is sustained thus motivation for

learning is sustained.

Self-efficacy is relative to self-regulation in regards to motivation. A student’s

self-efficacy is related to whether the student will work on a given task. Kinzie (1990)

found individuals who demonstrated high levels of self-efficacy tended to sustain their

motivation to learn. Bandura (1993) posited self-efficacy beliefs contribute to motivation

in a number of ways. Self-efficacy determines the goals people set for themselves, how

much effort they expend, how long they persevere in the face of difficulty, and their

resilience to failures. Students who were rated by teachers as being less academically

oriented displayed lower levels of self-efficacy than did students who were considered

high in self-efficacy. Self-efficacy does not necessarily have to be extremely high for

self-regulation to exist and high academic achievement to occur. Salmon (1984) found

that students who reported low self-efficacy put forth greater mental effort to compensate

for their lack of confidence in their ability to complete the task. There is an evident

relationship between self-efficacy and motivation. Schunk (1994) discovered that if

learners’ self-efficacy is not too low, it could serve as a motivator in the increase of a

students’ persistence toward completing tasks. As long as the leaner is efficacious enough

to surmount difficulties they encounter, having some concern about their ability to be

successful in a learning situation will sustain effort and use of strategies to negate the

effects of perceptions of low self-efficacy. This supports the claim by Bandura (1986)

that the stronger a students’ self-efficacy, the more persistent students are in their

learning.

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 Individuals with high self-efficacy reported increased use of cognitive and self-

regulatory strategies (Pintrich & Schrauben, 1992). Self-efficacy develops as students

notice progress in their learning and as they attain their goals. Schunk and Cox (1986)

provided subtraction instruction to students with learning disabilities. The children either

received effort feedback during the first half of instruction, the second half of instruction,

or received no effort feedback. The results showed that effort feedback enhanced self-

efficacy, skill, and problem solving during independent practice time. Evidence of

problem solving during independent practice time required application of self-regulatory

strategies.

Self-evaluation is a strategy that self-regulated learners use during the self-

judgment and self-reaction subprocesses when learners compare and evaluate their

performance. The feedback the learner obtains from self-evaluation supplies information

concerning attributions made about their progress during and after task completion.

Attributional feedback has been proven to influence self-efficacy (Schunk, 1983).

Children lacking subtraction skills were assigned to four feedback conditions: ability,

effort, ability and effort, and no feedback. The students received ability feedback (e. g.,

“You are good at this”), effort feedback (e. g., “You’ve been working hard”), ability plus

effort feedback, or no feedback. Children who attribute their academic success to hard

work and effective strategy use tended to experience higher self-efficacy. Self-efficacy

and subtraction skills were assessed. Students who received ability feedback promoted

self-efficacy and skill more than those students who received effort feedback, ability plus

effort feedback, and no feedback. As a result, students who attribute success to a

combination of ability, effort, and strategy use, should feel efficacious about learning and

26
remain motivated to work diligently. Self-efficacy is a strong predictor of academic

performance and mediates the influence of other determinants (Pajares, 1994). Social

cognitive approaches to self-regulated learning have focused on perceptions of self-

efficacy as the ultimate source of student motivation (Bandura, 1986; Schunk, 1989;

Zimmerman, 1989b).

Motivation. According to Bandura (1986), motivation is a goal directed behavior

instigated by expectations concerning the anticipated outcomes of actions and self-

efficacy for performing those actions. It influences how and why people learn as well, it

influences their performance (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996). According to self-regulated

learning theories, goal attainment is the primary end result of the learning process.

Motivation is evident in the tendency for students to set higher learning goals for

themselves as they complete earlier goals. Student learning and motivation are treated as

interdependent processes. Student proactive involvement in learning is evident of their

motivation through the self-initiated activities designed to promote self-observation, self-

evaluation, and self-improvement.

Research conducted in self-regulated learning during the past decade has focused

on the relationships between single motivational variables, such as goal orientation and

interest, and their individual effects on students’ use of self-regulated learning strategies.

It has been shown that students who have high interest in a topic use more self-regulated

learning strategies than students with low topic interest (Pintrich, 1989; Pokay &

Blumenfeld, 1990; Schiefele, 1992). However, students probably learn with different

levels of interest, which may combine with goal orientation to affect their use of learning

strategies.

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 McWraw and Abrami (2001) conducted a study that focused on the causal

relationships between goal orientation and motivation on the use of self-regulated

learning strategies. The model used as a theoretical basis for this study was the “skill and

will” model (Pintrich & Garcia, 1991; Pintrich & Schrauben, 1992). The “skill”

component of the model consists of cognitive (e. g., rehearsal, collaboration, and

organization) and metacognitive (e. g., planning, monitoring, and regulating cognition)

strategies. The “will” component of the model involves the reasons students engage in

learning tasks (goal orientation) and student’s feelings about the task to be completed

(task value). The study reported the motivational construct influencing the use of

metacognitive strategies was interest. Provisions for interesting material will facilitate the

use of strategies such as selecting the main idea and metacognitive strategies.

The learning environment requires students to exercise their acquisition of

knowledge through instruction. The presence of tests in the learning environment has

been associated with positive and negative affects related to learning. In the instructional

design process, assessment items are created in conjunction with learning objectives. It

has been found that high school students have depended on external sources (e. g.,

performance on test) to motivate themselves more than using learning for the sake of

learning to motivate them to learn. Tests have been used as a motivator to learn material

because of the importance the grade on the test has in relation to proving mastery of the

objectives and attainment of the instructional goals. Assessment tools have also created

test anxiety in some students, which has adversely affected performance by reducing

student’s motivation for learning. High test anxious students may decrease their level of

28
expectancy for success and lead the student to defensively devalue important learning

outcome (Bembenutty et al., 1998).

Brackney and Karabenick (1995) provided evidence suggesting test anxiety

interferes with students’ ability to use learning strategies while it reduces motivation.

These findings acknowledge the relationship existing between motivation and self-

regulated learning is influenced by the amount of test anxiety that is present. Williams-

Miller (1998) conducted a study on 208 high school students who perceived themselves

as self-regulated learners reported high levels of competence and autonomy (motivation).

These findings support Pintrinch, Roeser, and DeGroot’s (1995) theory that motivation is

linked to self-regulation. In a 1998 publication, Bembenutty, McKeachie, Karabenick,

and Lin found anxiety effected intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, control

beliefs, social desirability, competence, and expectancy for success. It also effects

learning strategies such as rehearsal, organization, help-seeking, and final course grades.

Williams-Miller (1998) and Bembenutty et al. (1998) confirmed the reciprocal

nature of self-regulated learning to motivation association proposed by social cognitive

theorists (Bandura, 1997). It is evident when students are highly motivated to achieve and

employ metacognitive and cognitive strategies, the effects of test anxiety are negated.

Anxiety may not have detectable mediating effects between self-regulated learning and

motivation because high levels of motivation encouraged self-regulated learning strategy

use. These two components increased self-efficacy and reduced the effects of anxiety.

As a means to protect one’s self-worth, Paris and Newman (1990) said learners

resort to using self-handicapping or learned helplessness tactics. In this instance, the

emotional and cognitive components are minimal. It is used to prevent them from

29
investing effort resulting in low expectations for success. Frequent defense of one’s self-

worth can lead to passiveness and apathy in the learning situation. Using such tactics, the

learner relinquishes their responsibility for their own learning. Students’ perceptions of

their responsibility for their learning are intertwined with their beliefs about effort.

Academic interventions have been studied that can enhance a students’ self-perceptions

of their own ability, agency, control, or efficacy (e. g., Schunk & Rice, 1987).

Motivation plays an important role in a student’s academic performance (Garcia

& Pintrich, 1994; Deci & Ryan, 1985; Pintrich & Schunk, 1996), thus students’

motivational tendencies are positively related to students’ self-regulation of learning.

Motivation is needed for the learner to implement strategies that will influence learning

processes. Several researchers (e. g., Pintrich, 1995; Pintrich & Schunk, 1996; Garcia,

1995) believe that students may use different motivational strategies in different learning

situations. The attitude that a learner has about learning and completing tasks is reflective

in the goals he or she sets to attain.

Goals. Self-efficacy beliefs and self-regulatory processes work together in an

interdependent manner and are mediated by goals. Achieving one’s goals can enhance an

individual’s self-efficacy in completing tasks that include ambiguous or novel elements

(Bandura, 1995). Standards or goals are the criteria students use to monitor their progress

in learning. At the start of a learning task, students have such goals as acquiring skills and

knowledge, finishing work, and making good grades. Goals exercise two key functions in

self-regulated learning. Goals guide the learner to monitor and regulate one’s efforts in a

specific direction. They also serve as the criteria by which learners evaluate their

30
performance. The results of this evaluation will modify efforts toward attaining the goal

or it will provide information that will lead to changing the goal.

Goals provide guidelines to which learners compare their current task

performance (Bandura, 1986; Locke & Latham, 1990). The effects goals have on

motivation and efficacy depend on specificity, proximity, and difficulty. Goals that

provide information of specific standards, attainable in a reasonable time, and

challenging are more likely to enhance performance. Goals that are general, require long

periods of time to accomplish, very easy, or overly difficult may hinder performance.

Children lacking division skills received instruction and practice over a series of sessions

(Schunk, 1983). They were given a specific goal (number of problems to complete) or a

general goal (work productively). Providing children with a goal and information that is

attainable may increase self-efficacy for learning, which will lead to increased

performance and skill acquisition. Bandura and Schunk (1981) gave children with low

subtraction skills instruction and practice over seven sessions using seven sets of

material. Some children pursued a proximal goal of completing one set each session. A

second group received a distant goal of completing all sets by the end of the last session.

The group of students who pursued the proximal goal reported more self-regulated

learning during the independent practice portion of the instructional session, and resulted

in the highest subtraction skills, self-efficacy, and intrinsic interest.

The effects of goals may also depend on the outcomes that are expected. These

outcomes can be classified in two orientations: learning and performance (Meece, 1991).

Learning goals focus on the process that is implemented in the acquisition of knowledge

and skill. Performance (product) goals are more concerned with the completion of the

31
task; specifically the end product that emerges from the completed activity. Learning

goals have been expressed using other terms such as task goals, intrinsic goals, or

mastery goals. Performance goals are synonymous with ability, extrinsic, or product

goals. When students have a task goal orientation, they see mastering the material as

primary. When students have a performance-approach goal orientation, they see

demonstrating their ability to others essential. Depending on the type of goal (whether

learning or performance) has been associated with skill acquisition, which is a product of

self-regulated learning strategy use.

In a study conducted by Schunk and Swartz (1993a), learners demonstrated higher

skill acquisition when presented with a learning goal and progress feedback. Learners

also scored higher on skill than learners who were given general goals. In a study by

Ablard and Lipschultz (1998), high achieving seventh grade students described their use

of self-regulated learning strategies. Results of the study indicated the total self-regulated

learning score was significantly related to achievement goals. More specifically, students

with low mastery and low performance goals had significantly lower total self-regulated

learning scores than students with high mastery and low performance goals and students

with high mastery and high performance goals.

Locke and Latham (1990) defined goals as something the individual is

consciously trying to attain, but it is external to the individual. The definition implies the

environmental or social structure of the learning environment has an impact on the

student pursuing a mastery goal or a performance goal. Ames (1992) identified aspects of

the following variables are critical to creating mastery goal orientations in the classroom:

tasks, evaluation and recognition, and authority. Her research asserted to effectively

32
foster a mastery goal orientation in the classroom, the classroom context should foster

interesting, engaging, challenging and meaningful tasks; an authority structure that

emphasizes choice; responsibility and independence; as well as evaluation that focuses on

improvement, effort and progress. Using the variables identified by Ames (1992),

Salisbury-Glennon et al. (1999) observed two classrooms in a school promoting a

learner-centered approach. She observed one classroom as having a more performance-

approach goal orientation; the other classroom was labeled as task goal oriented. Students

in the task goal oriented environment demonstrating greater use of self-regulated learning

strategies substantiated the observation. The findings support similar empirical findings

of Pintrich and Schraben (1992) and Ames and Archer (1988).

Learning goals result in higher academic achievement and skill acquisition;

influences persistence and effort; enhances self-efficacy and promotes the use of more

self-regulated learning strategies evident through deeper processing of information. The

research favors the adoption of learning goal orientation and suggests that teachers de-

emphasize the use of performance goals. The results found by Ainley (1993) suggested

there are benefits to pursuing ability goals along with task goals. Urdan, Pajares, and

Lapin (1997) provided more evidence to the claim these two goal orientations could

possibly coexist. Although, it was found that ability goals weakened the positive

relationship between tasks goal and persistence, findings showed ability goals had little

effect on motivation and performance outcomes when gender, grade point average, and

task goals are controlled. Wolter, Yu, and Pintrich (1996) indicated the adoption of a

learning goal orientation with relative ability goal orientation resulted in a general

33
positive pattern of motivational beliefs including task value, and self efficacy, as well as

high levels of cognitive strategy use, self-regulation and academic performance.

Schunk (1996) explained how goals affect motivation, self-efficacy, and strategy

use by distinguishing the differences between learning and performance goals. Learning

goals focus students’ attention on processes and strategies that help them acquire

competencies. Students who pursue a learning goal are apt to experience a sense of self-

efficacy for attaining it and the motivation to engage in task-appropriate activities. Self-

efficacy is substantiated as they work on tasks and note progress. Perceived progress in

skill acquisition and a sense of efficacy for continued learning sustain self-regulatory

activities and enhance skillful performance. On the other hand, performance goals focus

attention on task completion, which does not attend to processes or strategy use. As

students work on tasks, they do not employ effective self-monitoring techniques and rely

on comparisons of their peers to determine progress, leading to incorrect attributions to

ability among students who experience difficulties, which can negatively effect

motivation.

Effective self-regulation depends on holding an optimal sense of self-efficacy for

learning during task engagement (Bandura, 1986; Bouffard-Bouchard, Parent, & Larivee,

1991; Zimmerman, 1989). If students lack confidence (i. e., self-efficacy) and effective

motivation control strategies, they may focus on performance goals rather than learning

goals or even abandon the task all together (Butler, 2000). Etmer and Schunk (1997)

interpolated the interdependence of goals, motivation, and self-efficacy as pivotal to self-

regulated learning. Learners who adopt a goal may experience a sense of efficacy for

attaining it, which motivates them to attend to instruction, persist, and expend effort.

34
Self-efficacy, through self-evaluation, is substantiated as students observe their goal

progress because perceptions of progress convey they are becoming more skillful. Stone

(2000) summarized the relationship between goals, motivation, self-efficacy, and self-

regulated learning strategy use. Self-efficacy reflects the confidence in one’s ability to

complete tasks, which should influence the type of goal orientation whether it is a

learning or performance goal orientation. A positive self-concept, specifically high self-

efficacy, should invoke more self-regulation. Learners who are confident they can learn

the material are more likely to implement self-regulated learning strategies consequently,

effecting academic achievement.

Self-Regulated Learning Strategies

Leblanc, Leroux, Laveault, Oliver, and Shaffer (2000) considered self-regulated

learning to be an integral component of the formative function of learning. It is a culture

of learning that encourages the student to exercise his or her self-regulated learning

strategies when participating in an activity or when studying or doing homework. It

contributes to better overall functioning and rewarding academic performance. Self-

regulated learning strategies are the compilation of executable plans a learner uses in

order to attain a goal. These plans of action are rooted in the phases, processes, and

subprocesses of self-regulated learners. The use of self-regulated learning strategies

decreases the anxiety and increases self-efficacy, which is directly related to goal

attainment and academic achievement. These positive effects of self-regulated strategy

use make it apparent their use, regardless of the domain, is beneficial while participating

in the learning process.

35
 Self-regulated learning strategies are classified in two categories: metacognitive

strategies and cognitive strategies. Cognitive strategies are those strategies that focus on

information processing such as rehearsal, elaboration, and organization. Metacognitive

strategies address the behaviors that the learner displays while engaged in the learning

situation. Some of these tactics help students control attention, anxiety, and affect

(Weinstein & Mayer, 1986). Metacognition is the awareness, knowledge, and control of

cognition. There are three general processes that make up self-regulatory activities:

planning, monitoring, and regulating. Planning includes activities such as goal-setting

and task analysis. These strategies help to activate, or prime, relevant aspects of prior

knowledge that makes organizing and comprehending the material easier. Monitoring

activities include tracking one’s attention as one reads, and self-testing and questioning.

These assist the learner in understanding the material and integrating it with prior

knowledge. Regulating refers to the fine-tuning and continuous adjustment of one’s

cognitive activities. Regulating activities are assumed to improve performance by

assisting learners in checking and correcting their behavior as they proceed on a task

(Higgins, 2000).

Pressley and Ghatala (1990) acknowledged self-monitoring as the centerpiece of

self-regulated thinking. McWhaw and Abrami (2001) issued 111 high school students a

1000-word essay. Their study reported that self-monitoring was evident in the students

whom were labeled high interest in comprehending the passage. The information gained

from self-monitoring is used to determine one’s goal progress. Self-monitoring is most

helpful when it addresses the specific conditions under which the behavior occurs.

36
 Self-regulated learners use self-recording to track where instances of behaviors

occurred along with features of time and duration of occurrences. Zimmerman, Bonner,

and Kovach (1996) described a self-monitoring procedure where students might record

information such as date, assignment, time started, time spent, and information about the

study context. They can also monitor their self-efficacy by reporting how well the student

expects to score on an upcoming quiz and their confidence in obtaining that score.

Important criteria for self-recording include regularity and proximity. Regularity refers to

recording on a continuous basis as opposed to intermittently. Irregular observations yield

less reliable results. Proximity means the behavior is observed close in time to its

occurrence rather than long afterwards (Schunk, 1997). Proximal observations provide

continuous information to use in gauging goal progress (Mace, Belfiore, & Shea, 1989).

Motivational strategies are those strategies that a learner uses to cope with stress

and emotions that are sometimes generated when they try to overcome occasional failures

and become good learners (Garcia, 1995). Wolters (1999) explained that some strategies

students use to maintain or increase their effort or persistence on a particular academic

task. One strategy is to provide themselves with consequences for accomplishing their

learning goals. Zimmerman and Martinez-Pons (1986, 1990) found evidence when they

examined the self-regulated learning strategies in high school and elementary school

students. Students reported they would work to maintain their effort at completing the

homework by promising or giving themselves a reward. Jackson and Molloy (1983,

1985) found that students who provided themselves with rewards completed more

arithmetic problems than students who provided themselves with punishment or students

who did not self-consequate. These findings indicated students elevated their desire to

37
complete academic tasks by increasing their extrinsic reasons for completing the task

usually through providing themselves with additional rewards or punishments based on

some self-identified goals.

Another strategy used by students is to reduce the distractions in the environment.

This is recognized as environmental structuring (Purdie & Hattie, 1996) and it

concentrates on students’ efforts to arrange or control their surroundings to make

completing a task more likely to occur without interruption. Wolters (1998) found that

students reported using various methods for controlling distractions by managing

different aspects of how, when, and where they completed particular tasks. The learners

reported various aspects of their physical or mental readiness for completing a task.

Students did things such as drinking coffee, eating food, or taking naps to make

themselves more attentive and to facilitate their ability to finish tasks.

In order to maximize their persistence and effort, students work to make the task

more intrinsically motivating to complete (Wolters, 1999). College students were

required to hand-copy an array of letters until being told to stop (Sansone, Weir,

Harpster, & Morgan, 1992). Some students would modify the task to make it less

repetitive and boring. Although the different approach to completing the task made it

more difficult and challenging, the students’ desire to complete it was increased.

Sansone, Wiebe, and Morgan (1999) conducted a follow-up to this study by giving

students the opportunity to decide when they would discontinue copying the letters. The

results of the study found students who purposefully increased the interest of the task

tended to copy more letters.

38
 Regulation of motivation also occurs through self-verbalization or self-talk. Self-

verbalization is emphasizing, stressing, or articulating some already identified reason for

completing a task (Wolters, 1999). Wolters (1998) found evidence of its effectiveness

when he presented college students with four academic tasks, and asking them what

would they do if they were faced with problems they faced within the instruction. Many

students reported they would think about or reemphasize, the reasons accomplishing the

task is important. Highlighting the attainment of good grades or doing well in class, and

articulating these desires would provide the boost necessary to overcome obstacles that

the instruction may present. The tactic is used to make the learner more immediately

cognizant of the reasons they accepted as justification for working on the task. Schunk

(1982) found students who self-verbalized yielded the highest motivation during self-

directed practice and mathematical achievement.

Zimmerman and Martinez-Pons (1986) developed and validated a structured

interview for assessing students actions directed at acquiring information or skills that

involved agency, purpose, and instrumentality self-perceptions by learners. The self-

regulated learning categories of the interview schedule were drawn from existing

literature focusing primarily on social learning (cognitive) theory research. Some of the

categories included goal setting, environmental structuring, self-consequencing, self-

evaluating, organizing and transforming, seeking and selecting information, and rehearsal

and mnemonics strategies. The study concluded that high achieving students utilize a

greater use of 13 of the 14 identified self-regulated learning strategies. The one category

that failed to relate to student achievement, using this instrument, was self-evaluation.

Students reported use of these strategies provided predictive power on standardized

39
achievement test (SAT) scores. Ninety three percent of the students could be correctly

classified as high or low achievers according to their reported use of self-regulated

learning strategies. Higher achievers relied heavily on social sources of assistance more

specifically using teachers and peers as sources of social support. They also sought

assistance from other adults (parents) significantly more often than low achieving

students. Purdie and Hattie (1996) proposed fourteen such self-regulated learning

strategies: self-evaluation, organization, transformation, goal-setting, search for

information, self reinforcement, search for social support, revision, memorization,

environmental setting, repetitive practice, note taking, and self-management.

Goals, motivation, and self-efficacy influence the self-regulated learning

behaviors a student exhibits. Salisbury-Glennon, Gorrell, Sanders, Boyd, and Kamen

(1999) conducted a study at an institution that espoused a learning centered approach to

learning. The purpose of the study was to determine the self-regulated learning strategies

that were fostered in a learner centered approach. With 114 students participating in the

study, the self-regulated learning behaviors were determined by a modified version of the

Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule (SRLIS). A score assessed by the Patterns of

Adaptive Learning Survey (PALS) determined the goal orientation. The participants

demonstrated use of self-regulated learning strategies such as organizing and

transforming, seeking social assistance from teachers, goal setting and planning, and

seeking information respectively. The students relied less on rehearsing and memorizing,

self-evaluation, and record keeping and monitoring. The students were divided into four

clusters according to their goal orientation: learning oriented, performance oriented,

undifferentiated, and performance-avoiders. The clusters were predictors of the self-

40
regulated learning strategies found suggesting learning strategy use may be affected by

the learner’s goal orientation.

Self-regulated learning has been perceived as an independent process that takes

place without the intervention of external sources. The thought is learning and regulation

of learning takes place covertly, and evidence of learning may be observed overtly

through certain changes in behavior. Some say learning can occur without any observable

change in behavior. The strictly internalized view of learning minimized thought on the

influence of social and environmental factors for learners in the learning process.

Interactions with others may be viewed as the learner having less autonomy and control

over what he or she learns. Seeking assistance from others (e. g., parents, teachers, or

peers) is looked upon as being a moderate self-regulated, independent learner. These

sentiments were evident in a study conducted that used self-regulatory processes and

strategies (i. e., goal setting and self-evaluation) to minimize another self-regulation

learning strategy: help seeking.

Cunningham, Krull, Land, and Russell (2000) conducted a study with suburban

elementary school students. The intent of the research was to employ goal setting and

self-evaluation strategies to alleviate or minimize six target behaviors. One of these

behaviors, considered to be a negative behavior by students and teachers, is help seeking.

Help seeking is defined in this study as “… a tendency to seek help from classmates,

teachers, and parents when attempting to solve problems prior to attempting to solve

them independently” (p. 1). The students were taught goal setting and self-evaluative

techniques through Specific, Measurable, Action-planned, Realistic, and Timely. The

process is referred to by the acronym S. M. A. R. T (Covey, 1997). This provides a step-

41
by-step framework for students to follow as they set academic goals. Students were

taught how to set meaningful and realistic goals, how to value their time, prioritize their

work, make a plan of action, and make their plans become real. The intervention resulted

in the appearance of transferring learning responsibility from the teacher to the student.

The amount of teacher time on the student was reduced.

The processes (e. g., goal setting, social comparison, self-verbalization) and the

subprocesses (i. e., self-observation, self-judgment, and self-reaction) are the framework

through which learners self-regulate. The specific actions or activities learners use in

each of these processes are arranged and rearranged depending on the personal

(cognitive), environmental, or behavioral variables. These specific actions and activities

are considered to be self-regulated learning strategies. Self-regulation includes such

activities as attending to and concentrating on instruction; organizing, coding, and

rehearsing information to be remembered; establishing a productive work environment;

using resources effectively; holding positive beliefs about one’s capabilities, the value of

learning, the factors of influencing learning, and the anticipated outcomes of actions; and

experiencing pride and satisfactions with one’s efforts (Schunk, 1989). An increasing

body of research substantiates that learners’ use of self-regulation strategies sustains

learning efforts and promotes academic achievement (Schunk, 1989; Zimmerman &

Martinez-Pons, 1992). For a variety of reasons, learners have different academic and

social experiences. These experiences shape their goals, motivation, and belief in ability.

The environment, within which one’s learning takes place, can also attribute to ability to

self-regulate. Due to an infinite number of variables, one’s development has influences

42
on their development into a self-regulated learner. These strategies are important in how

self-regulated learning is developed as well as how self-regulated learning is measured.

Development of Self-Regulated Learning

Paris and Newman (1990) summarized research addressing the developmental

changes underlying children’s capability to regulate their learning. Before the age of

seven, children appear naive and overly optimistic about their ability to learn. They begin

school with a vague understanding of what is involved in academic tasks. Their strategy

knowledge is fragmented; and they rarely reflect on their performance. Effort is viewed

as related to success. As the child approaches adolescence, perceptions of learning

become more accurate. Understanding of academic tasks is developed and their

monitoring of their cognitive strategies grows with age. At this point, it is realized that

effort alone is not sufficient for success. These incremental changes are hypothesized to

depend on children’s building personal theories of self-competence, academic tasks,

cognitive strategies, motivation, and social cognitions. Where a child is deficient in self-

regulation, there have been interventions that have been utilized to promote development

of this process in learning.

The acquisitions of a wide range of competencies emerge in a series of regulatory

skill levels (Schunk & Zimmerman, 1997). Boekaerts et al. (2001) addressed four

development levels of regulatory skills: observation, emulation, self-control, and self-

regulation. The development of self-regulation is dependent upon social agents such as

parents, coaches, teachers, and peers. An observational level of skill occurs when learners

are introduced to the major features of a skill or strategy from watching a model

executed. Perceived similarity to a model and vicarious consequences of a model’s use

43
will determine an observer’s motivation to develop the skill further (Zimmerman &

Rosenthal, 1974). “Vicarious learning accelerates learning and saves us from

experiencing negative consequences” (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2001, p. 128). An

observational level of proficiency can be assessed through the description of the strategy

or hypothesized results of the strategy used (Zimmerman & Blom, 1983). Teachers who

model strategies and verbalize their thought processes as they perform tasks can enhance

students’ self-regulatory development greatly (Graham & Harris, 1989a, 1989b; Palincsar

& Brown, 1984; Sawyer, Graham, & Harris, 1992).

The opportunity for the learner to use the model moves them from the

observational level to the emulation level. It is considered to be emulation because there

is seldom an exact imitation of the use of the model; only the general principles of style

and function are enforced. This is necessary in the development of self-regulatory skills

because learners need to perform strategies personally to incorporate them into their

schema. The source of guidance, feedback, and reinforcement is socially driven so the

model continues its teaching functionality (Kitsantas, Zimmerman, & Clearly, 1999).

The learner’s deliberate practice of skills is demonstrated at the self-controlled

level. Performance in the presence of an instructor or reliance on the model makes it

difficult to determine whether or not the learner is confident in using the information that

is attained from using these environmental cues. The learner may not have moved from

the emulation level if these things are still present in the environment. At the self-

controlled level, dependency is on representational standards. These include what the

learner remembers (images and text) about the model and the teacher’s performance in

using the model. The learner demonstrates use of self-regulation in a simulated

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environment structured by the teacher. The scaffolding approached is implemented to

promote mastery of skills in the absence of external influences. Acquiring skills on one’s

one requires more than exposure to a teacher or model; it also depends on extensive

practice on one’s own (Ericsson & Lehman, 1996). This phase focuses on the

development of the fundamental processes rather than outcomes.

The final level, self-regulation, is evident when learners can adapt their

performance in changing personal and contextual conditions. These changes and

modifications can be made through effective self-monitoring and self-reactive processes

that have been developed with practice. This sustains motivation and self-efficacy in the

process of the skills that have been developed. While the self-regulation is being

developed, learning the process is important to assure goal attainment. As a variety of

occurrences are experienced and self-efficacy is enhanced, the learner can move from

concerns about the process to setting specific performance goals that will produce

outcomes.

Self-regulated learning is neither a function of intelligence; nor is it developed

automatically through maturation; nor is it acquired passively and reactively from the

environment. Self-regulation is not inherent, but it is a learned response that can be taught

and controlled by the learner (Iran-Nejad, 1990). Zimmerman (1990) said, in a given

situation, self-regulated learners are aware of the information and skills they must

possess, and they take the steps necessary to acquire these items. Self-regulation is a

developed systematically and in a multiphase hierarchy. The initial stages of the

development process depend on social guidance. This social guidance is reduced as

learners demonstrate skill and strategy acquisition. There is a growing body of evidence

45
that the speed and quality of a learner’s self-regulatory development can be enhanced

significantly if learners proceed according to a multilevel developmental hierarchy

(Zimmerman & Schunk, 2001). There are strategies that self-regulated learners use that

are overt and observable by others. There are some covert occurrences that characterize

the self-regulated learner also. Existing measurement of self-regulated learning allow the

learner to report both overt and covert behaviors.

Measuring Self-Regulated Learning

There is consistent debate concerning the phenomena of learning. Some theorist

stay learning is an observable behavior. Other theorists contend learning is taking place

and can occur internally without any external observation notable. When a learner self-

regulates, it can be argued that there are some external and internal processes and

subprocesses that occur. To provide evidence that self-regulation is occurring,

instruments have been developed to assess this process. Observations, stimulated recall,

interviews, and questionnaires can all be used in classroom settings (Garcia & Pintrich,

1994). Discussed here are three such instruments that have been used in assessing self-

regulation.

The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. The origination of the

Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) was to be used as a tool in

efforts to evaluate the “Learning to Learn” course at the University of Michigan. The

“Learning to Learn” course stressed the concepts of cognitive psychology and how they

could be applied to learning strategies (Deming et al., 1994). The MSLQ is a self-report

instrument designed to assess students’ motivational orientation and their use of different

learning strategies. It is based on a general social cognitive view of motivation and

46
learning strategies. In the development of the MSLQ, the learner is considered to be an

active processor of information whose beliefs and cognitions are important mediators of

instructional input and task characteristics. This instrument acknowledges the relationship

between motivation and cognition. It contextualizes motivation and learning strategies by

assessing them within the specific course as opposed to generalization across several

courses.

The MSLQ is composed of two main sections: a motivation section and a

learning strategies section. The motivation section comprises of 31 items that assess

students’ goals and value beliefs for a course, their beliefs about their skills to succeed,

and their anxiety about tests. There are two subscales within the motivation section that

assess perceived self-efficacy. There are another three subscales that are used to measure

value beliefs: intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal orientation, and task value beliefs.

The learning strategies section includes 50 items (31 items concerning the use of

metacognitive and cognitive strategies and 19 items concerning management of different

learning resources). The metacognitive subscale includes planning, monitoring, and

regulating. There are three subscales that assess the cognitive strategies students’ use:

rehearsal, elaboration, and organization strategies. Previous results using the MSLQ

suggest that when students engage in some aspects of metacognition, they tend to report

planning, monitoring, and regulating and they also do better in terms of actual

achievement; which is in line with general assumptions about self-regulated learning. The

resource management items elaborate on regulatory strategies such as time management,

environmental structuring, effort, peer learning, and help seeking. There are 81 total

items on the instrument that are scored using a seven point Likert scale. It asks students

47
to report on concrete behaviors in which they engage. The items ask students about actual

behaviors they might use as they study their course material. Table 1 illustrates the

subscales that correspond with each of the two sections of the MSLQ. It also outlines the

items of the instrument that provide scoring for each subscale.

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Table 1

Motivated Strategies and Learning Questionnaire scales, categories, and items related to

self-regulated learning behaviors

Scales and Categories Items Comprising the Scales

Motivation Scales

Intrinsic Goal Orientation 1, 16, 22, 24

Extrinsic Goal Orientation 7, 11, 13, 30
Task Value 4, 10, 17, 23, 26, 27
Control of Learning Beliefs 2, 9, 18, 25
Self-Efficacy for Learning & 5, 6, 12, 15, 20, 21, 29, 31
Performance
Test Anxiety 3, 8, 14, 19, 28

Learning Strategies Scales

Rehearsal 39, 46, 59, 72

Elaboration 53, 62, 64, 67, 69, 81
Organization 32, 42, 49, 63
Critical Thinking 38, 47, 51, 66, 71
Metacognitive Self-Regulation 33, 36, 41, 44, 54, 55, 56, 57, 61, 76, 78, 79
Time & Study Environment 35, 43, 52, 65, 70, 73, 77, 80
Management
Effort Regulation 37, 48, 60, 74
Peer Learning 34, 45, 50
Help Seeking 40, 58, 68, 75

The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory. In the early 1980s, in response to a

need arising from under prepared college students entering higher education, Weinstein

and her colleagues began work toward the development of a diagnostic instrument that

would assess an individuals learning strategies (Weinstein, Schule, and Cascallar, 1983).

The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) was developed to address the need

for a diagnostic instrument that could be used by academic advisors, college staffs, or

49
advisors to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses. It could provide at-risk students

with feedback or information about strategies optimizing their success in a variety of

learning situations common to higher education settings (Melburg et al, 1993). The

LASSI is composed of 77 items and includes the following scales: anxiety, attitude,

concentration, information processing, motivation, time management techniques,

selecting main ideas, self testing, study aids, and test strategies (Prus, Hatcher, Hope, &

Grabiel, 1995). Each scale has five to eight items each to which respondents indicate how

well the item describes them. The items are scored on a five point Likert scale (Olivarez

& Tallent-Runnels, 1994). The first five scales measure affective strategies that involve

personal factors influencing learners’ academic performance. The last five scales measure

cognitive strategies that cause students to evaluate learning by applying specific

techniques such as processing information, reviewing and retaining information for

mastery, and preparing for tests (Demming et al., 1994).

Eldredge and Palmer (1990) summarized the scales used in the LASSI instrument.

The Attitude scale is composed of eight items focusing on student’s interest in education

and school, and determines the degree to which worrying about tests affects

concentration. The function of the eight items in the Motivation scale is to assess

students’ efforts in staying on task with assignments and maintaining interest. The Time

Management scale, with its seven items, examines student use of study schedules and

other time management principles related to achieving academic tasks. The

Concentration scale has eight items that focus on student’s ability to minimize

distractions on class assignments. The eight items in the Information Processing scale

address the student’s use of mental imagery, verbal elaboration, comprehension

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monitoring, and reasoning. The Selecting Main Idea scale, with its five items, ask about

the student’s ability to pick out key points in discussions and textual information. The

eight Study Aid items examine the degree to which students create or use support

techniques or materials to help them learn and remember new information. The Self-Test

scale, containing eight items, focuses on comprehension monitoring, and students

reviewing and preparing for class tests. The test asks students if they know how to

approach different types of test questions and if they prepare appropriately for tests and

quizzes.

The LASSI has also been used to measure cognitive change and affective growth

in regularly admitted students and developmental studies students (Nist, Mealey,

Simpson, & Kroc, 1990). The other purpose of the study was to examine the

predictability of the LASSI with regards to students’ grades in other courses. The

instrument was able to show cognitive and affective growth in regularly admitted

students and developmental studies students, following a strategy instruction course, and

was considered an accurate predictor of grades for regularly admitted students. In 1995,

Prus and his colleagues looked at the LASSI being used as a predictive tool. They

conducted a study investigating the capability of the LASSI to predict first year academic

success of college students. It was to specifically determine the extent to which the scores

on the LASSI predicted freshman grade point average and retention. The scores from the

scales did provide significant amount of variance in grade point average that was not

accounted for by traditional entry-level student background variables such as race,

gender, SAT verbal score, SAT math score, and high school rank. Three of the scales (i.e.

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motivation, concentration, and self-testing) demonstrated significant correlations with

retention.

The LASSI has been modified to also assess how high schools students study and

learn. The items were modified using high school level vocabulary, and reflect learning

tasks and demands on high school environments (Eldredge & Palmer, 1990). Melburg,

Lettus, and Bonesteel (1993) also felt a need to modify the LASSI. The purpose for their

modification was to adapt the original instrument to suit adult learners needs and add

items relevant to adult student populations. They also wanted to determine if the modified

version of the LASSI (called the A-LASSI) changed any psychometric properties of the

original instrument. It is the contention of the researcher the LASSI can play a major role

in the identification of student learning strategies relate to success in distance education.

The Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule. There are few empirical articles

that address self-regulated learning strategy usage in environments other than situated

learning contexts. “Although research on self-regulated learning in naturalistic contexts is

limited to date, it is unlikely that this [self-regulated learning] emerges directly from

formal instruction” (Schunk and Zimmerman, 1998). Zimmerman and Pons (1986)

developed the Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule (SRLIS). The SRLIS was

pilot tested in six different contexts: classroom, home, writing assignments outside of

class, mathematics assignments outside of class, test preparation, and when poorly

motivated. The primary purpose of the SRLIS was to measure self-regulated learning

strategies. The secondary goal was to determine if there is a correlation between reported

use of self-regulated learning strategies and students’ achievement track. Another issue of

52
interest, to be discovered by the instrument, is the identification of the self-regulated

learning strategies that were most extensively used by high achieving students.

There are 15 categories (illustrated in Table 2) incorporated in the SRLIS that

were determined on the basis of prior research and theory of self-regulated learning.

Previous research on students in controlled learning environments has revealed

substantial evidence human achievement is heavily dependent on the use of the strategies

featured in the Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule (Bandura, 1982; Mischel &

Michel, 1983; Schunk, 1984). The Interview Schedule is an open-ended self-report

instrument and the data collected were measured according to strategy use, strategy

frequency, and strategy consistency.

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Table 2

Categories and explanation of categories associated with self-regulated learning

presented in the Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule

Categories of strategies Definitions

Self-evaluation Statements indicating student-initiated evaluations of the

quality or progress of their work

Organizing and Overt or covert rearrangement of instructional materials

transforming information

Goal-setting and planning Setting of goals and subgoals and planning of sequencing,
timing, and completing activities related to goals

Seeking information Efforts to secure further tasks information from nonsocial

sources

Keeping records and Efforts to record events or results

monitoring

Environmental structuring Select or arrange the physical setting to make learning

easier

Self-consequences Arrangement of rewards or punishments for success or

failure

Rehearsing and memorizing Efforts to memorize material by overt or covert practice

Seeking social assistance Solicitation of help from peers, teachers, and adults

Reviewing records Rereading of test, notes, or textbooks to prepare for class

or future tests

Other Learning behaviors that is initiated by others such as

teachers or parents, and all unclear verbal responses

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 One of the distinctions of the social cognitive theory of self-regulation is its

reference to the role the environment has in the learning process. It emphasizes the triadic

relationship between personal, behavior, and environmental variables. The World Wide

Web creates an environment that is more open than the static, centralized classroom

environment. Conversely, the traditional classroom environment allows the learner to

observe the modeling of expected behaviors. Wilson (1997) said modeled behavior is

lacking in most distance education environments, especially in an asynchronous, web-

based course. Modeling can be the demonstration of a physical task or it can be the

mental modeling of thought patterns. The mental modeling can be observed through the

instructor or the expert constructing concept maps, schematics, flow charts, outlines, or

any other type of graphic organizer. The modeling of the required behaviors for success

enhances self-efficacy in the learner. An observed increase in self-efficacy also enhances

motivation and the setting of higher goals.

During their academic pursuit, most students have developed and used strategies

in a traditional, face-to-face learning environment. Given the difference in context, there

may be a deficiency of these skills’ effectiveness in a web-based environment. There is

concern that these strategies, due to their context specificity, may not be transferable to a

distance environment. Dille and Mezack (1991) confirmed that distance-learning courses

often lead to social isolation and require greater reliance on independent learning skills.

They found students required less need of concrete experiences were expected to be well

suited for distance education formats. Students who needed more concrete experiences

required interactions between peers and teachers. The isolated environment that a web-

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based course promotes may negate a dependency on strategies they have previously

relied on and force them to exemplify different behaviors.

Diaz and Cartnal (1999) addressed the social dynamics that a distance education

environment places on learning preferences and use. The study compared the behaviors

between students in an on-campus class and equivalent distance course. The students in

the distance course were found to be more independent learners than those in the on-

campus course. The more independent learners were less collaborative with other

students in the course while the students in the on-campus course were more

collaborative and competitive. Their motivation was driven by the presence of their peers

and rewards from the class (extrinsic motivation). One the other hand, the distance course

students were driven by intrinsic motives and depended on self-consequating. Gamon and

Shin conducted a study including 99 undergraduate students in two web-based courses.

The researchers used nine items from the motivation section and 13 items from the

learning strategies section of the MSLQ. This study found that learning strategies and

motivation are directly related to the student’s academic achievement. The two

motivating factors expressed by the students were doing better than their peers

(performance goal orientation) and expectation of doing well in the course. Motivation

and learning strategies seemed to be the most important factors in this study concerning

web-based learning. These findings supports Pintinch and Johnson (1990) and Weinstein

and Underwood (1985) where it was found that learners who used more motivational and

learning strategies learned more than those who used fewer strategies. They also

concluded that motivational and learning strategies could be controlled by learners and

improved through instruction.

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 Distance education students work in an environment that is different from what

they are most familiar. They are not provided instruction with the same support system as

received in a traditional, face-to-face environment. They do not have the immediate

accessibility to peers and experts in the field. This requires the student to possess the

ability to interact with the information in an isolated environment. According to social

cognitive theory, the environmental and social variables contribute to the relationship

between behaviors and cognitions of a learner in their development and use of self-

regulated learning strategies. This type of isolation requires the learner to self-regulate

their motivation, confidence, and cognitive abilities (Wilson, 1997). It is hypothesized

that, even more than in traditional classrooms, self-regulatory behavior is critical when

distance learning is the primary method of instruction. The student that self-regulates will

be more successful at distance learning than the student who has problems in the area of

self-regulation.

Distance Education

Distance education has been defined as the delivery of instruction in which time

and geographic location separate students and teachers (McIsaac & Gunawardena, 1996).

Distance education courses exist as a means to serve students in remote areas, with

conflicting schedules, job demands, or family responsibilities rendering them unable to

participate in traditional education. It started in the mid 1800s in the form of a

correspondence course. It eliminated the restrictions of time and space in access to

instruction. Technological developments such as radio, television, and computers have

enhanced the power of distance education to deliver instruction in more than textual form

(e. g., audio, graphics, and video). Computer networks and the Internet have become the

57
most frequently used technologies used by online learners providing a global

communications system (Harasim, 1996). The development and uses of these new

technologies had an impact on increasing the number of students that distance education

could service.

The elimination of time and place restrictions would influence how learners

would interact. Moore (1989) discussed three types of interaction: learner-instructor,

learner-content, and learner-learner. Learner-instructor interaction is important in that

instructors are responsible for stimulating and continuously maintaining learners’ interest

in the topic, motivating students to learn, assessing students’ progress. Learner-content

interaction is defined as the intellectual interaction between the learner and the topic of

study. According to Moore, learner-content interaction is significant in an online

environment because it changes learner’s behavior toward an educational goal. “It is not

too difficult to present information over a distance, but getting people to participate and

making learning active at a distance is much harder” (Moore & Kearsley, 1996, p. 133).

Learner-learner interaction provides an opportunity for information, ideas, and dialogue

to be exchanged between the students about the course. The dependency of computer

technology in distance education delivery, especially web-based instruction, introduces a

fourth interaction.

Hillman, Hills, and Gunawardena (1994) introduced learner-interface interaction.

Learners must understand not only the procedures for working with interface, but also the

reasons why these procedures obtain results. This fourth type of interaction links the

other three types of interaction. Learners must be able to use online technologies in order

to interact and communicate with instructors, peers, and the course content. Students, in a

58
study by Styles and Zariski (2000), did not perceive the online environment as optimal in

providing feedback, explanation, or interaction with other students on supportive social

and cognitive levels. The absence of interaction can inhibit student success and may even

force online students to drop out of online courses (Miltiadou & McIsaac, 2000).

Interaction in an online environment is one of the most important factors that influence

the success or failure of a program. Success or failure of distance education programs is

determined by the attrition rate of the course. Attrition rates in distance courses tend to be

40 to 50 percent higher than the ones in traditional face-to-face classrooms (Dille &

Mezack, 1991).

Characteristics of Successful Distance Learners

Recent information in distance education confirms the results of the demographics

of a distance learner obtained from a 1984 survey. The learners typically were married

and had children; most have full time jobs, which suggests that they are working while

they are involved in the learning process (Galusha, 1998). The educational background

ranges from less than high school to possessing a degree from a university (Sheets, 1992).

Rekkedal (1983) found a significant relationship exists between prior educational level

and persistence in a distance course. Also, students who have had prior experience in

nontraditional educational opportunities persisted more than those who have had

exclusive experiences. The study reports that older students, especially those over 50

years old, have higher course completion rates. This was attributed to older students

having developed better coping skills to handle problems that may occur in a distance

environment. These overt characteristics of a distance learner provides a portrait that the

typical distance learner is employed and has personal commitments are responsible for

59
his or her efforts to be successful in the pursuit of furthering educational goals. These

motivating factors are often different for younger learners or those learners in a

traditional setting (Galusha, 1998). These are not the only characteristics a distance

learner must posses to be successful.

Characteristics that appear to be predictors of success are high self-confidence

and academic accomplishment. Variables that appeared in the literature that were

significant with distance education course completion were locus of control, age, and

number of distance courses completed. Learners with an internal locus of control are

defined as one who holds the belief that the outcome of a situation is contingent on his or

her own behavior, appears to have the higher rates of completion (Dille & Mezack,

1991). Kerka (1996) wrote that self-directed (self-regulated) learning is associated with

an internal locus of control. Research findings suggest the combination of personal (such

as learning style), environmental, and social factors must be taken into account when

predicting academic success in distance learning programs (McIsaac and Gunawardena,

1996). The social and environmental variables are a component of the triadic reciprocity

of self-regulated learning. This relationship between the environment, behaviors, and

personal (cognitions) aspects of self-regulation are mediated, according to social

cognitive theory, by self-efficacy. The evidence of research stating these particular

characteristics have been found as predictors of success in a distance education

environment validates the need for a learner to develop and exemplify the use self-

regulated learning behaviors.

Age as a predictor of dropout has shown significant results when used as an

independent variable (Cooper, 1990). Until recently, adult learners have made up the

60
population of learners who have participated in distance education experiences. They

have been trained for traditional face-to-face lecture style of learning. Many adult

learners have been away from the school system for a long time. This separation of time

has made them anxious and possibly questioning their confidence to achieve

academically. However, their motivation is high and they have a will to learn (Wilson,

1997). They are more concerned for learning for the sake of learning. The influx of adults

taking distance education courses has occurred because of the proliferating demands of

our technological society (Parker, 1999).

Brem and Boyes (2000) identified four ways a student can utilize and improve on

their ability to monitor what they know and what they do not know (i. e., metacognition)

in a web-based environment. The student can put the project aside for a brief time. Doing

so will allow for continued revisiting of the material, which improves memory and

comprehension. Nelson and Dunlosky (1991) found short breaks improve the ability to

accurately assess what has been learned. Another tactic used was to verbalize what had

been found. Chi, DeLeeuw, Chiu, and LaVancher (1994) discovered keeping a running

dialogue is effective in highlighting inconsistencies and gaps in knowledge. Verbalization

can occur internally or externally. The student initiates dialogue with parents, teachers, or

others about their project and information that has been found. This verbalization is not

limited to oral or textual media; it can be expressed graphically (e. g., concept mapping).

Yet, another aspect students should focus on, to improve metacognition, is to develop

strong content knowledge. The student can enhance their knowledge about a subject and

help refine searches for relevant materials by researching synonymous keywords. Finally,

61
the student can ask for help by referencing resources such as librarians, instructors, and

peers will help in interpreting materials critically to extract information.

Most institutions have an open admissions policy in granting permissions for

learners to participate in web-based courses. There are few criteria outside of possible

financial and technical requirements. The pursuit of academic achievement in a distance

program requires skills that transcend pure academic content and requires high levels of

organization, and goal commitment. Previous academic experiences may not have

required the self-direction and motivation skills that are essential for distance study. Most

of the research studies on adult distance education clearly indicated that a successful

distance learner is one who is highly motivated, who experiences initial success and

possesses good time management skills (Moore, 1990; Candy, 1991). Distance education

programs are less able to provide under prepared students with the necessary skills and

interventions for success in this environment (Melburg et al., 1993). Some institutions

issue the potential students a self-assessment instrument (see Appendix A). The results of

this assessment will encompass recommendations from the institution regarding whether

or not the student should engage in courses online, but it is still up to the student to

decide to take the course online. The items ask the students to evaluate themselves in

regards to general characteristics such as motivation and learning styles. The

development of the items for these instruments are based on characteristics that have

been considered necessary to be successful in distance learning environments; they are

similar to characteristics of self-directed and self-regulated learners. Although the

instrument is general and has no affect on permission to take a distance courses, the fact

62
institutions draw their prospective student’s attention to such a document prior to their

enrollment infers the necessity of such skills.

63
 CHAPTER THREE: METHOD

The correlational study addressed four self-regulatory behaviors (e. g., time and

study environment management, intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal orientation, and

metacognitive self-regulation) and investigated their relationship with academic

performance in web-based courses. Previous research in self-regulated learning provides

evidence of academic performance as a function of self-regulated learning behaviors in

traditional settings. Distance education literature hypothesizes, but provides few studies

including adult learners and the relationship between self-regulated learning behaviors

and academic performance in a web-based course. The contextual issue is exponential in

that instruction is available to learners in varying subject domains as well as the physical

environment in which learning is novel to this group of learners. This research developed

a process that can be followed by other proponents of self-regulated learning and distance

education. It provides a means where other self-regulated learning behaviors can be

investigated and included in the creation of a tool that will be of interest and assistance to

institutions, instructors, course developers, and students in predicting success in a web-

based course according to self-regulated learning behaviors. This chapter describes the

participants in this study; materials used for data collection; communication between the

administration, faculty, students, and researcher; and general overview of each of the

procedures involved in analyzing the data collected.

64
 Participants

The participants in this study were 106 students (85 female; 21 male) enrolled in

distance learning courses offered by a community college located in southwest Virginia.

The distance learners participated in the following courses during the Fall 2002 semester:

Business, College Orientation, Database Management, English/Literature, Health,

Introduction to the Internet, Mathematics, Microcomputer Software, Programming,

Psychology, Sociology. Through confirmation by each instructor, each course was

generally categorized as either a humanities or technical course. Fifty-one percent of the

participants were enrolled in technical courses; forty-nine percent were enrolled in

humanities courses.

The age of the participating students ranged from 17 to 58. Figure 2 illustrates the

number of students who participated by age group (i. e., 17-22, 23-32, 33-42, 43-50, and

over 50). The age groups having the most participation among the distance learners were

the 17 to 22 age group and 23 to 32 age group with 30 students each. However, 72

percent of the learners participating in this study represented the “non-traditional” student

(i. e., above the age of 22). The line graph indicates a steady decline in the number of

65
students with the increase in age.

35
30 30
30
27
25

20

15
14

10

5 5

0
17 - 22 23 - 32 33 - 42 43 - 50 50 +

Figure 2. Number of participants according to age grouping

The 106 distance learners declared themselves as a member of one of four ethnic

groups (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Percentage of ethnic representation of participants who volunteered to

participate in this study

66
The majority of the participants in this study supported the demographic of students in

previous accounts related to distance learners: Caucasian, female learners who were non-

traditional students.

Materials

Learners who participate in courses in a web-based environment are separated by

time and space from the instructor and their peers. They are not instantaneously available

at a central location and time to immediately observe these behaviors. Networking

technologies were utilized to communicate via the Internet. Due to the separation by time

and space, the forms made available to the participants were stored and maintained on a

server that published the forms electronically via the Internet. The Participant’s Consent

Form (Appendix C) was made available to the participants for their awareness of

information relevant to their involvement in the research study. By way of the

Participation’s Consent Form, the participants were given an opportunity to acknowledge

their agreement (or disagreement) to participate in the study. Upon their decision to

participate in the study, they gained access to the questionnaire (see Appendix D). The

questionnaire was used to capture responses to 28-items related to four self-regulated

learning behaviors, as well as, demographic information. The participants reported self-

regulated learning behaviors by rating themselves on a self-report instrument.

Questionnaire. The participants accessed items from four categories of the

Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). The MSLQ is a self-report

instrument designed to assess college students’ motivational orientation and their use of

different learning strategies for a college course (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie,

1993). There are two sections that make up the original instrument: a motivation section

67
and learning strategies section. The motivational subscales are based on general social

cognitive model of motivation that proposes three general constructs (Pintrich, 1988a,

1988b, 1989): expectancy, value, and affect. Participants responded to items in two of the

subscales in the motivational section: intrinsic goal orientation and extrinsic goal

orientation. These two subscales measured value beliefs.

The learning strategies section is based on a general cognitive model of learning

and information processing (Weinstein & Mayer, 1986). This section has three general

types of scales: cognitive, metacognitive, and resource management. The participants in

this study responded to items associated with the metacognitive self-regulation and the

time and study environment management categories. These categories are representative

of the metacognitive and resource management scales respectively. Metacognitive self-

regulation is concerned with the use of strategies that help students control and regulate

their cognitions. It includes planning (setting goals), monitoring (of one’s

comprehension), and regulating (e. g., adjusting reading speed depending on the task).

Time and study environment management provides information on a student’s use of

time as well as having an appropriate place to study.

The items associated with categories of the MSLQ are scored on a 7-point Likert

scale, from 1 (not very much like me) to 7 (very true of me). Scores on each of the

subscales are determined by taking the mean of the responses on items that make up that

category. For the purposes of this research, there will be four categories used. The 81

items that are associated with each category of the original version of the MSLQ are in

Appendix C. Upon initial introduction of the original version of the MSLQ, analyses

were conducted on items in the MSLQ using 380 Midwestern college students. Factor

68
analyses were performed on the motivational categories and learning strategies categories

of the instrument. These analyses identified the items associated with specific subscales

of the instrument. The results of the factor analysis created a theoretical model for the

motivational and learning strategies scales. The model of four subscales of the MSLQ can

be observed in Figure 4. The numbers on the arrows represent the factor loadings

resulting from factor analysis. The boxes in Figure 4 symbolize the specific items on the

questionnaire and their association with each subscale.

Figure 4. Correlation between items and categories after initial factor analyses was

conducted on the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire using 380

undergraduate students in a traditional classroom environment (Pintrich et al., 1993).

69
 Procedures

This section provides specific information concerning virtual communication

between the researcher and instructors, students, and administrators of the community

college delivering the courses at a distance. It contains references to correspondence as

well as forms used in the data collection process. These forms can be found in the

Appendices. Table 3 outlines a summary of the events that transpired.

Table 3

Actions taken by researcher, instructor, and students by week concerning preparations for

conduct of study

Week Actions Taken

• Met with Director of Distance Learning to present research idea.
0
• Met with distance learning faculty to present research study

1 Sent email to Director of Distance Learning to confirm instructor participation

Instructors sent response to researcher agreeing to allow students to participate

2-3
in study

4 Researcher inquired about names of courses and classification of course as

humanities or technical from instructors

5–6 Instructors respond with name of course and classification of course as

humanities or technical courses

6–7 • Researcher edit web-based forms for data collection

• Researcher consults with server administrator to store forms and data on
server

8 • Researcher sent email to instructors providing hyperlink to electronic

forms associated with research study
• Instructors forwarded email to students
• Students access hyperlink to participate in research study

9 Students access hyperlink to participate in research study

10 • Access to electronic forms for data collection was discontinued

70
 The researcher met with the Director of Distance Learning and distance-learning

instructors to present the research study and solicit participation from students enrolled in

their distance learning courses. The researcher sent an email to the instructors who agreed

to allow their students to volunteer for participation in the research study. This email was

sent on the eighth week of the community college’s academic calendar. The decision to

start the study on the eight week was to increase probability in the variability of grades

between students. The email was forwarded to the students who were enrolled in a

distance-learning course being taught by the participating instructor. If they volunteer to

participate in the study, the students were instructed to select the hyperlink [included in

the email message] giving them access to the Participant’s Consent Form.

The Participant’s Consent Form provided information to the students about the

research study. By agreeing to participate, the students confirm their reading and

understanding of the information on this form and they were given immediate access to

the questionnaire. The students selected a response (i. e., a value from 1 to 7) for each of

the 28-items on the questionnaire. On the Participant’s Information section of the

questionnaire, they also provided demographic information regarding their age, ethnicity,

gender, name of course, and grade the current grade they had in the course at the time

they completed the questionnaire. After providing information for all items on the

questionnaire, the students submitted the information to a comma delimited text file

stored on a web server located on the campus of a university in the state of North

Carolina. The data was imported and formatted in Microsoft Excel. Later, it was imported

71
into the SAS statistical analysis application where it underwent factor analysis,

multivariate analysis of variance, and regression analyses.

Data Analysis

Correlational analysis implies the following: the total observation is a randomly

drawn sample, the sampled distribution is a multivariate normal distribution, and all of

the variables are dependent variables. These types of analyses do not attempt to infer

cause and effect relationships.

Factor analyses. Factor analyses include several correlational analyses to examine

the interrelationships among variables (Carr, 1992; Gorsuch, 1983). Daniel (1988)

informs factor analysis is designed to examine covariance structure of a set of variables

and to provide an explanation of the relationship among those variable in terms of a

smaller number of unobserved latent variables called factors. Factor analysis is a theory-

testing model. The hypothesized model specifies which items (variables) will be

correlated with which factors. The hypothesized model is based on a strong theoretical

and/or empirical foundation (Stevens, 1996).

Confirmatory factor analysis, a subsidiary of factor analysis, determined if the

data received from the students in the web-based courses fit the theoretical structure of

the MSLQ on the four categories used in this study (see Appendix C). The results of the

path analysis found there to be significant differences between the theoretical model and

the data collected from the 106 participants in this study. The factor analysis procedures

specified the strength of the correlation between the item and the subscales (later referred

to as categories) of self-regulated learning behaviors. Each item was confirmed to be

associated with categories of self-regulated learning behavior; or if not, it may not

72
associate with any category and eliminated from consideration. Factor analysis offered a

viable method for evaluating construct validity of the instrument with the participants of

this study according to their context in learning and age.

Discriminant Analyses. Another focus of this study investigated the relationship

between self-regulated learning behaviors and type of course. Due to the different

domains of learning (e. g., math, science, English, Literature), the relationship between

the use of behaviors and the domain in which they are used deserves attention. In order to

describe this relationship, descriptive discriminant analysis was conducted. According to

Kerlinger and Pedhazure (1973) “the discriminant function is a regression equation with a

dependent variable that represents group membership.” (p. 337). Stevens (1996) points

out that discriminant analysis makes descriptions parsimonious because several groups

can be compared on multiple variables. The basic prerequisites for conducting

discriminant analysis are that two or more groups exist which can be presumed different

on several variables and that those variables can be measured at the interval or ratio level

(Klecka, 1980). According to Huberty (1994), descriptive discriminant analysis is

appropriate because the type of course is predetermined. The criterion variables were the

four self-regulatory behaviors, and the grouping variable was the type of course. The

specific method of discriminant analysis used in this study was multivariate analysis of

variance (MANOVA). The final stage of this study required analysis involving multiple

regressions.

Regression Analyses. After each item was confirmed to represent a latent factor

(subscale), multiple regressions statistically correlate the numerical factor of each

subscale with the grade provided by the participant. The grades ranged from zero to 100

73
providing continuous data points. Multiple regression techniques include the factor

coefficient, factor score of the category, and the grade to determine the strength of the

relationship. Multiple regressions were appropriate due to the existence of several

independent variables (intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal orientation, metacognitive

self-regulation, and time and study environment management) and one dependent

variable (grade). Multiple regression determined how much each of the independent

variables factor into the dependent variable.

74
 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS

The focus of this study is to determine if there exists a correlation between self-

regulated learning and academic performance in web-based courses. The self-regulated

learning behaviors of the 106 distance learners who took part in this study were assessed

via their responses to 28 items on a web-based version of the Motivated Strategies for

Learning questionnaire (MSLQ). This chapter will provide information concerning the

processes that were put into practice to 1) define the number of categories associated with

self-regulated learning, 2) determine the relationship between the type of course and self

regulated learning behaviors, and 3) create the mathematical formula to predict success in

a web-based course. The function of this chapter is to inform the reader of the results of

the following inquiries:

1) Is there a relationship between the employment of self-regulated learning

behaviors and the domain (i. e., humanities or technical courses) in which

learning occurs?

2) Is there a significant relationship between a student’s management of time and

study environment and their academic performance in web-based courses?

3) Is there a significant relationship between a student’s intrinsic goal orientation

and their academic performance in a web-based course?

4) Is there a significant relationship between a student’s metacognitive self-

regulation and academic performance in a web-based course?

5) Is there a significant relationship between a student’s extrinsic goal orientation

and their academic performance in a web-based course?

75
 Item-factor and factor-category relationships

The 28 items of the MSLQ the participants responded to were associated with

four categories of self-regulated learning: intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal

orientation, metacognitive self-regulation, and time and study environment management.

This association between the items and the categories was established through factor

analysis. Factor analysis is a set of procedures used to take variables (items) that are alike

and group them under one variable called a factor (Kachigan, 1982). Factor analysis is

viewed as a data reduction technique used to reduce the number of overlapping measured

variables (i. e., the 28 items) to a smaller set of factors (i. e., four categories). The number

of factors produced is generally smaller than the number of initial variables (Green,

Salkind, & Akey, 2000). The initial factor analysis using the MSLQ was conducted based

upon responses to items provided by 380 undergraduate students in a “traditional”

psychology course offered by the University of Michigan. The learners who participated

in the present study ranged in age from 17 to 58 participating in courses offered by a

community college in a “non-traditional” learning environment.

76
Figure 5. Correlation after first factor analyses was conducted on the 28 items and four

categories from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire using 380

undergraduate students

Figure 5 shows the items and the categories of the theoretical model created to

validate the items of the MSLQ after factor analysis was conducted using 380

undergraduate students. The number in the boxes corresponds with the item number on

the questionnaire (also see Appendix E). The arrow between the item number [in the box]

and the category [in the oval] indicates there is a relationship between the item and the

77
category. The decimal value on the arrow indicates the strength of the relationship or the

coefficient assigned to the corresponding item. This was the comparative model used in

factor analysis conducted using the same 28 items with the present distance-learning

students. Due to the demographic and environmental characteristics of the learners

participating in the present study, the procedures of factor analysis were exercised.

Factor analysis required two stages: factor extraction and factor rotation. Factor

extraction determined the number of factors necessary to categorize the 28 items. The

factor extraction process began with a variation of factor analysis called principal

component factor analysis. Principal component factor analysis identified the factors that

represent abstractions of the 28 input variables. In other words, this determined the

number of factors with which each of the 28 items will be associated. Table 4 is the result

of the 28 items being input and extracted from a correlation matrix during the principal

component factor analysis phase.

78
Table 4

The percentage of total variance accounted for, and the associated eigenvalues, for the

extracted factors in a factor analysis of a set of 28 items (variables) associated with self-

regulated learning behaviors

% of total Variance
# of Incremental Portion of
Eigenvalue (Cumulative)
Factors Variance (%)
1 7.26689462 25.95 25.95
2 3.02609876 10.81 36.76
3 2.22918706 7.96 44.72
4 2.16038257 7.72 52.44
5 1.55531127 5.55 57.99
6 1.29652817 4.63 62.62
7 1.07374831 3.83 66.46
8 1.03154124 3.68 70.14
9 .94057630 3.36 73.50
10 .86809679 3.10 76.60
11 .81743861 2.92 79.52
12 .64791291 2.31 81.83
13 .63206558 2.26 84.09
14 .55768485 1.99 86.08
15 .50906622 1.82 87.90
16 .47635748 1.70 89.60
17 .43795776 1.56 91.17
18 .38800656 1.39 92.55
19 .33619316 1.20 93.75
20 .30596490 1.09 94.85
21 .27236687 .97 95.82
22 .24388069 .87 96.69
23 .21632001 .70 97.46
24 .18611759 .66 98.13
25 .16201704 .58 98.71
26 .13501743 .48 99.19
27 .12206024 .44 99.62
28 .10521503 .38 100.00

79
Each of the 28 items was considered an individual factor, therefore, 28 categories were

extracted. According to the incremental portion of variance column in Table 4, the first

extracted factor accounted for 25.95 percent of the variability in the data collected.

Extracting a second factor accounted for another 10.81 percent for a cumulative

percentage of approximately 36.67 percent. The first extracted factor usually accounts for

the largest part of the total variance inherent in the data collected. The second factor

extracted and the succeeding factor incrementally less variance (Kachigan, 1982).

There are two criteria used to statistically determine the number of factors to

extract: 1) the absolute magnitude of the eigenvalues of categories and 2) the relative

magnitudes of eigenvalues of categories. An eigenvalue is the equivalent number of

variables the factor represents. It is the amount of variance of the variables accounted for

by a factor (Green et al, 2000). According to Table 4, four factors would account for the

same amount of variance in the data, as would approximately 2.1604 variables.

One frequently used criterion for determining the number of factors to extract is

“to retain factors to the point where an additional factor would account for less variance

than a typical variable; that is, less than one eigenvalue” (Kachigan, 1982, p. 246). This is

sometimes referred to as the mineigen criterion. According to Table 1, the extraction of

eight factors equates to the same variance in the data as 1.035 variables. Extracting an

eighth factor adds an additional 3.68 percent to the total variability of the data collected.

This means extracting eight factors to represent the variables (i. e., the 28 items) is

accountable for a cumulative 70.14 percent of the variability in the data collected from

the 106 participants in this study. The extraction of a ninth factor would have the same

80
variance as .94057630 variables, which is less than one variable. The extraction of any

number of categories greater than eight was in violation of the mineigen criterion.

The next stage of the factor analysis involved establishing a relationship between

the eight factors and the 28 items affiliated with the questionnaire. This occurred in the

factor rotation stage of factor analysis. The rotation technique provided a means of

redefining the factors so the explained variance of the 28 items is distributed among the

newly defined eight factors. It redefined the factors in order to make sharper distinctions

in the meanings of the factors (Kachigan, 1982). The factor rotation determined the

strength of the relationship between each item and one of the eight factors. There are

three commonly used rotation methods: varimax, quartimax, and equimax. The varimax

rotation method minimizes the number of items that have high correlations on each

factor. The quartimax rotation method minimizes the number of factors to explain each

item.

Of the various rotation techniques, the equimax rotation method was exercised in

this study. The equimax rotation method is a combination of both the varimax and

quartimax rotation methods. Its goal is to minimize both the variables (items) that

correlate with a factor and the number of factors needed to explain a variable (item).

Using this method assured that each item would correlate with only one of the eight

factors. The equimax rotation method functioned from the creation of a factor correlation

matrix. Simultaneously, each item was evaluated across each category and with each of

the other items within a factor to determine the strength of the items relationship to a

factor. Figure 6 elucidates the associative nature of each item to one of the eight factors.

81
The decimal values corresponding to the arrows provide information concerning the

strength of the items relationship to the factor.

Figure 6. Correlation between the items and the number of factors necessary to explain

four categories of self-regulated learning behaviors after 1st Equimax Rotation Method

82
 Figure 6 denotes the structure of a proposed model according to the data collected

from the 106 distance learners. The factor extraction process extracted eight factors. The

focus of this research is based on four categories of self-regulation. Factor analysis

functions based on an established theoretical model. Therefore, these eight factors serve

as abstractions (i. e., represented affiliates) to the four categories of self-regulated

learning. The relationship between each factor and category of self-regulated learning

behavior depended on the items that loaded onto the factor. For example, items 13, 15,

22, 23, 25, 26, and 28 correlated with Factor 1 after the factor rotation procedure.

According to the theoretical model (see Figure 5), these same items were affiliated with

time and study environment management. This provides rational for Factor 1 to be

affiliated with time and study environment management in Figure 6. In Figure 6, items 2,

3, and 4 correlate with Factor 6. According to the theoretical model (see Figure 4), these

items were affiliated with the category extrinsic goal orientation. After factor rotation,

this validated the affiliation of Factor 6 with extrinsic goal orientation in this study.

In comparing the theoretical model (Figure 5) and the model produced in the

present study after the first factor analysis (Figure 6), there exist more factors in Figure 6

than there are categories of self-regulated learning behaviors. Factor analysis is a theory-

testing model, not a theory-creating model. The hypothesized model specifies which

variables (items) will be correlated with which factors (subscales). The hypothesized

model is based on a strong theoretical and/or empirical foundation (Stevens, 1996). Given

that fact, in some cases, more than one factor represented a category of self-regulated

learning behaviors. Again, the items associated with each factor determined the factor’s

affiliation with a category. For example, in Figure 6, items 11, 14, and 17 were correlated

83
with Factor 3; and items 8, 18, 19, and 20 were correlated with Factor 4. According to the

theoretical model (Figure 4), these items [with the exception of item 8] were correlated

with the category metacognitive self regulation. According to Figure 6, Factor 1

represents time and study environment management; factors 2, 3, and 4 represent

metacognitive self-regulation; Factors 5 and 8 represent intrinsic goal orientation; and

Factor 6 represents extrinsic goal orientation. There are three items loaded onto Factor 5

and two items from the questionnaire loaded onto Factor 8. Items 1, 5, 6, and 7 are

associated with intrinsic goal orientation according to the theoretical model (see Figure

5). There was one isolated occurrence where only one item correlated with only one

factor.

Figure 6 shows item number nine of the questionnaire correlated with factor

seven. Because item nine is a single item loaded on a single factor, there was little

statistical or theoretical evidence to determine which category of self-regulated learning

behaviors (e. g., extrinsic goal orientation) factor seven was affiliated. This occurrence

prompted closer evaluation of this item. Further analysis of item nine was prescribed to

observe the relationship between it and the other items of the questionnaire. Table 5 is the

resultant correlation matrix produced from the further analysis of item nine.

84
 Table 5

Correlation matrix showing the strength of the relationship

between item 9 and the other 27 items using the MSLQ

according to information provided by participating distance

learners

Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 4 Item 5

Item 9 0.1183 -0.0127 -0.1454 -0.2012 -0.1224

Item 6 Item 7 Item 8 Item 10 Item 11

Item 9 0.0008 0.0060 -0.0956 0.1947 0.1207

Item 12 Item 13 Item 14 Item 15 Item 16

Item 9 0.1694 0.2852 0.1465 0.3242 0.2715

Item 17 Item 18 Item 19 Item 20 Item 21

Item 9 0.0821 -0.0497 0.2716 -0.0181 -0.0770

Item 22 Item 23 Item 24 Item 25 Item 26

Item 9 0.0724 0.1170 0.0229 0.2584 0.1521

Item 27 Item 28
Item 9 -0.0542 0.1018

Correlations ranged from –0.2012 to 0.3242. These are considerably low correlations

explaining the isolation of item nine onto a single category.

Due to the low correlations between item nine and the other items affiliated with

the questionnaire, it was eliminated from consideration and the data, again, underwent

factor extraction and factor rotation. Table 6 resulted due to its elimination. It shows

seven factors equates to the same variance as 1.05589436 variables in explaining the

variability in the data collected. Extracting an eighth factor would only be responsible for

an additional 3.64 percent of the variability. This extraction would explain the variance of

85
less than one variable (.98291775 variables). The extraction of any number of factors

greater than seven would result in an additional percentage of variance by less than one

variable. After the second set of factor analysis procedures [after eliminating item 9], it

was determined seven factors explained 67.71 percent of the variability in the data using

27 items. After the number of necessary factors was determined, the Equimax Rotation

86
Table 6

The percentage of total variance accounted for, and the associated eigenvalues, for the

extracted factors in a factor analysis of a set of 27 items (variables) associated with self-

regulated learning behaviors

# of Incremental Portion % of total Variance

Eigenvalue
Factors of Variance (%) (Cumulative)

1 7.23416296 26.79 26.79

2 2.93068621 10.85 37.65
3 2.18240300 8.08 45.73
4 2.09210948 7.75 53.48
5 1.54455283 5.72 59.20
6 1.24131087 4.60 63.80
7 1.05589436 3.91 67.71
8 .98291775 3.64 71.35
9 .94039900 3.48 74.83
10 .82105009 3.04 77.87
11 .71133457 2.63 80.51
12 .64687531 2.40 82.90
13 .59458631 2.20 85.10
14 .52315468 1.94 87.04
15 .50318284 1.86 88.91
16 .47481900 1.76 90.66
17 .38993370 1.44 92.11
18 .35054293 1.30 93.41
19 .31316239 1.16 94.57
20 .27245999 1.01 95.58
21 .25851469 .96 96.53
22 .21636115 .80 97.33
23 .18644303 .69 98.03
24 .16349664 .61 98.63
25 .14001395 .52 99.15
26 .12381282 .46 99.61
27 .10581445 .39 100.00

Method was again enforced to arrange the items’ affiliation with each factor and the

strength of the relationship. The items correlated with each factor determined the self-

regulated learning category each factor represented. Figure 7 illustrates time and study

87
environment management were represented by Factors 1 and 7; metacognitive self-

regulation was represented by Factors 3, 4, and 5; intrinsic goal orientation was

represented by Factor 2; and extrinsic goal orientation was represented by Factor 6.

Figure 7. Correlation between the items and the number of factors necessary to explain

four categories of self-regulated learning behaviors after the exclusion of item nine

(Second Equimax Rotation Method)

88
 The Domain of Learning

The participants in this study were enrolled in courses ranging from computer

programming courses to sociology. As mentioned in chapter 3, the courses, in which the

participants were enrolled, were categorized by the instructors as humanities or technical

courses. The next phase of the study involved determining the relationship between the

types of courses in which the learners were enrolled and their academic performance in

the course.

Table 7

Relationship between course and grade

Source DF SS MS F p

Course 1 667.731720 667.731720 2.99 .0872

Factor 1 (Time and Study) 1 1744.228621 1744.228621 7.80 .0063
Factor 2 (Intrinsic Goal) 1 810.088566 810.088566 3.62 .0600
Factor 3 (Metacognitive) 1 199.582788 199.582788 0.89 .3472
Factor 4 (Metacognitive) 1 90.351668 90.351668 0.40 .5265
Factor 5 (Metacognitive) 1 582.354945 582.354945 2.60 .1098
Factor 6 (Extrinsic Goal) 1 29.392775 29.392775 0.13 .7177
Factor 7 (Time and Study) 1 1799.415526 1799.415526 8.05 .0056

The different domains of learning could explain some of the variability in the

students’ academic performances. The researcher investigated the correlations between

the types of courses and the grade the students received in the course by conducting a

regression analysis. One of the objectives of a regression analysis is to determine if a

relationship exists between two variables (Kachigan, 1982). The independent variable, in

this analysis, was the course; and the dependent variable was the grade. Table 7 illustrates

the results of regression analysis conducted. After the regression analysis, the course

variable yielded a significance value of .0872. This value is greater than .05 (p > .05)

89
which concluded the type of course is not significant to how the students performed in

the course. The type of course was an important variable to investigate because if the

domain is found significant (p < .05) the COURSE variable becomes a factor necessary

to include in predicting academic performance of learners engaged in a distance learning

environment.

One of the inquiries of this research concerned the relationship between the

employment of self-regulated learning behaviors and the domain in which learning

occurred. To describe the relationship between self-regulated learning behaviors and

domain of learning, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted. A

MANOVA tests the hypothesis that the population means for the dependent variables are

the same for all levels of a factor. The independent variables for a MANOVA are called

factors and each factor has two or more levels. The MANOVA also includes multiple

dependent variables rather than a single dependent variable (Green et al., 2000). In this

study, the independent variables were the seven factors representing the categories of

self-regulated learning behaviors; the dependent (grouping) variable was the type of

course the participants were enrolled (humanities and technical courses). Table 8 is the

result from the MANOVA conducted using each self-regulated learning behavior factor

individually and collectively. In the analysis of the relationship between the domain and

all factors representing self-regulated learning, it was found there is a significant

difference (p = .0274) in the employment of overall self-regulated learning behaviors

between humanities and technical courses.

90
Table 8

Significance of self-regulated learning behaviors in humanities and technical courses

Wilk’s Lambda F p
All Factors Included
(Factors 1-7) .8548 2.38 .0274

Time and Study

Environment Management .9997 .02 .9839
(Factor 1 and Factor 7)
Metacognitive Self-Regulation
.9014 3.72 .0138
(Factor 3, 4, and 5)
Intrinsic Goal Orientation
.9681 3.42 .0671
(Factor 2)
Extrinsic Goal Orientation
.9855 1.52 .2197
(Factor 6)

When each factor was isolated and the MANOVA was conducted, time and study

environment management, intrinsic goal orientation, and extrinsic goal orientation

returned significance values of .9839, .0671, and .2197, respectively. These significance

values are greater than the standard significance value (p-value) of .05. These

significance values being greater than .05 indicate there is no difference in the use of self-

regulated learning behaviors associated with time and study environment management,

intrinsic goal orientation, and extrinsic goal orientation and the learning domain

pertaining to humanities and technical courses. However, there is evidence (p = .0138)

the application of affiliate behaviors of metacognitive self-regulation (Factors 3, 4, and 5)

differ between the two types of courses.

91
 The Mathematical Formula

Twenty-seven items were affiliated with seven factors to determine the

relationship existing between intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal orientation,

metacognitive self-regulation, time and study environment management and academic

performance. Several of the questions this research attempted to answer involved the

relationship existing between these self-regulated learning behaviors and academic

performance in a web-based course.

Multiple linear regressions were performed to investigate the relationships

between the seven factors affiliated with the self-regulated learning behaviors and

academic performance. The overall objective of regression analysis is 1) to determine if a

relationship exists between two variables, 2) to describe the nature of the relationship in

the form of a mathematical equation, 3) to assess the degree of accuracy of the prediction

achieved by the mathematical regression equation, and 4) to assess the relative

importance of the predictor variables in multiple regression (Kachigan, 1982). The

multiple linear regressions were used to determine the relationships and the strength of

those significant relationships between the factors of self-regulated learning and

academic performance. In the multiple regression models, the course grade was set as the

dependent variable and each of the seven factors were considered the independent

variables. The type of course was excluded in the regression models because the

regression analysis found the course not to be a significant contributor to the academic

performance of the participants.

In the full regression model, the seven factors (i. e., the independent variables)

were simultaneously included with the grade (i. e., the dependent variable). The results of

92
this analysis returned a significance value of .0017 (see Table 12). This value is less than

the comparative significance standard of .05 (p < .05). This indicated there is a significant

correlation between self-regulated learning behaviors [addressed in this study] and

academic performance in web-based courses.

Is there a significant relationship between a student’s management of time and study

environment and their academic performance in web-based courses?

During the factor analyses phase of this study, Factors 1 and 7 were affiliated with

time and study environment management. During the regression analysis phase of the

study (see Table 9), Factors 1 and 7 returned significance values of .0071 and .0055

respectively. When both factors (i. e., Factor 1 and Factor 7) were simultaneously placed

in a full regression model (see Table 12), time and study environment management

returned a significance value of .0009. These findings suggest there is a significant

relationship between time and study environment management and academic

performance in web-based courses.

Is there a significant relationship between a student’s intrinsic goal orientation and their

academic performance in a web-based course?

The factor analyses phase of this study affiliated Factor 2 with the self-regulated

learning behavior of intrinsic goal orientation. During the regression analysis phase

conducted during this study, Factor 2 reported a significance value of .0267 (see Table 9).

In the full regression model (see Table 12), intrinsic goal orientation reported a

significance value of .0373. These analyses confirm the existence of a significant

93
relationship between intrinsic goal orientation and academic performance in a web-based

course.

Table 9

Results of multiple linear regressions comparing seven factors associated with self-

regulated learning behaviors and grade

Coefficient Root Grade

R-Square
Variable MSE Mean

.205226 17.79465 15.10531 84.88679

Parameter Coefficients SE t p
Constant 84.88679245 1.46715704 57.86 <.0001
Factor 1 (Time and Study) 4.05361613 1.47412695 2.75 .0071
Factor 2 (Intrinsic Goal) 3.31584221 1.47412695 2.25 .0267
Factor 3 (Metacognitive) 2.21525897 1.47412695 1.50 .1361
Factor 4 (Metacognitive) .61689457 1.47412695 .42 .6765
Factor 5 (Metacognitive) -2.17550043 1.47412695 -1.48 .1432
Factor 6 (Extrinsic Goal) .20564603 1.47412695 .14 .8893
Factor 7 (Time and Study) 4.18334836 1.47412695 2.84 .0055

Is there a significant relationship between a student’s metacognitive self-

regulation and academic performance in a web-based course?

Factors 3, 4, and 5 were found to be associated with the metacognitive self-

regulation category of self-regulated learning behaviors after the factor analyses

procedures conducted in this study. In the regression analyses phase of this study, Factors

3, 4, and 5 returned significance values greater than .05 (see Table 9). The significance

values were .1361, .6765, and .1432 respectively. In the full regression model (see Table

12), metacognitive self-regulation returned a significance value of .2717. The findings of

this study indicate there does not exist a relationship between metacognitive self-

regulation and academic performance in web-based courses.

94
Is there a significant relationship between a student’s extrinsic goal orientation and their

academic performance in a web-based course?

Factor 6 was found to be associated with extrinsic goal orientation as a result of

the factor analyses procedures conducted earlier in this study. During the regression

analysis phase, Factor 6 returned a significance value of .8893 (i. e., p = .8893) which is

greater than .05 (see Table 9). In the regression model produced (see Table 12), extrinsic

goal orientation returned a significance value of .8983 which is greater than .05. This

confirms there does not exist a significant relationship between extrinsic goal orientation

and academic performance in web-based courses.

Table 10

Significance values for factors associated with Time and Study Environment

Management

Source DF SS MS F p
Factor 1 1 1725.339390 1725.339390 7.23 0.0084
Factor 7 1 1837.542371 1837.52371 7.70 0.0065

Factors 1 and 7 were associated with time and study environment management

after factor rotation during the factor analysis phase of this study. Since there are two

factors associated with this particular category of self-regulated learning behavior, it is

necessary to isolate these two factors (holding all other factors constant) to determine

which of these two factors (i. e., Factor 1 or Factor 7) is responsible for the significant

finding. In initiating the General Linear Model (GLM) procedure, using factor 1 and 7 as

95
the independent variables and grade as the dependent variable, both Factor 1 and Factor 7

return significance values of .0084 and .0065 respectively. Table 10 concludes both

factors [1 and 7] contributed to the significant finding of the positive relationship

between time and study environment management and academic performance.

Three factors characterized metacognitive self-regulation (factors 3, 4, and 5).

These initial findings conclude metacognitive self-regulation does not contribute to

academic performance in web-based courses. The three factors associated with

metacognitive self-regulation were isolated to determine the factor or factors responsible

for the insignificant relationship between metacognitive self-regulation and academic

performance.

Table 11

Significance values for factors associated with Metacognitive Self-Regulation

Source DF SS MS F p
Factor 3 1 515.2740937 1725.339390 1.94 .1666
Factor 4 1 39.9586858 39.9586858 .15 .6987
Factor 5 1 496.9442205 496.9442205 1.87 .1743

Table 11 summarizes the results from further statistical analysis. Factors 3 (p = .1666),

Factor 4 (p = .6987), and Factor 5 (p = .1743) return significance values greater than .05.

This concludes all three of the factors associated with metacognitive self-regulation are

not significant to academic performance in web-based courses. Therefore, a relationship

between metacognitive self-regulation and academic performance does not exist. Five

regression models were conducted to determine the self-regulated learning behaviors that

would contribute to academic performance. Table 12 summarizes the findings from each

multiple linear regression model.

96
Table 12

Summarization of Multiple Linear Regression Model Results

Self-Regulated
Model Factors Learning MS MSE F p
Behavior
Full
1–7 Overall 824.85061 228.17028 3.62 .0017
Model
Time and Study
Model
1, 7 Environment 1781.44088 228.56077 7.47 .0009
1
Management
Model Metacognitive
3,4,5 350.73 265.51436 1.32 .2717
2 Self-Regulation
Model Intrinsic Goal
2 1154.45500 259.42487 4.45 .0373
3 Orientation
Model Extrinsic Goal
6 4.44048 270.48270 .02 .8983
4 Orientation

The significance values (p-values) in Table 12 that are less than .05 indicate the

corresponding self-regulated learning behaviors have a significant, positive relationship

with academic performance. Therefore, the corresponding self-regulated learning

behaviors contribute to predicting academic performance in web-based courses.

academic
= 4.05 * Factor 1 Score + 3.32 * Factor 2 Score + 4.18 * Factor 7 Score + 84.89
success

Figure 8. The predictive formula for academic success in a web-based course

It has been determined there exists a significant relationship between time and

study environment management and intrinsic goal orientation with academic

performance. Next, the nature of this relationship is demonstrated in the creation of a

mathematical formula. Figure 8 illustrates the relationship of the numerical values

presented in the compilation of information from Table 9. Table 9 informed the existence

97
of a linear relationship between academic performance and time and study environment

management and intrinsic goal orientation by the reported significant values (p-values)

for factor 1, factor 2, and factor 7 being less than .05. The predictive mathematical

formula consists of a y-intercept (constant) and slope (factor coefficient) to predict

academic success. Since there are three predictors (i. e., factor 1, 2, and 7) there are three

factor coefficients and a constant that create the academic success predictive

mathematical formula. The factor coefficient, factor score, and constant (y-intercept) are

used to predict the academic success of a learner in a web-based course. The factor

coefficients and constant are derived from the Coefficients column of Table 9. In this

study, it has been determined that the constant is 84.88679245. This means that

84.88679245 is added to each predictor in the formula to determine how successful a

potential distance learning participant would be in a web-based course.

The factor coefficients serve as weighted values to be multiplied by the

corresponding factor scores. The factor coefficient in the predictor formula was derived

from the Coefficients column of Table 9. The three factor coefficients correspond to the

three factors determined to be significant predictive factors for academic performance (i.

e., factor 1, 2, and 7). The factor coefficients for factors 1, 2, and 7 are 4.05, 3.32, and

4.18 respectively. This means, for example, two students who differed by one point on

their factor score for factor 1 would be predicted to differ by 4.05 points in the predicted

value for academic success in a web-based course (Howell, 2002). The following

example provides a practical explanation on how the mathematical formula is used to

predict academic success in a web-based course.

98
 From the statistical analyses performed on the data associated with this study, a

mathematical formula for predicting academic performance in a web-based course was

derived (see Figure 8 above). The potential distance learner accesses the 28 items of the

MSLQ (see Appendix D). The distance learner responds to each of the 28 items by rating

[on a Likert scale from 1 to 7] how closely each item exemplifies behaviors they exercise

while engaged in learning. The factor score for a factor would be calculated by taking the

responses of the items associated with a given factor, adding them together, and dividing

the sum by the number of items associated with a given factor. For example, items 13, 15,

22, 25, 26, and 28 were loaded onto Factor 1 (see Figure 7). The potential distance

learner may respond 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, and 2 (Likert scale from 1 to 7) for each of these items

respectively. This will total 29. The total of 29 will be divided by 6 (the number of items

associated with factor 1). This results in a factor score of 4.83 for Factor 1. The factor

score for Factor 1 (4.83) is multiplied by 4.05 (i. e., the factor coefficient for factor 1).

This results in a product of 19.5615 (4.83 * 4.05 = 19.5615). The process is repeated for

Factor 2 and again for Factor 7. The three products are added to 84.89 (i. e., the constant)

to result in a value that will be used to determine the potential distance learner’s success

in a web-based course offered by a community college. The predictors included in the

mathematical formula used to predict academic success in a web-based course explained

approximately 21 percent of the variance that may occur in the academic success rating

value calculated.

99
 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-

regulated learning behaviors and academic performance in web-based courses. The

inquiries of this study implicated four specific categories of self-regulated learning: time

and study environment management, intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal orientation,

and metacognitive self-regulation. From information provided by 106 participants

enrolled in distance learning courses offered by a Virginia community college, this study

provided the evidence concerning the relationship between self-regulated learning

behaviors and academic performance in web-based courses.

There is some disagreement as to whether self-regulated learning is a broad,

general process that can be applied in any learning situation (Corno, Collins, & Capper,

1982) or a context specific heuristic (Pintrich & Garcia, 1991) which changes with each

learning situation. The null hypothesis of this study was there would not be a difference

in the employment of self-regulated learning behaviors between humanities and technical

courses. The findings of this study add support to findings of Pintrich and Garcia (1991)

that self-regulated learning behaviors are context specific. In this study, the category of

self-regulation that drove the significant findings was the employment of metacognitive

self-regulation. Metacognitive self-regulation strategies are the behaviors that learners

display while engaged in a learning situation. More specifically, these are the behaviors

associated with planning, monitoring, and regulating the learning process. Weinstein and

Mayer (1986) found these strategies to be useful in controlling attention, anxiety, and

affect. The distance learner has to exercise his or her metacognitive abilities in order to

interact with the content, instructor, classmates, and/or the interface that the distance-

100
learning environment posed (Moore, 1989; Hillman et al, 1994). This study reported the

use of metacognitive self-regulated learning behaviors were distinct between humanities

and technical courses. This study reported a difference in the employment of self-

regulated learning behaviors between humanities and technical courses rejecting the null

hypothesis. Although there a difference was found in the employment of self-regulated

learning behaviors between the two types of courses, the type of course did not have any

impact on students’ academic performance.

Although it was found there not to be a correlation between the types of courses

and the grade participants received in the course, the study investigated the relationship

between self-regulated learning behaviors and academic performance. Again, the study

assumed the null hypotheses that there would not be a significant difference between the

mean scores of time and study environment management and academic performance (i.

e., the grade the learner earned in the course), intrinsic goal orientation and academic

performance, metacognitive self-regulation and academic performance, and extrinsic goal

orientation and academic performance. This significant finding, in a web-based

environment, supported the findings of Schunk (1989) and Zimmerman and Martinez-

Pons (1992) that learners’ use of self-regulation strategies sustains efforts and promotes

academic achievement. This relationship was established with evidence of significant

findings between intrinsic goal orientation and academic performance, as well as, time

and study environment management and academic performance. The findings relative to

the specific self-regulated learning behavior of intrinsic goal orientation support findings

of other studies that monitored the effects that pursuing goals with an intrinsic (learning

goal) orientation resulted in evidence of higher academic achievement than those students

101
who possessed an extrinsic (ability) goal orientation (Bandura & Schunk, 1981; Schunk

& Swartz, 1993a; Ablard & Lipschultz, 1998). These findings rejected the null

hypotheses pertaining to time and study environment management and academic

performance, as well as, intrinsic goal orientation and academic performance.

In the traditional setting, learners have immediate accessibility to their peers

where they can monitor their peers’ behaviors and formulate relationships between those

behaviors and their academic performance. The dependency on grading creates this

competitive environment for learning. The motivation for performing in a class may

derive from external sources (i. e. extrinsic goal orientation). In the isolation condoned by

learning via the web, these external sources are not readily available and the learner is

dependent on internalized motivating factors. They are not accessible to their peers’

behaviors nor do they have immediate access to their peers’ performance. Pertaining to

the relationship between extrinsic goal orientation and academic performance, the

findings of this study failed to reject the null hypothesis concluding there not to exist a

significant difference between the mean score of extrinsic goal orientation and the grade

the learner received in the course. External motivating factors do not represent

themselves well in the asynchronous, web-based environment. This study confirms that

the distance learner has to employ behaviors that are going to be associated with learning

goals (i. e., internal motivation sources as opposed to performance goals (i. e., external

motivation sources).

In the traditional and synchronous instructional setting, the learner has a

structured time and place where the instruction will be administered. Web-based courses

provide an opportunity for learners to engage in instructional opportunities at any time

102
and any place. The minimal time and space constraints that a distance learning

environment creates requires the structuring of time in which to start and continue

engagement with the content, instructor, peers, and/or interface becomes the

responsibility of the learner where in the traditional environment, these responsibilities

belonged to those other than the learner. Issues related to the time that the distance

learner engages in the course material is, in part, a mechanism used to reduce the amount

of distractions that may be encountered.

Controlling the environment in which learning is taking place is called

environmental structuring (Purdie & Hattie, 1996). The findings addressing the

importance of the relationship between time and study environment management and

academic performance concur with the Wolters (1998) reported use of methods for

controlling distractions by managing how, when, and where the learners completed

certain tasks. In his study, he indicated the use of motivational strategies of self-regulated

learning (i. e. reducing distractions) affected their performance academically. Boekaerts

et al. (2001) confirmed the development and exercise of self-regulated learning behaviors

were greatly influenced by the environmental components of the learning context. The

present study confirmed the value in managing time and environment in a web-based

learning environment. In the traditional setting, many of the motivating factors related to

learning are driven by students’ access to their peers and their instructor. The instructor is

present for immediate feedback during the learning process in order to assure learners are

on task and comprehending materials. In a web-based course, it is the learners

responsibility to simulate a learning environment will have these same characteristics.

103
 Inquiries of the relationship between these four categories of self-regulated

learning behaviors and academic performance lead to the creation of a mathematical

formula to predict the academic success of a potential distance learner based upon their

self-regulated learning behaviors. Appendix F provides a description of each event

involved in using the mathematical formula to predict academic success in a web-based

course. Self-regulated learning was assessed using the MSLQ. Responses on the MSLQ

are provided on a Likert scale using values from 1 to 7. Given this, the lowest score that

can be received on any category of self-regulated learning is 1. The highest score

attainable on a category is 7. Because the mathematical formula involves the use of

scores from these categories, the predictive numerical values could range from as low as

96 to as high as 166. From this, it was determined the formula is not an efficient predictor

of a grade from 0 to 100. However, it could be utilized in determining students’ potential

for academic success in a web-based course. The practical application of this tool is

summarized below.

Potential students could express their interest in enrolling in web-based courses

offered by an educational institution. The administrators or instructors responsible for the

deployment of web-based courses could provide the students access, via the World Wide

Web, to the 28 items used in this study (see Appendix D). The students would respond to

each of the items [on a Likert scale from 1 to 7] to rate themselves in regards to the item.

Upon submitting responses to all of the items, a factor score would be calculated for the

predictive factors (i. e., factors 1, 2, and 7) associated with categories of self-regulated

learning (i.e. time and study environment management and intrinsic goal orientation) in

the formula derived from the study. Each factor score would be multiplied by the factor

104
coefficient of each factor. The products from the multiplication of each factor score and

factor coefficient will be added together along with the constant (i. e., 84.89) to produce a

numerical value between 96 and 166. Using the predictive formula, a student who scored

from 96 to 120 (average scores from 1 to 3 on categories of self-regulated learning)

would be a student who employs minimal self-regulated learning behaviors and may not

be successful in a web-based environment. The student who scores from 121 to 166

(average scores from 4 to 7 on categories of self-regulated learning) would be a student

who is employs sufficient self-regulated learning behaviors, therefore, he or she has the

potential of being academically successful in a web-based environment. The value that is

returned to the administrator, teacher, and student would provide counsel regarding the

potential academic success the student may have in a web-based course.

This study outlined a process that led to the development of a tool to determine

academic success. It focused on intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal orientation,

metacognitive self-regulation, and time and study environment management and each of

their relationships with academic performance in a web-based environment. This study

could be replicated to investigate the relationships of other self-regulated learning

behaviors such as test anxiety, self-efficacy, rehearsal, organization, or effort regulation

with academic performance. Further studies could include undergraduate or masters

candidates in a variety of distance learning courses or those who are involved in

specialized instructional programs.

105
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APPENDICES

126
 Appendix A

Is Distance Learning right for me?

The following is a self-administered, self-scored tool to help you decide if

distance learning courses are right for you. Distance learning courses are ideal
for some students because they provide opportunities for student who cannot
participate in traditionally scheduled class at the college.

Distance learning courses can be fun, exciting, challenging, convenient and

enriching. However, distance learning courses are not for everyone.
Distance learning courses are not an easy way to earn credits. Actually,
succeeding in distance learning courses requires a high degree of self-
motivation, self-discipline and independence. Before deciding to enroll in a
distance learning course, please take this self-test to help you decide how well
distance learning courses fit your circumstance and characteristics.

To use the checklist simply indicate "Yes" or "No" to each of the statements
below. There are no "right" or "wrong" answers so be as honest with yourself
as you can and then use the feedback below to decide if a distance course is
for you.
Yes No
1 I am able to work independently.
2 I am self-motivated.
3 I am a self-starter.
4 I am a good "time manager".
5 I am an organized person - I can structure my time easily for
tasks.
6 I am capable of self-discipline.
7 I have good study habits.
8 I can capably take objective exams.
9 I can capably read for comprehension.
10 I can capably prepare and study for exams.
11 I can capably take subjective exams.
12 I can capably take notes from lectures, textbooks or
television programs.
13 I could easily call an instructor with questions about my
course.
14 I have unlimited access to a computer that is connected to the
Internet.

127
 Yes No
15 I am comfortable asking questions in class when I need
clarification.
16 I am goal directed - if I set my sights on an end result, I
usually achieve it.
17 I am able to gather information visually.
18 I am not a procrastinator - I like to get things done today, not
put them off for tomorrow.
19 I consider myself capable of independent learning - I do not
necessarily need regular contact with a faculty member.
20 I am in control of my time - I decide how to use my time.
21 I am confident of my academic abilities.
22 I consider myself a mature adult.
23 I do not give up easily, even when confronted with obstacles.
24 I believe I am responsible for my own education - what I
learn or do not learn is ultimately my responsibility.
25 I consider myself an average reader.
26 I am capable of doing college-level work.
27 I can allocate five hours each week for each distance learning
course.
28 I have a clear understanding of how to use an Internet
browser to retrieve information.
29 I have experience in surfing the Internet to find information
30 I understand that distance learning course require more of
my time than traditional courses.
Score Clear

128
 Appendix B

Intrinsic Goal Orientation

1 In a class like this, I prefer course material that really challenges me so I can learn new
things
16 In a class like this, I prefer course material that arouses my curiosity, even if it is more
difficult to learn
22 The most satisfying thing for me in this course is trying to understand the content as
thoroughly as possible
24 When I have the opportunity in this class, I choose course assignments that I can learn from
even if they don't guarantee a good grade
Extrinsic Goal Orientation
7 Getting a good grade in this class is the most satisfying thing for me right now
11 The most important thing for me right now is improving my overall grade point average, so
my main concern in this class is getting a good grade
13 If I can, I want to get better grades in this class than most of the other students
30 I want to do well in this class because it is important to show my ability to my family and
friends
Metacognitive Self-Regulation
33r During class time I often miss important points because I am thinking of other things
36 When reading for this course, I make up questions to help me focus my reading
41 When I become confused about something I'm reading for this class, I go back and try to
find the most important ideas
44 If course readings are difficult to understand, I change the way I read the material
54 Before I study new course material thoroughly, I often skim it to see how it is organized
55 I ask myself questions to make sure I understand the material I have been studying in this
class
56 I try to change the way I study in order to fit the course requirements and the instructor's
teaching style
57r There have often been times I have been reading for this class but don't know what the
reading was about
61 I try to think through a topic and decide what I am supposed to learn from it rather than just
reading it over when studying for this course
76 When studying for this course I try to determine the information I don't understand well
78 When I study for this class, I set goals for myself in order to direct my activities while
logged on to the course
79 If I get confused as I take notes from the course information, I make sure I sort it out
afterwards
Time & Study Environment Management
35 Before I study new course material thoroughly, I often skim it to see how it is organized
43 I make good use of my study time for this course
52r I find it hard to stick to a study schedule
65 I have one place where I login to my online course most frequently
70 I make sure that I keep up with the readings and assignments for this course
73 I login to the course regularly
77r I don't spend very much time on this course because of other activities
80r I often do not have enough time to review my notes or readings before an exam

129
 Appendix C

Informed Consent Form

for Participants

This document provides information that you need to be aware of as a potential participant in this
study. All participants who plan to be involved in this study must read this Informed Consent Form
for Participants. To be allowed to participate, you must click on the "I WISH TO PARTICIPATE"
button at the end of this document indicating consent to participation in the study.

Project The relationship between self-regulated learning behaviors and academic

performance in web-based courses
Investigators Robert Cobb, Jr., Doctoral Candidate
Instructional Technology, Virginia Tech

Dr. Mike Moore, Advisory Committee Chairperson

Instructional Technology, Virginia Tech
Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the use of
four self-regulated learning behaviors (intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal
orientation, time and study environment management, and metacognitive self
regulation) and academic performance. From the correlations made between
these self-regulated learning behaviors and academic performance, a
mathematical model will derive. This mathematical model will serve as the
foundation for the functionality of a web-based inventory. This research will
also investigate the use of self-regulated learning behavior in humanities and
technical courses.
Procedures • You will read the Informed Consent Form for Participants
• You will agree or disagree to participate in the study
• You will complete questionnaire

Potential This research does NOT present any physical, mental, or emotional hazards or
Risks risks.
Potential Information regarding the relationship between self-regulation and academic
Benefits performance in a web-based environment will allow institutions and course
developers/facilitators to communicate to their students the SPECIFIC
necessary behaviors that are need to achieve at a high academic level in this
still novel environment. You will provide information that will serve as the
functionality for a web-based tool that schools offering web-based courses will
be able to use. This tool could be used to assess certain self-regulatory
strategies and provide the potential student with feedback regarding their
current behaviors and predict academic performance.
Anonymity and There will be no traceable evidence of the identity of those who participate in
Confidentiality this study. At no time will the researcher release results of the study to anyone
other than individuals working directly with the study without the written
consent of the participant.
Compensation Participants in this study will not receive any financial compensation for their
involvement in the study.
Freedom to You have the right to withdraw from the study at any time.
Withdraw

130
Approval of This research has been approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for
Research Research Involving Human Subjects at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University and by the Department of Teaching and Learning.
Participant's Listed below are your responsibilities if you choose to participate in this study:
Responsibilities
• Read the consent form for understanding of your rights and
responsibilities for participating in this study
• Respond to the items on the questionnaire

It should take you no longer than 15 minutes to complete all activities

associated with this study
Participant's I have read and understand the Informed Consent and conditions of this
Permission project. I have had all my questions answered. I hereby acknowledge the
above and give my voluntary consent for participation in this project. If I
participate, I understand I have the freedom to withdraw at anytime without
penalty or retribution. I agree to abide by the rules of this project.
I WISH TO PARTICIPATE I DO NOT WISH TO PARTICIPATE

Should I have any questions about this research or its conduct, I may
contact:

Robert Cobb, Jr. Telephone: E-mail:

Investigator 336.334.7550 [email protected]
Dr. Mike Moore Telephone: E-mail:
Faculty Advisor 540.231.5587 [email protected]
Dr. David Moore Telephone: E-mail:
Chair, Institutional 540.231.4991 [email protected]
Review Board (IRB)

131
 Appendix D

Questionnaire

Directions:
Please read each statement below. On a Likert scale from 1 to 7,you will rate
yourself on how closely each statement relates to you. Click in the circle to the
left of the number of your choice. The meaning of each numerical value is in the
scale below.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Not Very Not At All Somewhat Somewhat Like Me Much Very True
Much Like Like Me Not Like Like Me Like Me of Me
Me Me

In a class like this, I prefer course material that 1 2 3 4 5

1
really challenges me so I can learn new things
Getting a good grade in this class is the most 1 2 3 4 5
2
satisfying thing for me right now
The most important thing for me right now is
improving my overall grade point average, so my 1 2 3 4 5
3
main concern in this class is getting a good
grade
If I can, I want to get better grades in this class 1 2 3 4 5
4
than most of the other students
In a class like this, I prefer course material that
1 2 3 4 5
5 arouses my curiosity, even if it is more difficult to
learn
The most satisfying thing for me in this course is
1 2 3 4 5
6 trying to understand the content as thoroughly
as possible
When I have the opportunity in this class, I
1 2 3 4 5
7 choose course assignments that I can learn from
even they don't guarantee a good grade
I want to do well in this class because it is
1 2 3 4 5
8 important to show my ability to my family and
friends
During class time, I often miss important points 1 2 3 4 5
9
because I am thinking of other things
Before I study new course material thoroughly, I 1 2 3 4 5
10
often skim it to see how it is organized
When reading for this course, I make up
11 1 2 3 4 5
questions to help me focus my reading

132
 When I become confused about something I'm
1 2 3 4 5
12 reading for this class, I go back and try to find
the most important idea
1 2 3 4 5
13 I make good use of my study time for this course

If course readings are difficult to understand, I 1 2 3 4 5

14
change the way I read the material
1 2 3 4 5
15 I find it hard to stick to a study schedule

Before I study new course material thoroughly, I 1 2 3 4 5

16
often skim it to see how it is organized
I ask myself questions to make sure I
1 2 3 4 5
17 understand the material I have been studying in
this class
I try to change the way I study in order to fit the
1 2 3 4 5
18 course requirements and the instructor's
teaching style
There have often been times I have been
1 2 3 4 5
19 reading for this class but don't know what the
reading was about
I try to think through a topic and decide what I
1 2 3 4 5
20 am supposed to learn from it rather than just
reading it over when studying for this co
I have one place where I login to my online 1 2 3 4 5
21
course most frequently
I make sure that I keep up with the readings and 1 2 3 4 5
22
assignments for this course
1 2 3 4 5
23 I login to my online course regularly

When studying for this course, I try to determine 1 2 3 4 5

24
the information I don't understand very well
I don't spend as much time as I should on this 1 2 3 4 5
25
course because of other activities/obligations
When I study for this class, I set goals for myself
1 2 3 4 5
26 in order to direct my activities while logged on to
the course
If I get confused as I take notes from the course 1 2 3 4 5
27
information, I make sure I sort it out afterwards
I often do not have enough time to review my
28 1 2 3 4 5
notes or readings before an exam

133
Participant’s Information

Age Ethnicity Gender

In which online course are you enrolled

What grade do you currently have in

(Between 0 and 100)
your online course

Click Here to Submit Responses

134
 Appendix E
Intrinsic Goal Orientation
1 In a class like this, I prefer course material that really challenges me so I can learn new
things
5 In a class like this, I prefer course material that arouses my curiosity, even if it is more
difficult to learn
6 The most satisfying thing for me in this course is trying to understand the content as
thoroughly as possible
7 When I have the opportunity in this class, I choose course assignments that I can learn from
even if they don't guarantee a good grade
Extrinsic Goal Orientation
2 Getting a good grade in this class is the most satisfying thing for me right now
3 The most important thing for me right now is improving my overall grade point average, so
my main concern in this class is getting a good grade
4 If I can, I want to get better grades in this class than most of the other students
8 I want to do well in this class because it is important to show my ability to my family and
friends
Metacognitive Self-Regulation
9 During class time I often miss important points because I am thinking of other things
11 When reading for this course, I make up questions to help me focus my reading
12 When I become confused about something I'm reading for this class, I go back and try to
find the most important ideas
14 If course readings are difficult to understand, I change the way I read the material
16 Before I study new course material thoroughly, I often skim it to see how it is organized
17 I ask myself questions to make sure I understand the material I have been studying in this
class
18 I try to change the way I study in order to fit the course requirements and the instructor's
teaching style
19 There have often been times I have been reading for this class but don't know what the
reading was about
20 I try to think through a topic and decide what I am supposed to learn from it rather than just
reading it over when studying for this course
24 When studying for this course I try to determine the information I don't understand well
26 When I study for this class, I set goals for myself in order to direct my activities while
logged on to the course
27 If I get confused as I take notes from the course information, I make sure I sort it out
afterwards
Time & Study Environment Management
10 Before I study new course material thoroughly, I often skim it to see how it is organized
13 I make good use of my study time for this course
15 I find it hard to stick to a study schedule
21 I have one place where I login to my online course most frequently
22 I make sure that I keep up with the readings and assignments for this course
23 I login to the course regularly
25 I don't spend very much time on this course because of other activities
28 I often do not have enough time to review my notes or readings before an exam

135
 Appendix F

Step Event Description

1 Administer Administer the 28-items (see Appendix D) to the potential
Instrument distance learning student

2 Add the values of the responses to items 13, 15, 22, 25, 26, and
28
Calculate
3 Divide the sum of the responses to items 13, 15, 22, 25, 26, and
Factor 1 Score
28 by 6 (the number of items associated with Factor 1). This
will give the Factor 1 Score

4 Add the values of the responses to items 1, 5, 6, 7, and 27

5 Calculate Divide the sum of the responses to items 1, 5, 6, 7, and 27 by 5

Factor 2 Score (the number of items associated with Factor 2). This will give
the Factor 2 Score

6 Add the values of the responses to items 21 and 23

Calculate Divide the sum of the responses to items 21 and 23 by 2 (the

Factor 7 Score number of items associated with Factor 7). This will give the
Factor 7 Score

7 Factor 1 Multiply the Factor 1 Score by the Factor 1 Coefficient (4.05)

Product

8 Factor 2 Multiply the Factor 2 Score by the Factor 2 Coefficient (3.32)

Product

9 Factor 7 Multiply the Factor 7 Score by the Factor 7 Coefficient (4.18)

Product

10 Determine Add the Factor 1, Factor 2, and Factor 7 products to the

academic Coefficient (84.89). This will give you a value between 96 and
success rating 166.

11 Evaluate LOW If the academic success rating calculated is between 96 and 120,
academic the potential distance learner may NOT perform well in a web-
success rating based environment

12 Evaluate HIGH If the academic success rating calculated is between 121 and
academic 166, the potential distance learner may perform well in a web-
success rating based environment

136
 1601 East Market Street
Greensboro, NC 27411
Robert Cobb, Jr.
E-mail: [email protected]

Education

M. S., Vocational Industrial Education June 2000

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University Greensboro, NC

B. S., Technology Education May 1994

Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University Blacksburg, VA

Work Experience

North Carolina A & T State University Greensboro, NC 8/02 - Present

Adjunct Instructor
• Disseminate instruction for undergraduate students to enhance problem solving capabilities using
computer aided design and drafting applications
• Provide opportunities for students to solve relevant problems in technological and engineering
disciplines
• Responsible for the analysis, development, design, integration, and evaluation of instructional
materials for architectural, computer-aided design, and electronic design courses

Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA 5/01 – 8/02

Computer Technician
• Service faculty, staff, and students in troubleshooting hardware/software problems
• Hardware/software installation and troubleshooting in Windows and Macintosh environments
• Consultant to faculty, staff, and students with the use of computer applications in the educational
technology laboratory

North Carolina A & T State University Greensboro, NC 7/99-5/00

HelpDesk Computer Consultant
• Responsible for setting up computer stations for faculty, staff, and students and installing campus
licensed software to conduct business operations via LAN accessibility
• Utilize a variety of communication media to confer with computer technicians and supervisor in
conjuring accurate troubleshooting procedures
• Instruct students on incorporating internet and intranet services to fulfill academic expectations
• Utilization of interpersonal skills and technological expertise with faculty, staff, and students
during computer consultations, troubleshooting, and hardware/software installation
Robert Cobb, Jr. Page 2

Frederick Douglass High School Atlanta, GA 8/96-6/99

Computer-Aided Drafting & Electronics Technology Instructor
• Utilize AutoCAD Release 13 & 14 to produce mechanical, architectural, and electrical drawings
• Mathematical and theoretical analysis of electronic component and circuit behavior
• Transfer and analyze information from electronic schematic diagrams to identify electronic
components, produce computer generated printed circuit board layouts, and incorporate
techniques to fabricate functional electronic circuits
• Development of curriculum in area of computer aided drafting/design and electronics that
integrates general academic theory and practical experiences which emphasizes
troubleshooting/problem solving activities and cooperative learning experiences that are
transferable beyond secondary education

Professional Involvement

Pyramid Drafting and Design Society, Co-Advisor

Computer Aided Drafting and Design Advisory Committee, Member
Association for Educational Communications and Technology, Member
Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society for Educators, Member
Epsilon Pi Tau International Honor Society for Professionals in Technology, Member
Frederick Douglass High School’s Teacher of the Year

Publication

Perkins, R. & Cobb, Jr., R. (2001). Issues related to creating web-based high school courses. Virginia
Society for Technology in Education Journal, 16 (1), 30-36. Available at
http://www.vste.org/communication/journal/attach/Fall%202001.pdf

Computer Experience
AutoCAD, Mechanical Desktop, Microstation, SilverScreen, Microsoft Office Suite, Macromedia
Director, Macromedia Authorware, Macromedia Cold Fusion, SoundEdit Pro, CoolEdit Pro, Adobe
Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Persuasion, CadKey, ToolBook