Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant switch to remote learning enabled a natural experiment to observe and compare the self-regulation strategies used by elementary students in hypermedia environments. Specifically, the same participants (N = 48, Mage = 10.75) were observed in two learning contexts: a traditional classroom with their teacher present, and remote learning from home where all learning was conducted and completed digitally. In both contexts, students completed self-report instruments about their perceived self-regulatory behavior and were individually observed completing a research task in a digital context. Observational data was coded using an established framework of self-regulation for learning (SRL) behaviors in computer-based learning environments. Results showed that the context of the learning did not impact the SRL strategies of elementary students, with no significant differences between the self-reporting or observational data in all categories, or in task performance. The level of consistency between the patterns of SRL behavior, self-reporting and task performance in both environmental contexts was a remarkable finding of this study. Surprisingly, despite remote learning demanding higher self-regulatory capacity, results show that elementary students did not automatically acquire or develop self-regulation skills, nor adjust their existing patterns of SRL behavior in this new learning context.
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Jodie Torrington completed this work while holding the Macquarie University Research Excellence Scholarship.
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Appendices
Appendix 1
Table 5
Appendix 2
Table 6
Appendix 3
The Junior Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (Sperling et al., 2002).
Version B:
Appendix 4
Table 7
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Torrington, J., Bower, M. & Burns, E.C. How remote learning impacted elementary students’ online self-regulation for learning: A COVID-19 natural experiment. Educ Inf Technol 29, 12989–13023 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-12352-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-12352-w