An Investigation of Students' Self-Regulated Learning Strategies: Students' Qualitative and Quantitative Accounts of Their Learning Strategies

• Published in: Journal of cognitive education and psychology Vol. 12; no. 3; pp. 359 - 373
• Main Authors: Anthony, Jared S., Clayton, Karen E., Zusho, Akane
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer Publishing Company 01.01.2013
• Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Cognitive, Biological, and Neurological Psychology; College students; Educational Research; Learning; Learning Processes; Learning Strategies; Motivation; Psychology; School and Educational Psychology; Social and Personality Psychology; Studies; Validity; mixed-methods; validity; self-regulated learning strategies; MSLQ
• ISSN: 1945-8959; 1810-7621
• DOI: 10.1891/1945-8959.12.3.359

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between qualitative and quantitative measures of self-regulatory learning strategies to further investigate issues related to the validity of self-report measures. One hundred and sixty high school girls completed both the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and an open-ended questionnaire, both of which were designed to assess students' use of learning strategies in the domains of English and math. Open-ended responses were coded and analyzed with results indicating that most students use shallow-processing strategies when preparing for final exams. Regression analysis was also used to investigate the predictive ability of the MSLQ and the open-ended questionnaire with findings indicating both to have predictive qualities. Implications for self-regulation and the measurement of learning strategies will be discussed.