The fourth step is now to try to reply to the following question…”What can I do concretely during my course to train students to be better self-regulated learners?

To support students in improving in self-regulation, it is crucial to work on strategies to perform the cycle of self-regulated learning - SRL (Zimmerman & Moylan, 2009) -, is the process by which individuals actively and consciously monitor, regulate, and control their own learning from cognitive, emotional and motivational, behavioral perspectives.

Self-regulated learning model
Self-regulated learning model. Adapted from  Zimmerman and Moylan (2009).

The forethought phase

In this phase, the person analyses the task, sets the goals to minimise the unknown, identifies the steps and strategies to achieve that goal.

Points of attention:

  • breaking down a long-term goal into several proximal goals, this would make them more appealing and support positive mindset;
  • Setting intrinsically motivated goals, linked to personal interests or desire for mastery instead of external forces so they lead to higher engagement and persistence in tasks.

The performance phase

During this phase the individuals actually execute the task, while they monitor how they are progressing, and use a number of self-control strategies to keep themselves cognitively engaged and motivated to finish the task.

Points of attention:

  • Check and evaluate constantly the effectiveness of the strategies adopted: keeping records of what is going on!

The check-reflection phase

The self-reflection phase, students assess how they have performed the task, making attributions about their success or failure. These attributions generate self-reactions that can positively or negatively influence how the students approach the task in later performances.

Points of attention:

  • direct them toward productive lines of thinking about how they can improve their performance. Even if their outcome is not what they had hoped, they can still learn from the experience.

Many universities around the world are proposing for their students courses, toolkits, and supporting materials to help them identify the most suitable strategies that brings them to achieve their learning goals. Improving students’ self regulation learning skills is a key element that can be found in these "how to learn" offers as they are relevant for academic achievement (Nota et al, 2004; Zimmerman & Moylan, 2009; Casali & Meneghetti, 2023; Mega et al., 2014).