No abstract

Training teachers to assess important components of self-regulated learning such as learning strategies is an important, yet somewhat neglected, aspect of the integration of self-regulated learning at school. Learning journals can be used to assess learning strategies in line with cyclical process models of self-regulated learning, allowing for rich formative feedback. Against this background, we developed a computer-based learning environment (CBLE) that trains teachers to assess learning strategies with learning journals. The contents of the CBLE and its instructional design were derived from theory. The CBLE was further shaped by research in a design-based manner. Finally, in two evaluation studies, student teachers ( 1 = 44; 2 = 89) worked with the CBLE. We analyzed satisfaction, interest, usability, and assessment skills. Additionally, in evaluation study 2, effects of an experimental variation on motivation and assessment skills were tested. We found high satisfaction, interest, and good usability, as well as satisfying assessment skills, after working with the CBLE. Results show that teachers can be trained to assess learning strategies in learning journals. The developed CBLE offers new perspectives on how to support teachers in fostering learning strategies as central component of effective self-regulated learning at school.

A brief, problem-oriented phase such as an inventing activity is one potential instructional method for preparing learners not only cognitively but also motivationally for learning. Student teachers often need to overcome motivational barriers in order to use computer-based learning opportunities. In a preliminary experiment, we found that student teachers who were given paper-based course material spent more time on follow-up coursework than teachers who were given a well-developed computer-based learning environment (CBLE), leading to higher learning outcomes. Thus, we tested inventing as an instructional method that may help overcome motivational barriers of teachers' use of computer-supported tools or learning environments in our main experimental study (N = 44). As a computer-based environment, we used the 'Assessment of Learning strategies in Learning journals'. The inventing group produced ideas about criteria to evaluate learning strategies based on student cases prior to the learning phase. The control condition read a text containing possible answers to the inventing problem. The inventing activity enhanced motivation prior to the learning phase and assessment skills as assessed by transfer problems. Hence, the inventing activity prepared student teachers to learn from a CBLE in a motivational as well as cognitive way.