Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages

by Sarah Hampton and Dr. Dalila Dragnić-Cindrić

In our two previous blog posts, we talked about students’ individual self-regulated learning (SRL), group-level, social regulation of learning (SoRL), and why it’s important to explicitly teach both alongside our content (Hampton & Dragnić-Cindrić, 2023a, 2023b). The link between students’ effective self-regulated learning and successful academic and life outcomes has been well documented (Dent & Koenka, 2016). If that’s the case, and if we know the benefits, why don’t more teachers focus on teaching it?

In this post, we will explore some of the barriers and possible solutions for teaching regulation of learning that we have seen in K-12 and higher education classrooms. Importantly, some of the barriers that surfaced during our conversations are within a teacher’s control, and others are not (e.g., district or state policies). In the spirit of teacher empowerment, this post focuses on the barriers and solutions within teachers’ control.

Barrier 1: Comprehensive instruction of SRL and or SoRL requires the teacher to give up control, an uncomfortable idea for many of us.

Suggested Solution: Gradually but steadily release control of learning to the students, making them responsible for their own learning.

Elaboration: If we want students to take more responsibility for their own learning, then we must give responsibility back to them. Doing so gradually but steadily can help teachers overcome their own discomfort with releasing control as well as ease students into new, more active roles in their own learning.

In a recent study conducted in high school physics classrooms, Dalila and colleagues showed that the level of teachers’ control over collaborative groups’ dialogues impacted groups’ SoRL. Students in groups in which the teacher controlled the conversation engaged in less conversation with each other and enacted less SoRL (Dragnić-Cindrić et al., 2023).

For Sarah, our conversation about this study led to a somewhat sobering realization. As a reflective practitioner, she said, “I realized that I had been robbing my students of taking more responsibility for their learning because I was holding onto so much of it. In an effort to maximize our learning minutes, head off classroom disruptions at the pass, and ensure successful learning outcomes, I have hoarded control of my students’ learning experiences.”

If we want students to take more ownership, we must shift more control over learning back to them. Gradual release of control means providing more support and guidance at the beginning, then fading the support as students demonstrate increased capability to manage their own learning. During our conversations on this topic, Sarah said her “aha” moment came when Dalila pointed out that regulation happens whether a teacher acknowledges it or not. “You’re modeling regulation whether you’re intentional about it or not. You’re either modeling good examples or bad examples. It’s about taking advantage of the opportunity to help students learn how to regulate their learning individually and with others.”

That leads us to the next barrier…

Barrier 2: Teachers may not be sure how to teach regulation of learning.

Suggested Solution: To teach regulation of learning, include both modeling and direct instruction of regulation of learning.

Elaboration: As teachers, we have made a career in education and are most likely effective at regulating our own learning. We have probably automated many regulation strategies and don’t even need to think about them, which can make it difficult to understand the perspective of students who find learning how to learn challenging. Because we haven’t had to explicitly think about regulation to navigate learning challenges in our own lives, we may not know how to model and explicitly articulate learning strategies to our students.

Additionally, most teacher preparation programs do not include courses on how to teach regulation of learning. We also recognize that teachers with many demands on their time don’t have the luxury of independently learning about best practices for teaching regulation and developing worksheets, prompts, reflections, etc., to help their students with regulation of learning. Still, there are some steps that can be taken to improve students’ regulation of learning through modeling and direct instruction (Paris & Paris, 2001).

1. Reflect on your own learning strategies and take time to model them for your students. Narrate your own thought processes and explain how you approach and solve problems. Learn more about regulation of learning and how to teach it. We gave a brief overview in the first post of the series, but we have included more teacher-friendly resources in the Additional Resources section below. For a self-paced professional learning experience, you might like the “Self-regulation professional development module” by the Students at the Center Hub.
2. Explicitly teach students effective regulation of learning and learning strategies you’re already familiar with, such as:

• Modify your learning environment and structure study time: Studying is more effective if you eliminate distractions and study in short time intervals followed by brief breaks. Put your phone away and engage in a focused 15-minute study session followed by a 5-minute break (Yes, this is the time to check that phone!)
• Summarize text and tell someone about it: When studying new material, an effective approach is to read the text and then write a summary of the main points or tell someone else, a friend or a family member, about it. Go into details as much as you can. If there are things you cannot recall, that’s a sign you might want to read that part again. Many students rely exclusively on text highlighting and re-reading. These strategies are ineffective because they create “illusions of knowing,” a false sense that you have learned the material.
• Quiz yourself to memorize new words or concepts: In subjects where memorizing content is needed (e.g., studying vocabulary), quizzing works! Quiz yourself and ask others to quiz you.
• Seek help when you get stuck: It is okay to ask for help, and smart students do! If you are stuck, ask others to explain how they approach similar problems. Show your teacher your work and walk them through it — they will be happy to help you identify the rough spots and help you work through them.

We provide links to the additional learning strategy resources below.

Barrier 3: From a short-term perspective, teaching regulation of learning feels like a less valuable use of time than teaching content.

Suggested Solution: Embrace teaching regulation of learning as an inextricable part of teaching your content’s process standards. In other words, part of the standards we’re expected to teach requires students to engage in regulation of learning (see examples below).

Elaboration: Regulation of learning isn’t directly assessed, so when it comes to spending 10 minutes of class time, teachers are likely to choose learning content over learning how to learn. However, hyperfocusing on content standards over process standards is more short-sighted than short-term. The research suggests that teaching regulation will pay content learning dividends in a single school year (Dignath & Büttner, 2008). Beyond that, learning how to navigate challenges and find a way to learn alone and together will benefit learners their entire lives.

Many school districts are adopting big-picture mission statements and portraits of a graduate. Most have a line about creating self-sufficient lifelong learners. Teaching regulation of learning is a critically important way to spend your class time. Justify that time (to yourself and others!) using your existing state and national standards and school, district, and/or state mission statements. Here are some examples:

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) problem-solving process standards call for teachers to:

The National Council for Teachers of English calls for students to:

The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) emphasizes that:

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s “A Portrait of a Graduate” emphasizes that in addition to academic content, schools must be more intentional about fostering durable skills critical for students’ success, including learner’s mindset, personal responsibility, and collaboration.

These are a few of the challenges we have identified. What other barriers prevent you or your colleagues from teaching regulation of learning? How have you navigated these challenges in your classroom? We would love to hear your thoughts — tweet us at @EducatorCIRCLS!

References

Dent, A.L., & Koenka, A.C. (2016). The Relation Between Self-Regulated Learning and Academic Achievement Across Childhood and Adolescence: A Meta-Analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 28, 425–474. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9320-8

Dignath, C. & Büttner, G. (2008). Components of fostering self-regulated learning among students. A meta-analysis on intervention studies at primary and secondary school level. Metacognition and Learning, 3, 231–264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-008-9029-x.

Dragnić-Cindrić, D., Lobczowski, N. G., Greene, J. A., & Murphy, P. K. (2023). Exploring the teacher’s role in discourse and social regulation of learning: Insights from collaborative sessions in high-school physics classrooms. Cognition and Instruction, 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2023.2266847

Hampton S., & Dragnić-Cindrić, D. (2023a). Regulation of learning: What is it, and why is it important? Center for Integrative Research in Computing and Learning Sciences.

Hampton S., & Dragnić-Cindrić, D. (2023b). Social Regulation of Learning and Insights for Educators. Center for Integrative Research in Computing and Learning Sciences.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. (n.d.). Portrait of a graduate. https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/operation-polaris/portrait-graduate#Tab-DurableSkills-4800

Paris, S. G., & Paris, A. H. (2001). Classroom applications of research on self-regulated learning. Educational Psychologist, 36(2), 89–101. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326985EP3602_4

Acknowledgements

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation grant number 2101341 and grant number 2021159. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Additional Resources:

Elaboration | How Expanding On Ideas Increase Outcomes | Science of Learning Series
Interleaving | Mixed up Practice | Science of Learning Series
Self-regulated learning: The technique smart students use.
Spacing | Revisit Material To Boost Outcomes | Science of Learning Series
Teacher Support of Co- and Socially-Shared Regulation of Learning in Middle School Mathematics Classrooms

by Sarah Hampton and Dr. Dalila Dragnić-Cindrić

In the first post of this series (Hampton & Dragnić-Cindrić, 2023), we focused primarily on individual student’s self-regulated learning (SRL), explained the related key terms and ideas, and discussed why it is important to teach SRL alongside subject content. In this post, we will focus on regulation of learning in small, collaborative groups.

Social regulation of learning (SoRL) occurs when students in collaborative groups purposefully select, use, and, if necessary, adjust their collective actions and behaviors to achieve shared learning goals (Hadwin et al., 2018). Navigating group dynamics and collaborating well are skills all students need. SoRL is an essential prerequisite for successful collaboration (Dragnić-Cindrić & Greene, 2021).

Social regulation of learning (Figure 1) unfolds through the same three loose phases of learning as SRL (i.e., preparation, execution, reflection), and it has the added complexity of coordinating with others. Collaborative groups enact their SoRL by relying on one or more of the following modes of regulation: self-regulated learning (SRL), coregulated learning (CoRL), and socially-shared regulation of learning (SSRL).

These three modes of regulation vary in their focus:

CoRL occurs when one group member temporarily supports one or more others in the group, with the goal of eventually transitioning regulation of learning to the regulated student(s). For example, if a student is repeatedly distracted by looking at another group, a teammate might prompt them a few times to pay attention to their own group. After a few prompts, the “regulated” student might decide to switch seats to fully engage with the group and avoid further disruption.

SSRL is characterized by the equal and balanced participation of all group members in the group’s regulation of learning. During SSRL, group members build on each other’s actions and statements to create synergistic outcomes.

Figure 1. Social regulation of learning infographic

Note: This graphic shows a three-person collaborative group engaging in social regulation of learning. The group first plans how to do the task. Then, they attempt to execute their plan and fail. They reflect on what went wrong and what they needed to change. Finally, they try again and achieve their goal.

When you consider all the ways learners must regulate during group work—self, others, and each other—it’s not surprising that successful collaboration can be challenging. Importantly, students don’t have to regulate their learning all the time. In fact, when students are satisfied with their learning progress, there is no need to regulate. Typically, regulation unfolds as a response to an encountered challenge. For example, some group members might lose their motivation for the task and want to quit. Other group members might need to actively encourage them and point out the progress the group made so far to get them to re-engage.

Most of what we’ve discussed so far has been about what students in the group are doing to regulate their own learning. It is also possible that someone outside the group—the teacher or even a student from another group—might need to help with the group’s regulation of learning. This is called external regulation of learning. For example, a teacher may decide to step in if a group is engaging in excessive off-task behavior or if they are repeatedly trying an ineffective learning strategy.

Such an intervention involves trade-offs between the teacher’s control over the group’s learning and allowing adequate space and time for the students to learn how to socially regulate their own learning (Dragnić-Cindić et al., 2023). Think of it like this— when a child first learns to tie shoelaces, it’s clumsy and time-consuming and requires multiple tries with some help. It would be much faster if a parent tied them instead. However, if the parent repeatedly makes the choice to step in and tie the child’s shoelaces, then the child never has the opportunity to learn. Given enough space and time, the child eventually learns to tie them quickly, and the parent never has to intervene again. Similarly, the teacher’s job is to discern when and how to offer the least assistance possible to help students grow in SRL, CoRL, and SSRL and recognize which mode of regulation is the most appropriate in a given situation.

The quality of a group’s regulation of learning is closely connected to the group climate (Dragnić-Cindrić & Greene, 2021), a persistent pattern of group members’ interactions, emotions, and behaviors that remains stable over time. Successful groups tend to have a positive group climate characterized by positive interactions. For example, group members praise each others’ ideas, offer encouragement when mistakes are made, and joke and laugh together. It is important to establish a positive climate from the first collaborative session, and clear group norms and teacher modeling of desired interactions can help with that. Teachers should step in when off-task or negative behaviors hurt the group climate or even the classroom culture in ways that make growth unlikely.

In other words, rather than managing students directly, teachers should manage the classroom conditions that allow students to manage their own learning. We include research-based teachers’ moves in the table below (Table 1).

Table 1. Research-based recommendations for teachers

In the final blog post of this series, we’ll explore some barriers and potential solutions for teaching regulation of learning in our classrooms. Meanwhile, we would love to hear from you. Are you already incorporating some teacher moves that facilitate regulation of learning in your classroom? If so, which ones? If not, which moves could you implement easily? Let us know by engaging with us on social media @EducatorCIRCLS!

Educator CIRCLS posts are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. If you use content from this site, please cite the post and consider adding: “Used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).”
Suggested citation format: Hampton, S., & Dragnić-Cindrić, D. (2023). Social Regulation of Learning and Insights for Educators. Educator CIRCLS Blog. Retrieved from https://circleducators.org/social-regulation-of-learning-and-insights-for-educators

Acknowledgements
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation grant number 2101341 and grant number 2021159. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Resources

Dragnić-Cindrić, D., & Greene, J. A. (2021). Social regulation of learning as a base for successful collaboration. (Rapid Community Report Series). Digital Promise, International Society of the Learning Sciences, and the Center for Integrative Research in Computing and Learning Sciences. https://repository.isls.org//handle/1/6854

Dragnić-Cindrić, D., Lobczowski, N. G., Greene, J. A., & Murphy, P. K. (2023). Exploring the teacher’s role in discourse and social regulation of learning: Insights from collaborative sessions in high-school physics classrooms. Cognition and Instruction, 1-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2023.2266847

Hadwin, A. F., Järvelä, S., & Miller, M. (2018). Self-regulation, co-regulation, and shared regulation in collaborative learning environments. In D. H. Schunk & J. A. Greene (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation of learning and performance (pp. 83–105). Routledge.

Hampton S., & Dragnić-Cindrić, D. (2023). Regulation of learning: What is it, and why is it important? Center for Integrative Research in Computing and Learning Sciences. https://circleducators.org/regulation-of-learning-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-important

by Sarah Hampton and Dr. Dalila Dragnić-Cindrić

How many of us want our students to be highly motivated learners? Proactive? Goal-directed? Strategic? Perseverant? Adaptive? We’ve heard teachers across subjects and grade bands say that these are difference-making characteristics that students need to be successful in and out of the classroom. In educational research terms, students who demonstrate these qualities are skilled at regulating their learning. Researchers have dedicated significant efforts to understanding self-regulated learning skills and the underlying processes. In a series of three blog posts, we take a closer look at regulation of learning, why it matters to students and teachers, and how educators might foster it in classroom settings.

As Timothy Cleary describes in The Self-Regulated Learning Guide (2018), self-regulated learners “want to perform well on some activity” and “purposefully and strategically figure out ways to achieve their goals…despite experiencing challenges, barriers, or struggles, [they] continuously find a way to learn” (pp. 9-10). Interestingly, they do this by repeating three fairly simple phases (Figure 1):

1. Before the Learning (Preparation Phase)–self-motivating and figuring out how to approach the task;
2. During the Learning (Execution Phase)–maintaining motivation, using strategies to complete the task, and self-monitoring thinking and actions during learning;
3. After the Learning (Reflection Phase)–determining how well the selected strategies helped accomplish the task and deciding how to improve next time.

Figure 1. Phases of self-regulated learning.

Note: This figure shows phases of self-regulated learning and steps students can take throughout this cyclical process. Adapted from the original figure The Cycle of Self-Regulated Learning by Karen Kirk from Develop Self-Regulated Learners: Choosing and Using the Best Strategies for the Task. Published under the Creative Commons license.

Self-regulated learning is cyclical and its phases are iterative and loosely sequenced; students might move from one phase to the next or revisit previous phases as needed. Thinking about strategies involves thinking about learning strategies (e.g., ignoring distractions, re-reading task instructions) as well as best content area strategies to use in a given task.

But what do we do when our students aren’t particularly skilled in regulating their learning? Can regulation be learned? Can regulation be taught? Should it be taught?

Some learners figure out how to regulate their learning on their own and then go on to do it automatically without much thought. That can lead us to believe that some people just get it and some people don’t. However, that kind of fixed mindset thinking isn’t accurate. Regulation of learning can be learned and strengthened when people become aware of the principles and processes behind it and consciously reflect on how to do it better. In fact, when learners realize that the strategies they select are directly linked to how successful they are with tasks, they experience greater self-efficacy, motivation, and success on future tasks (Greene, 2018).

Likewise, regulation of learning can be taught when we explicitly talk about it with our students, model it for them, and prompt them to engage in it before, during, and after learning activities in our classes. For example, a mathematics teacher might ask her students to fill out a task planning sheet before starting a task (Figure 2) to help them prepare for learning.

Figure 2. Student task planning sheet by D. Dragnić-Cindrić and S. Hampton

The purpose of engaging students in task planning is to get them to think about the task and their own goals for it, which might differ from the teacher’s goals. It connects the doing of the task to the time the teacher allotted for it and the materials students will need to use to get it done. Lastly, it leads the students to think about and plan the steps needed to complete the task beforehand. Of course, this plan is a starting point and should remain flexible as students work through the task. The idea behind scaffolds like this planning sheet is that they help students internalize and learn how to engage in self-regulated learning, and over time, begin to do it on their own in other classes.

So regulation can be learned and taught, but should it? In our conversations on this topic, we relied on our combined expertise, Sarah, as a practitioner and teacher coach with 15 years of experience, and Dalila, as a learning scientist, who studies individual and group regulation of learning. During our conversation, we discussed current regulation of learning literature, Dalila’s own research findings, and Sarah’s deep knowledge of classroom contexts. We concluded that teaching regulation is so important because, immediately, it helps students see what they do in the classroom as something they do for themselves vs. something they do for the teacher, parents, school, etc., and, ultimately, it prepares students for success in any career path. The bottom line is that regulation empowers students and prepares them for life.

Everyone is going to encounter a difficult moment, an exceptional challenge, and regulation is critical in that moment. Regulation of learning strategies are for everyone. Even if you don’t need them today, I promise you, a day will come when you’ll need them. – Dalila Dragnić-Cindrić

In addition to the benefits for students, an upfront investment in teaching regulation of learning returns dividends for teachers, too. Imagine having a classroom full of students who are active and confident self-regulated learners rather than passive recipients of knowledge. Some of the time you currently spend motivating learners and managing your classroom could be repurposed for more personalized instruction as students begin diagnosing their own learning barriers and requesting specific kinds of help. Teaching regulation of learning alleviates teachers of the sole responsibility for ensuring students’ progress, while equipping students to assume more ownership of their learning success.

Research supports what we intuitively know–helping students learn to be highly motivated, proactive, goal-directed, strategic, perseverant, adaptive learners is a game changer for them, and we can accomplish it by explicitly teaching and modeling regulation of learning skills. Because the benefits transcend subject areas and career paths, we would argue that teaching regulation is even more important than teaching subject specific content. Thankfully, teaching content and regulation of learning together is the best way to teach them both.

In the coming blog posts within this series, we’ll explore some barriers and potential solutions for teaching regulation of learning in our classrooms. We’ll also discuss regulation of learning in collaborative groups (i.e., social regulation of learning) and hear more from Dalila about her research on this topic and from Sarah about her experiences with managing collaborative groups in her math and science classrooms. Together we will offer insights and recommendations for educators.

Do you think it’s important to explicitly teach regulation of learning? Why or why not? If you’re already teaching it, let us know your favorite strategies by tweeting @EducatorCIRCLS!

Educator CIRCLS posts are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. If you use content from this site, please cite the post and consider adding: “Used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).”
Suggested citation format: [Authors] ([Year]). [Title]. Educator CIRCLS Blog. Retrieved from [URL]

Resources

Cleary, T. J. (2018). The self-regulated learning guide: Teaching students to think in the language of strategies. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315693378

Greene, J. A. (2018). Self-regulation in education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315537450

Kirk, K. (n.d.) The cycle of self-regulated learning. [Figure]. The Supporting and Advancing Geoscience Education at Two-Year Colleges (SAGE 2YC) project website. Retrieved July 13, 2023, from https://serc.carleton.edu/sage2yc/self_regulated/index.html