Self Regulation of Study Behaviors

Child psychologists can help students learn to regulate their study behaviors and achieve their academic goals through teaching systematic self monitoring skills.  Systematic self monitoring involves self regulation of study behaviors and encourages obsessive focusing on specific study behaviors to reach an identified goal.

One of the tenants of self regulation is the notion that goals are effective in directing activities.  Students can be taught to become self regulated learners by acquiring specific strategies that are successful for them and that enable them to increase their control over their own behavior. 

The tools of a self regulated learner include:

1. A written goal statement detailing in measurable terms what they are trying to achieve in school.
2. A weekly planner to plan out required study related behaviors necessary to achieve their desired goals.
3. The ability to break down assignments and test preparation efforts into daily measurable tasks.
4. A self consequation statement detailing what behaviors they will not engage in until their daily goals are achieved and what rewards they will have if they successfully exhibit all required study related behaviors for the week.  
5. A variety of study related techniques including use of mnemonics, note cards, outlining and summarizing strategies.    
6. A positive attitude towards their efforts and an undying ability to focus on their behavior day after day even when they don’t feel like it.

High achieving students set more specific learning goals, use a variety of learning strategies, self-monitor more often, and adapt their efforts more systematically when compared to low achieving students.  Because one self-regulation strategy will not work for all students, the student must work to identify what strategies work for them and track their progress.  Adjustments to the student’s study behaviors must me made if current progress is not achieving their academically related goals.  

Conscious self-regulation requires a student to focus on the process of how to acquire skills that will work for them.  Some students for example are more visual, and learning techniques that require visualization skills such as the Loci strategy may work well.  The Loci Strategy is based on your familiarity with a place, such as your home.  The strategy helps you remember lists of items through organization, visualization, and association.  It can work well for you if you are good at visualizing (picturing) things in your mind.  Other students may be more verbally inclined, and mnemonics may work better.  Mnemonics is a memory enhancing instructional strategy that involves teaching students to link new information through rhymes, abbreviations, or other verbal cues.

According to Barry Zimmerman (1989), students that exhibit high levels of self-regulation strategies have good control over the attainment of their goals.  Zimmerman's found as a result of his research that successful student’s self-regulated learning strategies accounted for most of their success in school.  Self-regulated learning involves the regulation of three general aspects of academic learning:

1) Self-regulation of behavior including resources students have available to them, such as their time, use of a tutor, organizational strategies such as a calendar or computer, their study environment .

2) Self-regulation of motivation and affect including the control of motivational beliefs and learning how to control their emotions including frustration, anger, and anxiety as related to their academic goals. 

3) Self-regulation of cognition including control of various cognitive strategies for learning such as Loci versus Mnemonic study strategies, or outlining and summarizing chapters for a test. 

Students who have developed good self regulations skills have the ability to objectively self observe their study behaviors.  Keeping on organized system of tracing their behaviors and performance is a critical piece of this.  Other key components involve systematically comparing performance with pre-stated goals and adjusting study strategies as necessary.  Also important is self consequation, which is the ability to withhold distractions and focus on study behaviors in order to attain a planned reward if goals are successfully achieved.  

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