Date of Graduation

2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Learning and Instruction

Program

Learning & Instruction EdD

First Advisor

Xornam Apedoe

Second Advisor

Patricia Busk

Third Advisor

Uma Jayakumar

Abstract

Student success in community-college online courses remains a topic of concern within higher-education research. Online courses offer flexibility and opportunities for students to learn anytime and anywhere. Students who are not prepared for the anytime-anywhere format struggle in online courses. As enrollment in online courses increases, the rate at which students persist through courses with satisfactory academic success is inconsistent. Effective ways to promote student success in online courses is an area that remains under-researched. Self-regulated learning has been shown to promote online student success by supporting student engagement, learning strategy use, and consistent evaluation of academic performance through instructional interventions and practice adopting the self-regulated learning process.

The mixed methods study examined the effect of self-regulated learning strategy interventions on students' self-regulated learning conduct and academic success in community-college online courses. Two intact classes of community-college online students participated in the studies in two subsequent quarters. Both curriculum-embedded interventions included instruction in a self-regulated learning strategic framework focused on, goal setting, actions, monitoring, and evaluation of self-regulated learning processes, followed by weekly implementation of the framework throughout the duration of online courses. Students' perceptions were assessed before and after intervention and compared with academic performance, final course grades. Additionally, students completed structured-diary responses to evaluate implementation of self-regulated learning process.

Results indicated that increases in students' perceptions of self-regulated learning behaviors postintervention were significant in Study 1, and not significant in Study 2. Increases in students' perceptions of metacognition were significant in both studies. Relationships between final course grades and students' perceptions postintervention were moderate and not significant. Structured-diary responses revealed that students set goals centered on completing course assignments and time management and employed several learning strategies in support of achieving goals. Students perceived the framework as straightforward, adaptable, and effective. Results suggest that self-regulated learning strategy intervention was successful in raising the metacognitive awareness and self-regulated learning skill levels of community-college online students. Increased metacognitive awareness and self-regulated learning skills positively contributed to students' efficacy for academic success in online courses. Implications of these studies contribute to research examining self-regulated learning strategy instruction as a means for promoting online student success.

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