It takes two: the role of co-regulation in building students' self-regulated learning skills

Self-regulated learning occurs when a learner sets a goal and activates cognitive, metacognitive, behavioural, and motivational processes to reach that goal. Prior research has shown that self-regulated learning makes a positive contribution to learning. Therefore, this research project aimed to investigate how sources of contextual regulation affect first-year university students' participation in co-regulation of learning and self-regulated learning. This study was guided by theories on situated cognition and co-regulated learning, thus positioning the research within a social constructivist theory of learning, suggesting learning is situation-specific and context-dependent.

A design-based research approach was adopted to bridge educational research and educational practice. The research instruments used to collect the data consisted of a pre-test and post-test questionnaire, learning diaries, and a focus group interview with the teaching team. The results indicated that the intervention positively affected students' self-regulatory skills, self-efficacy, and controlled motivation. In addition, students made use of the sources of contextual regulation offered through the intervention. This research study demonstrates that the intervention in the form of offering sources of contextual regulation embedded within students' learning environment increases students' propensity to engage in self-regulated learning in the specific context of their own subject. In addition, the results indicated that students engaged with the sources of contextual regulation in different ways.
The research study confirmed that an intervention programme that involves collaboration between a researcher and lecturers enables students to apply self-regulated learning processes and strategies in context. The outcomes of this research project resulted in: (1) the answering of the research question, (2) an empirically underpinned innovative intervention to solve the educational challenge observed in practice, and (3) a set of design principles, deepening theoretical understanding about the role of co-regulated learning in fostering self-regulated learning.