How Do First-Year College Students Experience a Self-Regulated Learning Intervention in a Composition Course

Abstract

This dissertation examines how students experienced and valued a self-regulated learning intervention in their first-year college writing course. This study’s main research question was: how do students experience self-regulated learning in a first-year composition course? The study also looked at the extent to which students valued self-regulated learning and whether they reported altering their writing behaviors as a result of the intervention. Because much of the published research on college students and self-regulated learning is quantitative, conducted in pre-post survey formats, much about the nuances of how students learn to self-regulate, and how they apply self-regulatory practices, is unknown. A longer-term qualitative approach was needed to acquire a richer understanding of how students interact and engage with self-regulatory concepts and strategies. By studying student perspectives on their experiences throughout the semester, educators and researchers alike will gain insight into what matters to students about self-regulation in their first-year writing course, and how self-regulated learning might best be integrated into a content course.