Self-regulation involves monitoring your habits while progressing towards a goal.
How to become a self-regulated learner
A self-regulated learner has awareness of their knowledge: they know when they know a fact or possess a skill and when they do not. They also proactively seek out new strategies to help them improve17. One way to think about self-regulation is that you are monitoring your progress towards achieving your goals18.
The following are examples of self-regulatory behaviors that promote success:
Attending class regularly
- Being in class helps you hear what the instructor values and gives you an opportunity to work with others.
Completing all assignments
- Every assignment is an opportunity to practice applying what you are learning.
Using assignment feedback to ensure your understanding
- Make sure you understand both why correct answers are correct and why incorrect answers are incorrect. Even if you've answered all questions correctly, make sure you can explain your reasoning for each answer.
Checking your confidence whenever you answer a question
- Are you uncertain even after hearing an explanation for an answer? Can you answer a question AND explain the reason for your answer?
- Identify what was confusing during class! Write down what was confusing and revisit these concepts. Figure out WHY it confused you, and determine how to resolve the confusion. Read/watch resources, ask for help, and test yourself afterwards to see if you now understand.
Self-testing (practicing solving or re-solving problems)11
- Document the types of questions you have previously answered incorrectly, think about why you got them wrong, and develop better strategies to answer these types of questions in the future.
Here are a few additional techniques that turn your studying into self-regulatory opportunities:
Describe how different concepts relate to each other11
- After making a summary, diagram or map, try using it to explain to someone else how the concepts relate to each other. Determine which parts you feel confident about and which need reinforcement. Add details to your map or drawing as you learn more information, or better understand how different concepts relate to each other.
Explain a concept to someone else (teach it)11
- Ask yourself or your learning partner, does that make sense? Is it correct? Why or why not? Document any points that you didn't have quite correct, or were not confident about, and work with a partner to study and re-explain the concepts, trading off being listener and explainer.
Study in a group or partner setting
- Learn from each other by explaining and checking understanding. Test each other with questions you make up. Keep each other focused and on task. If you find yourself distracted, ensure you and your study partners have matched levels of motivation and commitment.