Self-Regulated Learning
and Its Role in Tutoring
Jan Collins Eaglin and Laura Woodward
Tutoring Institute
Academic Success Center
April 13, 2006
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Student Learning Results from
More than Just their Intelligence
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Learning
Styles
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A particular way in
which the mind
receives and
processes
information.
You may have a
particular way that
you like to learn.
This may be
different from that
of your students.
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Different theoretical bases for learning
styles
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Entwistle
Soloman
Gardner
Felder
http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html
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The problem with learning styles is that
there is an assumption that a student
whose learning style does not match
their professor’s style cannot learn in
that class.
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We Can Improve Student
Memory of our Course Material
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Tutoring by using only the standard lecturer style promotes
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Shallow learning
Learning by rote.
Test anxiety
Reduced memory
Tutoring by using multiple approaches can help.
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VERBALLY and VISUALLY
BY ASKING QUESTIONS
USING REAL WORLD EXAMPLES
CHUNKING
BY BEING SELECTIVE
Stores in different parts of the brain
Promotes deeper thinking
Framing helps motivation
Helps students to organize
Helps students focus
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Self-regulated Learning

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How students become masters of their own learning
processes.
View of the academic learning as something
students do for themselves, rather than something
which is done to or for them.
Proactive activity, requiring self-initiated motivational
and behavioral processes as well as meta-cognitive
ones
Zimmerman, 1986
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Skill
Will
Self-regulation
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Characteristics of
Self-regulated Learners
Write it down.

Think about yourself in
that very difficult class
you had with a Tutor
who didn’t teach the
way you wanted to
learn.

Write down the things
about you that helped
you to succeed.
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Characteristics of
Self-regulated Learners
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Motivated
Setting goals
Active
Monitoring
Controlling their
learning
Adaptive
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Strategies of Self-regulated
Learners

Think about yourself in that
very difficult class you had
with a Tutor who didn’t
teach the way you wanted
to learn, or a friend who
succeeded in that situation.

What were the things that
you did to help you
succeed?
Discuss these with one
other person.
Present the most important
ones to the group.

Discuss.

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Strategies of Self-regulated
Learners
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Cognitive strategies
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Rehearsal
Elaboration
Organization
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Meta-cognitive
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Forethought
Monitoring
Regulating
Managing resources
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Implementing Strategies
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Time, effort into
planning
Monitoring effort, time
use and need for help
Choice to increase or
decrease effort
Persistence
Regulating effort
Using extrinsic self-talk
Seeking help
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Strategies
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Self-monitoring
Comprehension
monitoring
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Self-regulated Learning
Apathetic
No skills
Somewhat motivated
Mediocre skills
Some skills
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Motivated
Self-regulated skills
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Motivation
Internal
Ability
External
Luck
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Cultural Context
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Stereotype threat can impair
academic performance if the
stereotype is negative.
Aronson, Fried and Good (2002)
found that The African American
students encouraged to view
intelligence as malleable
reported:
 Greater enjoyment of the
academic process
 Greater academic
engagement
 And obtained higher grade
point averages than their
counterparts in two control
groups.
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Bernard Weiner's Attribution Theory
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Self-efficacy
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Control over one’s own
functioning and events
that affect one’s life.
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It influences:
 goals students set
 commitment to those
goals
 learning strategies
employed
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Positive Attributions

What students believe
caused their success or
failure.
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Productive
 Applying effort
 Using strategies
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Unproductive
 Low ability
 Luck
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Control Over Outcomes
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Goal orientation
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Learning
 Goal is to understand
the material.
 “I appreciate a
challenge.”
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Performance
 Goal is to perform well.
 “If it takes a lot of effort,
I must not be smart.”
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Tutors As Academic Coaches
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Help to build:
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Self-efficacy
Positive
attributions
Control over
outcomes
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What Can a Tutor Do to Help a
Student?
Taken from the webpage of Dr. Deborah L. Butler, University of British Columbia
http://www.ecps.educ.ubc.ca/faculty/Butler/SCL.htm
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What Can a Tutor Do to Help a
Student?
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Help students construct:
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Learning about learning
academic content
Strategies for analyzing
tasks
Task-specific strategies
and skills
Self-monitoring strategies
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What Can a Tutor Do to Help a
Student?
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Assess the students’ ability to:
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Adjust learning activities to reduce gaps between desired
and actual performance.
Monitor outcomes associated with strategy use.
Self-evaluate by comparing progress against task criteria
to generate judgments about how they are doing.
Interpret externally provided feedback.
Use feedback strategically to diagnose challenges and
problem solve solutions.
Generate judgments about progress and make decisions
that shape further learning activities.
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What Can a Tutor Do to Help a
Student?
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Assess a student’s ability to
analyze task demands.
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Scrutinize assignments to extract:
 The topic
 Expected procedures
 Required products
 Marking criteria
Draw on meta-cognitive
knowledge about the task.
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Self-regulated Learning
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Tutors can help students
by
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Strategy instruction
Assessing how a student
adapts through
 Task analysis
 Strategy use
 Monitoring
Helping students improve
their motivation.
 Self-efficacy
 Positive attributions
 Control over outcomes
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