Self-regulatory training for helping students with special needs to learn mathematics

Abstract

Previous research suggests that self-regulation interventions are effective in improving students' self-regulatory skill and school performance in a wide variety of educational domains. Inspired by social cognitive theory (Schunk & Zimmerman, 1997) and goal setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990), I designed, implemented, and examined the beneficial impact of a two-part intervention to teacher effective self-regulation (i.e., goal setting and self-reflection) of 62 high school students with special needs (40 males, 22 females) during in-class math instruction. Results indicate that the two-part intervention led to high self-efficacy judgments and to better math performance compared to students with special needs who were randomly assigned into a delayedtreatment control group. Students in the intervention group also perceived the math instruction they received more positively. Results also show that, after participating in the intervention, all participants students with special needs increased their variety of selfregulatory strategies, and attributed their performance to more controllable (e.g., effort, strategy) causes. The gains in self-regulatory strategies and adaptive attributions, while significant in their own right, helped students experience a significant gain in their postintervention math performance as well.

Goal Setting Support in Alternative Math Classes: Effects on Motivation and Engagement

“…Even though statistical results using aggregated data did not show positive changes, some students in the sample did report numerical increases on these variables. That some students reported increasing Self-Efficacy over the semester supports Kang's (2010) finding to some extent; students in the present study were not trained formally to self-reflect on their goals, but were encouraged to do so. This was evident in many written comments on students' goal sheets, made by the teacher as he conferenced with them while administering Learning Skills and Engagement marks.…”

“…In a dissertation study providing training in goal setting and self-reflection aspects of SRL for low-achieving students with special needs, Kang (2010) found that when students received goal-setting training, they did not produce higher scores than a control sample on a measure of intrinsic motivation for math; but when they were trained to selfreflect on their goals, their scores were higher than controls. On the other hand, students produced higher scores than the control sample on satisfaction with math performance when in the goal-setting condition, but not in the self-reflection condition.…”