No ethnic, gender, or grade-level differences were found. A moderate correlation was found between number of perceived barriers and overall procrastination. (43 ref)-Graduate student,
Students’ engagement and persistence on academic learning tasks often require their use of volitional strategies to protect against distractions and facilitate task completion. In this article we discusses factors that both positively and negatively influence students’ ability to regulate their learning activities and the supporting role that volitional strategies play in helping students to develop positive work habits for tackling academic assignments. Using the Academic Volitional Strategy Inventory (AVSI), we present teachers with approaches for helping students who need to support their learning efforts. Included are ways to use the AVSI (1) as a diagnostic tool, (2) to incorporate instruction in and modeling of volitional strategies in regular curriculum assignments, and (3) to promote student reflection and peer group interaction in facilitating self-regulatory action.
Across two years, we examined the effects of teachers' attempts to implement computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) communities in classrooms in two high schools on students' knowledge building, strategic learning, and perceptions of the classroom environment. In year one, 429 (fall) and 317 (spring) students in the classes of 8 teachers and in year two, 946 students in the classes of 18 teachers participated. Students in classes where CSCL communities were more fully established reported more knowledge building goals and activities, more question asking, and higher perception of collaboration with fellow students. Students' reports of knowledge building, strategic learning, and perceptions of the classroom were also associated with their classroom achievement. Results suggest that implementing practices and technology supportive of CSCL communities can foster increased student knowledge building and enhance students' perceptions of collaboration in regular classroom environments.
In the face of shame, students may need to turn the global focus of their failures into more discrete behaviors that they can control. Instructors can facilitate this process by informing students of specific behaviors they can enact to support successful achievement, including study and volitional strategies. Students' use of multiple study and volition strategies can facilitate their self-regulation of stressful emotions and failure perceptions. These strategies provide students with options for controlling their learning. Study strategies provide students with multiple alternatives for connecting with course material while volition strategies provide students with multiple alternatives for boosting their motivation to engage in learning activities. Many entering college students are not aware of multiple learning strategies, particularly strategies needed for deeper processing, nor do they come to college with a repertoire of volitional strategies. Colleges and universities can identify common first-year classes, as well as major entry-level classes, in which instructors can incorporate class discussions about the use of multiple strategies to support students' learning and volition. Students should receive messages about the need to flexibly choose strategies to facilitate both short- and long-term goals. They also should be taught to confront failure by changing study strategies and/or initiating volition strategies. Instructors can show students how to use study strategies and volition strategies to help them become more engaged with course material to positively affect their academic achievement. Additionally, colleges and universities would do well to help instructors align their course goals, objectives, and assessments, thus eliminating the “guesswork” involved in students' study-related decisions.
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