Self Regulated Learning (SRL) in science using digital environment

Leading team

• Dr. Zahava Scherz
• Prof. Bat Sheva Eylon
• Dr. Yael Shwartz 

Project members

• Tali Shapiro

Summary

This study examined a digital environment that offers different learning paths, with the aim of identifying and characterizing the various SRL (self-regulation learning) considerations and behaviors of students.

For the purpose of this study, we created a digital learning environment that includes activities designed for teaching and assessment of middle school material sciences, as well as learning skills: this included e.g. knowledge representations, tables analysis, information organization in tables and continuous graph reading. The SRL digital learning environment provides students with the option to choose one of three possible paths in order to solve the problems they are presented with: an “Autonomous path”; an “Assisted path” (with clues) and a “Guided path” with both clues and specific guidance.

This research was carried out among 270 students from three schools. The results indicate a variety of student considerations in selecting learning paths, relating to their willingness to face challenges, their fear of failure, their desire to gain points and their confidence. Our results also indicate the degree in which various mediating strategies contribute to different types of learners and their ability to learn from simulations.
These findings contribute to the understanding of the features necessary in digital learning environments for teaching science in a way that supports student diversity and self-regulation.

Links for further reading

• Shapiro, T., Eylon, B., & Scherz, Z. (2013). A self-regulated digital environment for learning skills in science. In Gómez Chova,L., López Martínez ,A., Candel Torres, I (Eds.), Edulearn13 5th international conference on education and new learning technologies. International Association of Technology, Education and Development (IATED)
• Shapiro, T., Eylon, B., & Scherz, Z. (2013). Explicit instruction of learning skills for science embedded in physics learning materials. In Gómez Chova,L., López Martínez ,A., Candel Torres, I (Eds.), Edulearn13 5th international conference on education and new learning technologies. International Association of Technology, Education and Development (IATED).