Northwest College

Teaching & Learning Center

Self-regulated learning series

Good self-regulators have developed the skills and habits to be effective learners. The key for instructors is to understand how to encourage and teach these skills. Self-regulated learning includes setting goals, self-monitoring, self-instruction, and self-reinforcement.

In this workshop series, we will discuss what self-regulated learning is, how it enhances learning, and learn about useful teaching strategies. Most of the material and background information we will use are from the book Creating self-regulated learners: strategies to strengthen students’ self-awareness and learning skills by Linda Nilson (2013).

Workshop material

1. What is self-regulated learning and how does it enhance learning? slides
2. How to foster self-regulated learning from the start. slides
   
   • Knowledge surveys (website link)
3. Self-regulated reading, watching, and listening. slides
   
   • Examples of methods we discussed during the workshop:
     
     • Think pieces
     • Book reading journaling (example from Monia's Forest Management course)
4. Self-regulated learning from live lectures. slides
5. Self-regulated learning from assignments, quizzes, and exams. slides

Online resources

Self-regulated learning (the Univeristy of Nebraska at Lincoln)

Useful references

Harris, K. & Graham, S. (1999). Programmatic intervention research: Illustrations from the evolution of self-regulated strategy development. Learning Disability Quarterly, 22, 251-262.

Levesque, C., Sell, G. R., & Zimmerman, J. A. (2006). A Theory-based integrative model for learning and motivation in higher education. In S. Chadwick-Blossey (Ed.). To Improve the Academy, vol. 24, pp. 86-103. Anker Publishing, Bolton, MA.

Nilson, L. B. (2013). Creating self-regulated learners: strategies to strengthen students’ self-awareness and learning skills. Stylus Publishing, LLC.

Nuhfer, E. B. (1993). Bottom-line disclosure and assessment. Teaching Professor, 7 (7) 8.

Nuhfer, E. B. (1996). The place of formative evaluations in assessment and ways to reap their benefits. Journal of Geoscience Education, 44 (4) 385-394.

Nuhfer E. B., and Knipp D. (2003), The Knowledge Survey: A Tool for All Reasons. To Improve the Academy, v 21, pp. 59-78.

Schraw, G., Crippen, K., & Hartley, K. (2006). Promoting self-regulation in science education: metacognition as part of a broader perspective on learning. Research in Science Education, 36, 111-139.

Wirth, K. R. & Perkins, D. (2005). Knowledge Surveys: An Indispensable Course Design and Assessment Tool. Innovations in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

Zimmerman, B. & Schunk, D. (2008). Motivation: An essential dimension of self-regulated learning. In Schunk, D. and Zimmerman, B., Motivation and self-regulated learning: Theory, research, and application. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Zimmerman, B., Bonner, S., & Kovach, R. (2002). Developing self-regulated learners: Beyond achievement to self-efficacy. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Zimmerman, B. & Schunk, D. (2001). Self-regulated learning and academic achievement: Theoretical perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.