Self-regulated Learning – A Path to Success
by karen Yeh, Ed.D. Student at The University of Houston

Self-regulated learning, according to Pintrich, Zimmerman and Paulsen (1995), is the deliberate planning and monitoring of the cognitive and affective processes that are involved in the successful completion of academic tasks. It also involves the regulation of three general aspects of academic learning: self-regulation of behavior, self-regulation of motivation and affect and self-regulation of cognition.
As self-regulating learners engage in academic tasks, the draw on knowledge and beliefs to construct an interpretation of a task’s properties and requirements. Based on the interpretation they construct, they set up goals. Goals are then approached by applying tactics and strategies that generate products, both mental (cognitive and affective) and behavioral. Monitoring these processes of engagement and the progressively updated products they create generates internal feedback. This information seems to provide grounds for reinterpreting elements of the task and one’s engagement with it, thereby directly subsequent engagement. In particular, students may modify their participation or engagement by setting new goals or adjusting extant ones; they might re-examine tactics and learning strategies and select more productive approaches. Adapt available skills, and sometimes even generate new procedures. If external feedback is provided, based on Zimmerman & Paulsen’s (1995) analysis, that additional information may confirm, add to, or conflict with the learner’s interpretations of the task and the path of learning. As a result of monitoring task engagement, students may alter knowledge and beliefs, which, in turn, might influence subsequent self-regulation.
In my opinion, I agree with the authors that being a self-regulated learner is the important educational outcome. Self-regulated learning not only enhances the student’s academic performance but also helps to assess their progress and make necessary changes to ensure goal attainment. As Bandura (1986) & Corno (1989) suggest, self-monitoring can serve as a mean for self-improvement by enabling students to direct their attention, to set and adjust their goals, and eventually to guide their course of learning more effectively. In another word, assisting students to acquire self-regulatory skills such as, organizing, planning and monitoring their learning, will directly foster higher levels of perceived control and focus students on the importance of effort for successful learning. According to Schunk (1989), when tasks are defined by specific and short-term personal goals, students are more likely to believe that they can accomplish a task with reasonable effort and more willing to apply the effort to complete the task. Additionally, self-regulated learning can also be enhanced by providing students with feedback that links their successes with their effort and abilities. That way, students are then able to learn that their abilities can be influenced by their efforts and develop positive and active attitudes toward learning.
Based on my personal experiences, self-regulated learning includes cognitive processes such as attending to instruction, processing and integrating knowledge, and rehearsing information, as well as the beliefs that learners hold with respect to their capabilities for learning (self-efficacy). It is Schunk’s view that self-efficacy, as a predictor of motivation and skill acquisition, can help to explain students’ self-regulated learning efforts (Schunk, 1988, p.4). He has suggested that self-efficacy can influence students’ choices about approaches to learning new or unfamiliar task, the intensity of effort that is applied to a task, and the degree of persistence that is directed toward a task. In short, the self-regulated learning will not only enhance students’ academic performance in many fundamental ways but also will help to foster interpretations of results that indicate personal growth. When this occurs, students’ perceptions of their self-efficacy will grow dramatically, and their motivation for persistent learning will also be sustained.