A Longitudinal Study of Self-Regulated Learning Characteristics in Mines Undergraduate Students

Scott Strong

sstrong@mines.edu

Cognitive, metacognitive, behavioral, motivational, and emotional aspects of learning all sit within the framework of self-regulated learning, making it a comprehensive and holistic way to study educational environments, formal or otherwise.  Typically, higher-education does not overtly address these aspects of learning, even when empirical evidence tends to point toward a correlation between positive student outcomes and synergies between these listed aspects of learning. Previously, we have found that students are amenable to the inclusion of non-technical topics in cognitive psychology within their technical STEM coursework. That said, it is not exactly clear what from this broad arena they are interested in or find useful in shaping their own learning strategies.  The goal of this project is to build on the work of a previous MURF, which assessed the attitudes, motivations, and metacognitive capacity of undergraduates, by developing a community of students who can be studied longitudinally in order to better understand the needs and interests of the larger population. To do this, we will continue to curate and evaluate the utility of inclusion of materials from cognitive psychology in STEM educational environments, apply a mixed-method assessment where standard measures are used in conjunction with linguistic content analysis and focus groups in order to continue addressing the question of “how does exposure to concepts from educational psychology affect student outcomes in technical coursework?” The research line is interesting because of its reflective quality and the empowerment of current and future students it may provide. 

Grand Challenge: Not applicable

The System Evaluation Protocol https://core.human.cornell.edu/research/systems/protocol/index.cfm Cambridge Handbook of Engineering Education Research Chapter 26 - Quantitative and Mixed Methods Research pp 519-534 By Barbara M. Moskal, Colorado School of Mines, Teri Reed, Dwight Look College of Engineering and Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A;&M, Scott A. Strong, Colorado School of Mines Chapter 27 - Framing Qualitative Methods in Engineering Education Researchpp 535-550 By Jennifer M. Case, University of Cape Town, Gregory Light, Northwestern University A Review of Self-regulated Learning: Six Models and Four Directions for Research Ernesto Panadero http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00422/abstract

Scott Strong