How undergraduate students learn: uncovering interrelationships between factors that support self-regulated learning and strategy use

Abstract

Being an effective learner is an important pillar supporting success in higher education and beyond. This research aimed to uncover the extent to which undergraduate students use a set of commonly researched learning strategies, as well as to understand how learning strategy usage relates to key self-regulation factors proposed in influential models of self-regulated learning. Undergraduate students from New Zealand (N = 140) were recruited through course management systems, social media, and campus posters. Data were analysed using correlation and multiple regression. Results show that students reported using more learning strategies that are relatively effective than learning strategies that are somewhat less effective. In addition, effort regulation and student engagement were the most consistent predictors of both learning strategy use and self-reported academic achievement. Building on these findings, this research provides important new insights into the associations between learning strategy usage and pivotal factors that support effective self-regulated learning and academic achievement. As we highlight in the article, these insights have key implications for advancing theory and research on self-regulated learning.