Beyond goal setting and planning: An examination of college students’ self-regulated learning forethought processes

Abstract

This study aimed to identify and evaluate major processes college students engage in as they begin their active engagement in learning. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 college students. Then, a grounded theory approach was used to identify the forethought processes students described. These processes included identifying goals, ordering and prioritizing tasks, scheduling, storing goals and plans, and regulating goals and plans. Additionally, findings indicated that students perceived their engagement in these forethought processes as connected to their beliefs about the subject domain, prior experiences, and subject domain and context. These results highlight processes that have not been thoroughly captured previously by self-regulated learning frameworks. Thus, articulating these processes provides a deeper understanding of students’ active engagement in self-regulated learning.

Keywords

goal setting motivation planning qualitative self-regulated learning

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barron

K. E.

Harackiewicz

J. M.

(2001). Achievement goals and optimal motivation: Testing multiple goal models. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(5), 706–722. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.80.5.706

Belgrave

L. L.

Seide

(2019). Coding for grounded theory. In Bryant

Charmaz

(Eds.), The SAGE handbook of current developments in grounded theory (pp. 166–185). Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526485656.n10

Boekaerts

(1997). Self-regulated learning: A new concept embraced by researchers, policy makers, educators, teachers, and students. Learning and Instruction, 7, 161–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0959-4752(96)00015-1

Boekaerts

Corno

(2005). Self-regulation in the classroom: A perspective on assessment and intervention. Applied Psychology, 54, 199–231. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2005.00205.x

Brady

A. C.

Kim

Cutshall

(2021). The what, why, and how of distractions from a self-regulated learning perspective. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 51(2), 153–172. https://doi.org/10.1080/10790195.2020.1867671

Bryant

Charmaz

(2012). Grounded theory in historical perspective: An epistemological account. In Bryant

Charmaz

(Eds.), The SAGE handbook of grounded theory (pp. 31–57). Sage Publications Inc.

Cheung

(2004). Goal-setting as motivational tool in student’s self-regulated learning. Educational Research Quarterly, 27(3), 3–9.

Corbin

J. M.

Strauss

(2008). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (3rd ed.). Sage Publications Inc.

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(3), 425–474. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9320-8

10.

Efklides

(2011). Interactions of metacognition with motivation and affect in self-regulated learning: The MASRL model. Educational Psychologist, 46(1), 6–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2011.538645

11.

Eilam

Aharon

(2003). Students’ planning in the process of self-regulated learning. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 28(3), 304–334. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0361-476X(02)00042-5

12.

Elliot

A. J.

Murayama

Pekrun

(2011). A 3 × 2 achievement goal model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(3), 632–648. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023952

13.

Endedijk

M. D.

Vermunt

J. D.

Meijer

P. C.

Brekelmans

(2014). Students’ development in self-regulated learning in postgraduate professional education: A longitudinal study. Studies in Higher Education, 39(7), 1116–1138. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.777402

14.

Garavalia

L. S.

Gredler

M. E.

(2002). An exploratory study of academic goal-setting, achievement calibration and self-regulated learning. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 29(4), 222–230.

15.

Greene

J. A.

Hutchison

L. A.

Costa

L. J.

Crompton

(2012). Investigating how college students’ task definitions and plans relate to self-regulated learning processing and understanding of a complex science topic. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 37(4), 307–320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2012.02.002

16.

Kim

Brady

A. C.

Wolters

C. A.

(2020). College students’ regulation of cognition, motivation, behavior, and context: Distinct or overlapping processes? Learning and Individual Differences, 80, 101872. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2020.101872

17.

Kim

S. Y.

Wolters

C. A.

Anderman

E. M.

(2021). Academic, social, and well-being goals in the classroom: The dynamic interplay between multiple goals and self-regulatory processes. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 67, 102018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2021.102018

18.

Kim

S. Y.

Wolters

C. A.

Anderman

E. M.

(2023). Self-regulatory processes within and between diverse goals: The multiple goals regulation framework. Educational Psychologist, 58(2), 70–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2022.2158828

19.

Latham

G. P.

Locke

E. A.

(2007). New developments in and directions for goal-setting research. European Psychologist, 12(4), 290–300. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040.12.4.290

20.

McCardle

Hadwin

A. F.

(2015). Using multiple, contextualized data sources to measure learners’ perceptions of their self-regulated learning. Metacognition and Learning, 10(1), 43–75.

21.

Moos

D. C.

Azevedo

(2008). Self-regulated learning with hypermedia: The role of prior domain knowledge. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 33(2), 270–298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2007.03.001

22.

Nückles

Hübner

Renkl

(2009). Enhancing self-regulated learning by writing learning protocols. Learning and Instruction, 19(3), 259–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2008.05.002

23.

Panadero

(2017). A review of self-regulated learning: Six models and four directions for research. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00422

24.

Pintrich

P. R.

(2000). The role of goal orientation in self-regulated learning. In Boekaerts

Pintrich

P. R.

Zeidner

(Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 451–502). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012109890-2/50043-3

25.

Pintrich

P. R.

(2004). A conceptual framework for assessing motivation and self-regulated learning in college students. Educational Psychology Review, 16(4), 385–407. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-004-0006-x

26.

Pintrich

P. R.

Zusho

(2007). Student motivation and self-regulated learning in the college classroom. In Perry

R. P

Smart

J. C.

(Eds.), The scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education: An evidence-based practice (pp. 731–810). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-5742-3_16

27.

Ridley

D. S.

Schutz

P. A.

Glanz

R. S.

Weinstein

C. E.

(1992). Self-regulated learning: The interactive influence of metacognitive awareness and goal-setting. The Journal of Experimental Education, 60(4), 293–306. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.1992.9943867

28.

Schwandt

T. A.

(2014). The Sage dictionary of qualitative inquiry. Sage publications.

29.

Schwinger

Stiensmeier-Pelster

(2012). Effects of motivational regulation on effort and achievement: A mediation model. International Journal of Educational Research, 56, 35–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2012.07.005

30.

Seijts

G. H.

Latham

G. P.

(2001). The effect of distal learning, outcome, and proximal goals on a moderately complex task. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 22(3), 291–307. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.70

31.

Taub

Azevedo

Bouchet

Khosravifar

(2014). Can the use of cognitive and metacognitive self-regulated learning strategies be predicted by learners’ levels of prior knowledge in hypermedia-learning environments?. Computers in Human Behavior, 39, 356–367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.07.018

32.

Terenzini

P. T.

Rendon

L. I.

Lee Upcraft

Millar

S. B.

Allison

K. W.

Gregg

P. L.

Jalomo

(1994). The transition to college: Diverse students, diverse stories. Research in Higher Education, 35, 57–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02496662

33.

Travers

C. J.

Morisano

Locke

E. A.

(2015). Self-reflection, growth goals, and academic outcomes: A qualitative study. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(2), 224–241.

34.

Valle

Cabanach

R. G.

Núnez

J. C.

González-Pienda

Rodríguez

Piñeiro

(2003). Multiple goals, motivation and academic learning. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 73(1), 71–87. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709903762869923

35.

Winne

P. H.

Hadwin

(1998). Studying as self-regulated learning. In Hacker

D. J.

Dunlosky

Graesser

A. C.

(Eds.), Metacognition in educational theory and practice (pp. 277–304). Routledge.

36.

Wolters

C. A.

(2004). Advancing achievement goal theory: Using goal structures and goal orientations to predict students’ motivation, cognition, and achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(2), 236–250. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.96.2.236

37.

Wolters

C. A.

Benzon

M. B.

(2013). Assessing and predicting college students’ use of strategies for the self-regulation of motivation. The Journal of Experimental Education, 81(2), 199–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2012.699901

38.

Wolters

C. A.

Brady

A. C.

(2021). College students’ time management: A self-regulated learning perspective. Educational Psychology Review, 33, 1319–1351.

39.

Yang

T. C.

Chen

M. C.

Chen

S. Y.

(2018). The influences of self-regulated learning support and prior knowledge on improving learning performance. Computers & Education, 126, 37–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.06.025

40.

Yazedjian

Toews

M. L.

Sevin

Purswell

K. E.

(2008). “It’s a whole new world”: A qualitative exploration of college students’ definitions and strategies for college success. Journal of College Student Development, 49(2), 141–154.

41.

Zimmerman

B. J.

(2000). Attaining self-regulation. In Boekaerts

Pintrich

P. R.

Zeidner

(Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 13–39). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012109890-2/50031-7