THE LEARNING ORGANISATION BLOG

Communities of Practice Series

#communitiesofpractice #CoP #selfregulatedlearning #SRL

#scaffolding #zoneofproximaldevelopment #zpd #vygotsky #connectivism

 

“Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (Wenger, 2011).

In this week’s CoP series, we discuss self-regulated learning with accounting lecturer Brooke Sinclair.  Brooke will show you how you can use some specific techniques to further engage learners in self-regulated learning practices.   

Introduction

Some of the material I teach is quite dry, there are many new concepts and often the learners have little experience in the working environments in which these concepts make the most sense.  On the first day of class I would arrive at the classroom and think, I wonder how engaged this cohort of learners will be, will they participate and ask questions, or will they be shy and passive?    But I realised, I was asking the wrong question.   Most learners are not passive learners even if they are shy and quiet.   The question I needed to ask was,

 “What can I do to facilitate student engagement to assist with a successful learner outcome?”

 

Self-Regulated Learning (SRL)

Research shows that the techniques and skills learned in a SRL environment extend beyond the classroom and can be applied successfully to other areas of life (Perry, Hutchinson, Thauberger, 2008).    There are many schools of thought on SRL and it is acknowledged as an important construct in education (Boekaerts, 1999).  The definition that I identify with most is, “The term “self-regulated” describes learners who are metacognitively, motivationally and strategically engaged in learning”. (Winne & Perry, 2000 as cited in Perry et al., 2008, 97)

Metacognition 

Metacognition refers to learners who have control over their cognition, they understand how they think and use adaptive processes in their learning to achieve their goals (Panadero & Alonso-Tapia, 2014).  Lee, Lim & Grabowski (2010) state that metacognitive regulation is critical in knowledge generation.

Motivation

Motivated learners are willing to learn and accept challenges to develop new skills.   They value mistakes as an opportunity to learn (Perry et al, 2008).  

Strategy

Strategy relates to the learner's ability to approach a task.  Strategic learners choose from a repertoire of effective learning and problem-solving strategies they believe suit the task and their learning proficiency and apply them appropriately (Perry et al, 2008).

These three qualities play an important part in learners’ success but not all learners will arrive at class on the first day with these qualities.  

 

When surveyed most educators believe that SRL is important for learners however less than one-third of educators use or planned to use SRL technics in their courses (Harding, 2018).   As an educator, you can employ several techniques such as scaffolding, metacognitive feedback and connectivism to encourage SRL in your course.   

Scaffolding

Scaffolding is often compared to Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) which looks at:

Ø  what the learner cannot do;

Ø  what the learner can do with assistance and

Ø  what the learner can do unaided (Shaw, 2019).

The educator facilitates scaffolding by using a range of tools, strategies, prompts, metacognitive feedback, or guides to move a learner towards greater learning independence (Simons & Klein, 2007).  Using appropriate resources, educators build the learner's confidence beyond their current learning capabilities.  Educators who provide support, guidance and scaffolding can positively influence a learner motivation (Rienties et al, 2012).

By understanding your learner’s abilities and executing the correct resources to support their learning, scaffolding allows the learner to execute behaviors that are necessary to achieve their goals including directly influencing their motivation. 

Metacognitive Feedback

Metacognitive feedback is a supportive mechanism that can be used by educators to make the learner aware of the learning strategies being used and their degree of success (Lee et al., 2010).   

Metacognitive feedback involves self-questioning and prompting, it does not search for an answer to a problem but asks questions that help the learner understand more about the questions being asked.   Metacognitive feedback can be used in providing specific feedback to learners to assist them better understand how they have approached a task and their thoughts on the processes and outcomes of those tasks.
Some metacognitive prompting may include questions like:

• Ø What is this problem about?

• Ø  What are the similarities and differences of this problem and ones you have completed in the past?

• Ø  What strategies are appropriate for solving this problem and why?
• Ø  Am I looking at the task in the right way?

Lee et al. (2010) found that metacognitive feedback improved learners understanding of how to make use of new information and assisted their ability to be strategic when seeking answers.

Connectivism

Connectivism is a relatively new educational theory that has evolved due to an increase in technology and with that, growth in online teaching (Kim & Bonk, 2006).   Connectivism is dynamic, educators become facilitators and guide the learners to actively seek answers using identifying nodes (connections), networks and human resources (Borna, M. & Fouladchang, 2018).  According to Conradie (2014), connectivism is a learning process where you create “know-where”, that is an understanding where knowledge can be obtained.   The internet plays a large part in connectivism, not only for learners to engage with information but make connections with others (Utecht & Keller, 2019). 
 

As an educator you can facilitate connectivism by proving internet links, developing resources to online communities, chatrooms, social media, messaging, and other online learning tools.  However, I have found the resources you give your learners need to be appropriately scaffolded and explained.   Failing this you will find that your learner may not engage with the resources and their motivation will plummet.

Research has shown that learners in a connected environment have increased engagement, collaboration, and self-actualisation (Conradie, 2014).  And whilst this research also showed that motivation was the lowest factor influenced in the connected classroom, it was acknowledged that it could be improved with the appropriate scaffolding.

Conclusion
Learners may find the educational setting daunting; they may be apprehensive about participation or navigating the educational setting.   Learners may also be shy and hold back participating in class, but we should not assume that this means that they are passive learners.   

 
Our job as educators is to design courses to engage our learners and we can do this by applying a range of educational techniques like scaffolding, metacognitive feedback, and connectivism.   We need to understand where our learners are at educationally and scaffold their learning.  We need to use metacognitive feedback to enhance their thinking and understanding and provide them with resources so that they can search for information and discover communities to assist their learning.  It is then that we will assist our learners to be self-regulated.   The outcome will be learners who are more motivated, apply metacognition, and act strategically to achieve their educational outcomes.  

REFERENCE LIST

 

Boekaerts, M. (1999). Self-regulated Learning: Where We Are Today.  International Journal of Educational Research 31(6), 445-457.  Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/S0883-0355(99)00014-2

 

Kim, K.J., & Bonk, C. J. (2006). The Future of Online Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.  Educause Quarterly, 29(4), 22-30).  Retrieved from http://faculty.weber.edu/eamsel/Research%20Groups/On-line%20Learning/Bonk%20(2006).pdf

 

Borna, M. & Fouladchang, M. (2018) The Motivational Outcomes of Connectivism Theory in EFL.  Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods 8(2).  Retrieved from: doi:10.26655/mjltm.2018.2.8

 

Conradie, P. W. (2014).  Supporting Self-directed Learning by Connectivism and Personal Learning Environments.  International Journal of Information and Education Technology 4(3) 254-259. Retrieved from http://www.ijiet.org/papers/408-L0007.pdf

 

Harding, S.  (2018, August). Teaching Self-regulated Learning Skills.  The Institute of Educational Assessors (IEA).  Retrieved from: https://www.sace.sa.edu.au/web/iea/research/assessment-insider/articles/teaching-self-regulated-learning-skills

 

Lee, H. W., Lim, K. Y. & Grabowski, B. L. (2010).  Improving Self-regulation, Learning Strategy Use, and Achievement with Metacognitive Feedback.  Educational Technology Research and Development, 58(6), 629-648.  Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/12344/Downloads/Lee2010_Article_ImprovingSelf-regulationLearni.pdf

 

Panadeo, E. & Alonso-Tapia, J. (2014).  Analies de Psicologia 30(2), 450-462.  Retrieved http://dx.doi.org/10.6018/analesps.30.2.167221

 

Perry, N. E. Hutchinson, L. Thauberger, C. (2008).  Talking About Teaching Self-Regulated Learning: Scaffolding Student Teachers’ Development and Use of Practices that Promote Self-regulated Learning.  International Journal of Educational Research 47, 97-108.  Retrieved doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2007.11.010

 

Rienties, B., Giesbers, B., Tempelaar, D., Lygo-Baker, S., Segers, M., & Gijselaers, W. (2012).  Computers and Education 59(3) 893-906. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.04.010

 

Shaw, A. (2019, September 5). Scaffolding Learning in the Online Classroom.  Wiley Education Services.  Retrieved from https://ctl.wiley.com/scaffolding-learning-in-the-online-classroom/

 

Simons, K. D., & Klein, J. D. (2007). The impact of scaffolding and student achievement levels in a problem-based learning environment. Instructional Science, 35(1), 41–72.  file:///C:/Users/12344/Downloads/Simons-Klein2007_Article_TheImpactOfScaffoldingAndStude%20(3).pdf

 

Utecht, J. & Keller, D. (2019).  Becoming Relevant Again: Applying Connectivism Learning Theory to Today’s Classroom.   Critical Questions in Education 10(2) 109-119.  Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1219672

 

Wenger, E. (2011). Communities of Practice: A Brief Introduction.   National Science Foundation, University of Oregon, 1.  Retrieved from https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/11736/A%20brief%20introduction%20to%20CoP.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y