Gender Differences in Self-Regulated Learning

Self-regulated learning is a relatively new construct in the domain of educational psychology but its theoretical relevance and important practical implications have already been well established. The study explored the extent to which the self-regulated learning strategies of metacognition, elaboration, critical thinking, organization, rehearsal, time and effort management, help seeking and peer learning vary with gender. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) was administered to 198 undergraduate students at a large university in Northeastern U.S. The obtained data were analyzed through multivariate analysis of variance. The study uncovered several statistically significant differences. Female students tended to overreport the use of rehearsal, organization, metacognition, time management skills, elaboration, and effort. No statistically significant gender differences were found with respect to studying with peers, help seeking, and critical thinking skills. The study attempts to link self-regulated learning to gender. Self-regulation of learning is a relatively new construct in the domain of educational psychology but its theoretical relevance and important practical implications have been already well established. Most of the work on self-regulation has focused on the description of the self-regulatory process and the observed improvement of students’ self-regulatory skills after educational or training interventions. While advances in understanding of self-regulated learning could be definitely acknowledged, there are still questions that have remained largely unanswered. One of these questions concerns the extent to which self-regulation in learning could be considered a “learnable” characteristic or a characteristic that could be tied to already existing individual differences. Stated differently, the degree to which self-regulated learning is partly explained by status variables such as gender has not been thoroughly explored. The purpose of the current investigation is to determine if a set of identified in previous research self-regulated learning strategies (metacognition, elaboration, critical thinking, organization, rehearsal, time and effort management, help seeking and peer learning) varies as a function of gender. Gender and Self-Regulation 2 Self-regulated learning defined Self-regulated learning has become a popular construct in education and educational psychology in the recent years. Several models of self-regulated learning have been proposed, the majority of which stem from Bandura’s (1986) socio-cognitive theory of human functioning. An underlying assumption of Bandura’s theory is that people are proactive, self-determined and self-regulating entities, rather than passive and shaped by their surroundings (Pajaras & Valiante, 2002). The self-regulated learning theories of Zimmerman (2000) and Pintrich (2000) represent the most prominent continuation of Bandura’s theoretical paradigm. According to Zimmerman et al.(1997) self-regulated learning can be described as a cyclical and multi-componentional process. Zimmerman (2000) hypothesizes that there are three related phases: a forethought, a performance, and a self-reflection phase. Self-regulation of learning is conceptualized as encompassing skills such as: setting goals for learning; applying strategies for accomplishing those goals; monitoring one’s performance; and restructuring one’s environment in order to attain one’s goals (Zimmerman, 1995; Zimmerman & Schunk, 2001). The process is considered cyclical because feedback obtained from prior learning experience is used to make adjustments to goals and strategies for subsequent learning endeavors (Puustinen & Pulkkinen, 2001). Research in support of Zimmerman’s theory has found that self-regulating learners set proximal attainable goals; are not performance but learning oriented; have an understanding that different learning tasks require different strategies; use the most appropriate strategies effectively; possess high self-efficacy; control their performance through strategies such as imaginary, self-instruction, and attention focusing; are able to observe the intermediate outcomes of their learning process; are able to accurately attribute the outcome of learning to the causes of performance; and finally, are open to adapt their learning strategies to the immediate requirements of each particular learning situation (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2001). The theory of self-regulation proposed by Pintrich (1995) shares common features with Zimmerman’s theory. Pintrich(1995) characterizes self-regulated learning as incessant adjustment of one’s cognitive activities and processes to the demands of a particular learning situation (Pintrich et al, 1991). Self-regulated learning is assumed to follow a time ordered sequence consisting of four phases: forethought, monitoring, control and reflection. Each phase includes a number of distinctive self-regulatory activities which represent four general domains: cognitive, motivational and affective, behavioral and contextual. Similarly to Zimmerman, Gender and Self-Regulation 3 Pintrich (2000) emphasizes that the role of planning and goal setting (mastery or performance oriented) is critical in self-regulated learning. In most of the advanced theories of self-regulated learning, self-regulation in academic setting has been conceived as a malleable process, rather than unchangeable and genetically rooted. Pintrich (1995) posited, for example, that students are able to learn to self-regulate in academic settings through self-reflection and experience. Therefore, it is incumbent upon parents and teachers to cultivate these skills in students from a very early age (Coppola, 1995). Numerous training and intervention studies have lent support to the conceptions that selfregulation can be successfully taught to students of all grade level and the skills acquired through self-regulated learning lead to notable improvement in student academic performance (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2001). However, the idea that some of the self-regulatory processes could be related to already existing individual differences has not been as frequently pursued in research as training and intervention studies. Gender differences in self-regulated learning A handful of studies dealing explicitly with gender differences in self-regulated learning was identified. Although the studies tend to consistently point to the presence of some gender differences, the trend of the findings remain inconclusive. In a qualitative investigation, by the means of interviews with 5, 8, and 11 graders Zimermann and Martinez-Pons (1990) examined whether genders can be differentiated with respect to the use of 14 self-regulatory learning strategies. The authors discovered that girls tend to employ self-monitoring, goal setting, planning and structuring of their study environment much more often than boys. Pokay and Blumenfeld (1990) reported that, as compared to high school boys, high school girls use more metacognitive, cognitive and subject specific selfregulatory strategies. Similarly, Wolters (1999) established that female students use more learning strategies than boys. Niemivirta (1997) also found gender differences favoring girls; female students tended to use less superficial learning strategies such as rote memorization than male students. The study of self efficacy – the most frequently examined component of self-regulation has produced mixed and contradictory findings. Wigfield, Eccles and Pintrich (1996) found that whereas in elementary school years boys and girls are equally confident in their mathematics knowledge and skills, as they progress through the educational system, gender difference in Gender and Self-Regulation 4 mathematics self-efficacy begin to emerge such as male students begin to rate themselves as more self-efficacious than female students. In contrast, Zimermann and Martinez-Pons (1990) found no gender differences in mathematics self-efficacy. With respect to verbal self-efficacy, however, the authors uncovered gender differences favoring male students. Scope of the study The present study was motivated by the need for more research on gender and its role in self-regulated learning. The purpose of the paper was to determine whether self-regulatory learning strategies differ as a function of gender. The study focused on nine self-regulatory skills which were identified by Pintrich et al.(1993) and, as reported by the authors, were based on a general model of learning and information processing. These self-regulatory strategies are grouped in three broad categories: cognition, metacognition, and resource management. Brief definitions of the concepts are provided below. Four learning strategies constitute the cognitive area of self-regulatory skills. These are rehearsal, organization, elaboration and critical thinking skills. Rehearsal, the most basic learning strategy for processing of information, represents a verbal repetition of a material with the goal of memorization. Elaboration, a higher order learning skills, is operationally defined as paraphrasing and summarizing. Organizations include strategies such as outlining, taking notes and connecting different aspects of the material studied. The learning strategy of critical thinking, as the name implies, consists of critical evaluations of ideas and application of knowledge to new situations (Pintrich et al., 1993). Metacognition is often considered a central component of self-regulated learning. It is defined as the individual’s awareness, knowledge and control exercised over cognitive processes (Pintrich et al., 1991). Finally, the resource management category of self-regulatory strategies include managing time and study environment, effort management, peer learning and help seeking. Management of time and study environment refers to choosing a physical environment conducive to learning, which is free of distractions and allows the student to stay focused on the task at hand (Zimmerman & Risemberg, 1997). The strategy of effort regulation is close in meaning to volition and include an ability to deal with seatbacks and failure in the process learning; allocating more effort to unsuccessfully performed tasks (Chen, 2001). Peer learning is using a study group or friends to help learn and help seeking refers to looking for help form others – peers and instructors – in event of encountered learning difficulties (Pintrich et al., 1993). Gender and Self-Regulation 5