DEVELOPMENT OF A SET OF SELF-REGULATED LEARNING

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE STUDENT INTEREST AND

ACHIEVEMENT IN SCIENCE

JAMES A. SHYMANSKY

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS

THE PROBLEM

Nation at Risk (1984)

Declining interest

Under-representation

System focus hasn’t worked

SSRL--FOCUS ON THE STUDENT

Monitor one’s learning

Evaluate one’s performance

Make strategic control decisions

COMPLEMENTARY SRL STRATEGIES

Confidence Questioning (CQ)

Confidence Weighting (CW)

CQ-CW OVERVIEW

Project SRL Strategy Components

Confidence Questioning (CQ)

Confidence Weighting (CW)

Students are questioned about their confidence in

learning during Instruction

Students are encouraged to study and/or teachers re-teach

low confidence concepts

Several days later, students are re-questioned regarding their

follow-up learning andtheir resulting increase

in confidence

Process

Outcome

Students gain an awareness of:- - - - - - - -

The linkage of successful learning and high confidence

- - - - - - - -How low confidence

is a signal for motivating additional learning effort that -

if successful- results in improved

confidence

Students indicate their confidence for each of their test item answers

Process

If their reflection on their confidence in their answers is accurate,

they are able to improve their

test grade

Outcome

Students are motivated to accurately develop and

reflect on their confidence as they engage in

learning throughout the course

THEORETICAL BASIS FOR CQ/CW STRATEGIES

CQ CLOSE-UP

Question on “big science idea” (NGSS)

Ask for show of confidence in answer

Record confidence ratings

Discuss science idea

Repeat cycle after instruction

CW CLOSE-UP

Student answers quiz/test question

Student rates confidence in answers

Quiz/test scored with and without weights

Student graded on “higher” score

SAMPLE CW QUIZAssign a point value of 2, 3 or 4 points to each of your multiple choice answers so that the total for items 1-5 is 15 points and assign 3, 5, or 7 points to each of your constructed response answers so that the total for items 6-9 is 20 points. The total point value of the quiz is 35 points.

Quiz Item Correct Response (Yes/No)

UW Points Earned/Assigned

CW Points Earned/Weighted

1. Yes 3/3 3/3

2. No 0/3 0/2

3. Yes 3/3 4/4

4. Yes 3/3 4/4

5. No 0/3 0/2

6. No 0/5 0/3

7. Yes 5/5 7/7

8. No 0/5 0/3

9. Yes 5/5 7/7

Total Scores   19/35 25/35

HYPOTHESIZED CQ AND CW EFFECTS

CQ and CW Operations Cognitive Strategy Use Hypothesized Effect Teacher identifies core concepts with the lesson

Evaluation of knowledge and strategy selection

Better allocation of attention. Information organized more effectively in memory.

Teacher assesses student knowledge via CQs

Activate prior knowledge and establish slots in memory for important concepts.

More efficient use of limited cognitive resources.

Students self-rate their confidence in the knowledge and learning.

Increased awareness of important concepts. Students are better able to guide attention.

More effective use of limited cognitive resources.

Teacher repeats steps 1-3 in subsequent class.

Re-activation of knowledge and focused attention.

Greater confidence and learning.

Determine the number of quiz/test items eligible for confidence point assignment. across quiz/test items.

Monitor relevant knowledge for each item. Assess likelihood of successful performance.

Deeper cognitive processing of test- relevant information and explicit awareness of monitoring accuracy.

Answer all quiz/test items eligible for confidence point assignment. Note answers with high or low certainty of correctness.

Use control strategies to search for relevant information in memory. Generate predictions about test-item performance.

Enhanced ability to evaluate item- specific and broad-topic knowledge required in judging the correctness of response to tasks at hand.

Assign higher confidence points to answers with high certainty of correctness and a lower confidence points to answers with low certainty of correctness.

Monitor likelihood of successful test performance. Evaluate goodness of fit of overall weighting plan and its potential impact on the total points earned.

Improved skill at monitoring one’s learning and use of explicit control strategies in evaluating plausibility and correctness of response to tasks at hand.

Check that all quiz/test items have a confidence point value that is within the range assigned by the teacher and that when totaled equals the total for the quiz/test.

Reflect/retrospectively monitor item-by-item relevant knowledge. Relate assessment of specific item and broad-topic knowledge to item weights assigned.

Promotes evaluation of knowledge and develops explicit self-regulatory awareness that improves quiz-test performance and transfers to new tasks.

PROJECT PLAN

Development, Feasibility, Pilot StudyFocus on high school chemistry(Phase 1) Alpha level development(Phase 2) Beta level revision and fine-tuning(Phase 3) Quasi-experimental pilot study

PILOT STUDY

Treatments: CQ/CW and control classrooms

Outcomes: SRL and science achievement

3-Level HLM (treatment, student demographics, teacher/school)

OPEN INVITATION

Projected to begin August 2014

Parallel studies invited