This study examined 56 middle school students' self-reflections and self-regulatory behavioral development in a project-based learning experience. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected providing a more comprehensive evaluation of 1) students' perceptions of their self-regulatory behaviors in the project-based learning experience and 2) both the teacher's and students' perceptions of what aspects of the project-based learning experience were beneficial in facilitating students' self-regulatory behaviors.
The overall findings in this study suggest that students had success in using metacognitive processes to self-monitor the development of their self-regulatory skills. The self-monitoring process was a deliberate approach used to teach students to self-identify their weaknesses and strengths in terms of three self-regulatory skills: learning strategy use, goal setting and time management. These skills are instrumental in students' achieving success by independently completing a project. The outcomes of the study imply that students need scaffolding support in project-based learning in order to facilitate the development of self-regulatory skills. As students completed the social studies class project, they required careful guidance to learn to sift through and to synthesize information from a variety of resources. It was important to design a collaborative learning environment where students were encouraged to share in the decision-making process of the project outcomes and the curriculum.
Students used the Student Weekly Reflection Form (SWRF) to engage in self-reflection throughout the project. NUD*IST N6 was used to quantify and analyze the data obtained from the SWRF.
Students' pre- and post-test scores on the Goal Orientation Index (GOI) (Atman, 1986) showed a significant increase in the Reflecting and Planning Subscales at the .01 level of significance using a one-tailed t-test. The Bandura Self-Efficacy for Self-Regulated Learning Scale (as cited in Pajares and Urdan, 2006) was used to measure students' perceptions of their self-regulatory abilities to complete goals. There was no significant difference between the students' pre- and post-test scores as measured by a one-tailed t-test.
This study adds to existing social cognitive understanding. In order for students to identify and develop self-regulatory skills in this project, they first had to experience the opportunity to participate as managers in their own learning.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-05092008-114934 |
| Date | 27 June 2008 |
| Creators | Gerlach, Darla Lee |
| Contributors | Dr. Mary Kay Stein, Dr. John Myers, Dr. Maureen Porter, Dr. Kathryn S. Atman |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-05092008-114934/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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