Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Página 526 de 957
Context
lifelong learners in problem-based and project-based undergraduate
engineering classrooms. In order to do this, we propose that characteristics of
lifelong learners are approximated best in the context of the formal classroom by
characteristics associated with self-regulated learning.
Undergraduate engineering educators have the dual charge of educating students in the
content domain of their respective engineering field and helping them to develop the
habits of mind that are consistent with those of lifelong learners. To develop the latter
instructors must understand which habits are called forth and become part of a student’s
repertoire under different instructional conditions. This study is a first look at which
behaviours and attitudes associated with self-regulated learners emerge in different
instructional environments. We make the assumption that characteristics of lifelong
learners are approximated best in the context of the formal classroom by characteristics
associated with self-regulated learning.
Research questions
This investigation sought to answer the following questions: What do instructors in
problem and project-based environments do to facilitate the development of selfregulated
learners? Can instructor practices and behaviours be described that lead to
greater student regulation of their own learning? What are students’ cognitive,
behavioural, and affective responses to the different ways instructors support their
developing autonomy?
Theoretical framework
The present study leverages self-regulated learning theory (SRL) and self-determination
theory (SDT) as the theoretical frameworks. Zimmerman (2000) defines SRL as “…selfgenerated
thoughts, feelings, and actions that are planned and cyclically adapted to the
attainment of personal goals” (p. 14). Pintrich (2004) provides four assumptions of SRL
models. These are that self-regulated learners (a) are active participants in learning,
constructing meaning from information available in the environment in combination with
what they already know, (b) can control and regulate aspects of their thinking, motivation,
and behaviour and in some instances their environment, (c) compare progress toward a
goal against some criterion, and (d) use self-regulatory mechanisms to mediate between
the person, the context, and achievement (pp 387-388). Students can be said to be selfdetermining
when these regulatory processes are self-generated.
In the same way that becoming self-regulated is a process of learning to regulate and
assuming responsibility for that regulation, becoming self-determined proceeds along the
continuum that ranges from extrinsic motivation (controlled) to intrinsic motivation
(autonomous) (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Social contexts interact with individual tendencies to
create conditions that facilitate movement along the self-determination continuum toward
integration and intrinsic motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Deci and Ryan (2000, p.227)
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011