Development of Self Regulation Skills and Academic Self-Efficacy Beliefs
In engineering and technology education, increasing concerns about student retention have led educators to pursue possible explanations for students’ academic successes and failures. Educators need to maintain students’ learning interest and motivation and increase their self-efficacy and learning persistence. Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) is a specific form of learning. “Self-regulated” describes a process of taking control of and evaluating one’s own learning and behavior. SRL is guided by meta-cognition, strategic action, and motivation to learn. With SRL, students can evaluate their study and learning strategies. Self-regulated learners also hold incremental beliefs about intelligence and attribute their successes or failures to factors within their control. The application of self-regulation to learning is a complicated process involving not only the awareness and application of learning strategies but also extensive reflection and self-awareness. Training programs that promote SRL have been found to be beneficial for students’ learning. This paper describes the design and development of the SRL instructional strategies, their implementation, and the evaluation of their effectiveness. Students also learned about the brain and how it forms new connections every time they learn something new. The outcomes are provided and recommendations are discussed.