Using Learning Strategies to Enhance Student Learning

The Importance of Self-Regulation in the Classroom

The first section of the module is on a middle school teacher who is troubled by some of his students’ erratic academic development. They frequently turned in late or unfinished assignments, and occasionally they did not do any homework at all. Sometimes the students perform remarkably well, and other times they perform miserably. The instructor then asks the lead teacher for help, who suggests including self-regulation approach instruction in his lessons. A plan of action is called a strategy, and it is utilized to carry out a certain activity quickly and effectively (The IRIS Center, 2008). Strategies are essential to a child in a classroom as it enables the student to analyze any problem and therefore develop a plan on how to solve it. Secondly, it allows the students to arrange multiple goals and switch flexibly from simple to more complex goals. Strategies also will enable the child to access their background knowledge and as a result be able to apply it to new assignments.

Advantages of Strategic Learners

Strategic learners have an advantage over non-strategic learners in the class (The IRIS Center, 2008). First, they can analyze a problem and come up with a plan while non-strategic learners are impulsive, unorganized and face difficulties in determining where to begin a task. Secondly, the strategic leaners can organize multiple goals and can switch from an easy task to another one while the other students find difficulties in isolating the problem into manageable tasks (The IRIS Center, 2008). Also, the strategic learners are capable of accessing their background knowledge and apply those to new assignments on the other hand nonstrategic learners tend to forget a lot of things.

The Six Stages of the SRSD Model

The SRSD model has six research validated stages which include; developing a background knowledge, discussion, modeling, memorizing, support, and establishing an independent practice (The IRIS Center, 2008). Developing a background knowledge enables the teacher to; identify the skills students will need to use a particular strategy, assess whether the students have these skills and help the students develop the necessary skills. The most important aspect of this first stage is helping the students develop the essential skills they need to learn the academic and self-regulation strategy. The second phase is discussing the plan. In this step, the teacher can assist his/her students to understand the benefits of the approach, teach them how and when to employ a particular concept, and educate them on how to self-monitor a skill that is essential in understanding a goal. The third stage is modeling the strategy; it is one of the most crucial approaches in SRSD. The purpose of modeling is to expose the students to the thinking process used by skilled learners, to demonstrate how to perform steps in a strategy and to show why the steps in a plan are necessary. The fourth step is memorizing the approach; this step is useful as it encourages the child to learn both the steps and the actions performed under each level. Also, remembering it enables the students to become conversant with the stages, and as a result, they can use them continuously without any problem. The fifth step is supporting the students to become independent in the strategy application. The teacher encourages the students to own the concept by giving them opportunities to practice the first steps independently before introducing new measures. The final step of SRSD is establishing an independent practice. The teacher’s primary concern at this stage is to monitor and support their performance. Also, the educators aim to incorporate activities into the lesson plan to let the students maintain and apply their skills in different the contexts they might face.

Strategies to Enhance Self-Regulation in the Classroom

Mary Ann is a student in fifth grade; she understands why she needs to use an instructional strategy however she is not ready to use it independently. As her teacher, I would collaboratively use writing and self-regulatory approaches, such as the use of charts and graphic organizers. I would also increase her goals gradually until she reaches her final goal. I would also offer her constructive feedback guidance and positive reinforcement while discussing with her ways to maintain or continue using the strategy so that she can use it in other contexts.

The Role of Self-Regulation in Learning

Self-regulation is a learning process that helps students in the management of their behaviors, emotions, and thoughts (Fairbrother & Whitley, 2017). It is essential in the learning curve and is often related to meta-cognition. Research indicates that a student’s success is directly related to how well the child can self-regulate (Fairbrother & Whitley, 2017). An alternative way of introducing self-regulation strategies in a classroom is through addressing environmental factors that have the potential to make the students to be overly aroused and instead add essential features that bring calm in the school. Teachers could enhance the class environment by limiting the extremely distracting visual equipment such as very bright posters. The teacher could also manage the class better by keeping the schedule predictable this will help the students expect transition throughout the day.

References

Fairbrother, M., & Whitley, J. (2017, January 27). An Introduction to Self-Regulation. Retrieved November 21, 2017, from LD@School website: https://www.ldatschool.ca/introduction-self-regulation/

The IRIS Center. (2008). Using learning strategies to enhance student learning. Retrieved November 21, 2017, from The IRIS Center Website: https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/srs/