Self-regulated learning of Natural Sciences and Mathematics future teachers: learning strategies, self-efficacy, and socio-demographic factors

Teacher education programs should have as one of their purposes the promotion of self-regulatory skills for learning among students who aspire to be teachers so that they can take a leading role in their learning and foster these skills in their future students. Considering the importance of knowing what students in teacher education programs do to study and learn, as well as how efficacious they feel to deal with academic demands, this study is part of a larger research and aims to investigate the learning and study strategies and self-efficacy for learning beliefs of 220 students enrolled in teacher education programs in Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics of a Higher Education Institution in the state of Piauí, and examine them in relation to age, gender, licentiate area, and course semester. Brazilian translations of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI ­ Third Edition) and the Self-efficacy for Learning Form were used for data collection. Scales were administered in the classrooms both through online platforms and in paper and pencil. Nonparametric inferential statistical pproaches were used to test hypotheses regarding group differences. Statistically significant differences were found in LASSI in relation to gender, licentiate area, and course semester. Overall, students in Physics dealt better with anxiety; in Mathematics showed more favorable attitudes towards learning; in Chemistry reported an aging their time better; in Biological Science showed significantly lower scores on many scales than did other students. Findings from this study could help inform curricular design decisions regarding teacher education programs and inform the design of interventions to strengthen the learning and study strategies and the self-efficacy for learning beliefs of future teachers.

Strategies for regulating motivation and motivation to learn of High School students / As estratégias de regulação da motivação e a motivação para aprender de estudantes do Ensino Médio

The aim of this study was to investigate motivational regulation strategies and motivation to learn of High School students, as well as to examine the intercorrelations between these two variables and their relationships with sociodemographic variables. The sample of the study was composed of 233 students from two public schools, who answered a sociodemographic questionnaire and two Likert scales. Data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics procedures. Results revealed that students seem to use motivational regulation strategies and generally feel motivated to learn. Female students reported using significantly more strategies to stay motivated than did males. Positive and significant correlations were found within the factors of the motivational regulation strategies scale and between the two scales. It is expected that the present study stimulates further research and contributes to the design of interventions to strengthen students´ motivation to learn.

O objetivo do presente estudo foi investigar as estratégias de regulação da motivação e a motivação para aprender de estudantes do Ensino Médio, bem como examinar as intercorrelações entre essas duas variáveis e suas relações com variáveis sociodemográficas. Participaram da pesquisa 233 alunos de duas escolas públicas, que responderam a um questionário sociodemográfico e a duas escalas Likert. Os dados foram analisados pelos procedimentos da estatística descritiva e inferencial. Os resultados revelaram que os estudantes parecem utilizar estratégias de regulação da motivação e geralmente se sentem motivados para aprender. Estudantes do gênero feminino reportaram usar significativamente mais estratégias para se manter motivados do que os do masculino. Correlações positivas e significativas foram encontradas entre os fatores da escala de estratégias de regulação da motivação e entre as duas escalas. Espera-se que o presente estudo estimule novas pesquisas e possibilite o delineamento de intervenções para fortalecer a motivação para aprender dos estudantes.

Estratégias de aprendizagem de alunos de um curso de pedagogia a distância / Learning strategies used by students from a distance learning course of pedagogy / Estrategias de Aprendizaje de Alumnos de un Curso de Pedagogía a Distancia

presente pesquisa baseia-se no referencial teórico da Psicologia Cognitiva/Teoria do Processamento da Informação e teve o objetivo de analisar a frequência do uso de estratégias de aprendizagem cognitiva, comportamental e autorregulatória de alunos do curso de Pedagogia ofertado a distância por uma instituição pública localizada na região Norte do estado do Paraná/Brasil. Neste estudo, participaram 532 alunos, sendo 98,7% do sexo feminino e 1,32% do sexo masculino. Para a coleta de dados, foi utilizada a Escala de Estratégias de Aprendizagem (EEA). A coleta de dados foi realizada online, utilizando as ferramentas disponíveis no Google Drive, por meio de um link, disponibilizado na página inicial da plataforma do curso realizado pelos alunosque participaram desta pesquisa. Os resultados indicaram uma tendência maior de os participantes utilizarem as estratégias de aprendizagem cognitivas, seguidas pelas estratégias comportamentais e autorregulatórias. As estratégias autorregulatórias, em especial, as de Controle da Emoção e Monitoramento da Compreensão, obtiveram médias mais baixas, o que evidencia a necessidade de os tutores incentivarem o uso de tais estratégias, em prol do desenvolvimento das habilidades metacognitivas.

This research is based on the theoretical framework of Cognitive Psychology/Theory of Information Processing and has the objective of analyzing the frequency of using cognitive, behavioral and self-regulatory learning strategies by students from the Pedagogy course offered as distance learning by a public institution located in the North region of the state of Paraná/Brazil. Five-hundred and thirty-two students took part in the study, 98.7% of them women and 1.32% men . For data collection the Scale of Learning Strategies (SLS) was used, developed and validated by Zerbini and Abbad (2008). Data collection was made on-line, using tools available on Google Drive, by means of a link, made available on the first page of the platform of the course performed by students participating in this research. Results indicated a greater tendency of participants to use cognitive learning strategies, followed by behavioral and self-regulatory strategies. The self-regulatory strategies, particularly Emotion Control and Monitoring of Understanding had lower averages, highlighting the need for tutors to encourage the use of such strategies, for developing meta-cognitive skills.

Con base en el marco teórico de la Psicología Cognitiva /Teoría del procesamiento de la información, la presente investigación tuvo como objetivo analizar la frecuencia del uso de estrategias de aprendizaje cognitiva, de comportamiento y autorreguladora de alumnos del curso de Pedagogía ofertado a distancia por una institución pública del norte de Paraná/Brasil. En este estudio, participaron 532 alumnos, siendo 98,7% del sexo femenino y 1,32% del sexo masculino. Para la recopilación de datos fue utilizada la Escala de Estrategias de Aprendizaje (EEA). Los resultados indicaron una tendencia mayor de los participantes que utilizan las estrategias de aprendizaje cognitivas, seguidas por las estrategias de comportamiento y autorreguladoras. Las estrategias autorreguladoras, en especial, las de Control de la Emoción y Monitoreo de la Comprensión obtuvieron medias más bajas, lo que evidencia la necesidad de que los tutores incentiven el uso de tales estrategias, para el desarrollo de las habilidades metacognitivas.