Self-Regulated Reading and Test Preparation among College Students

Abstract

Models of self-regulation describe learners as actively controlling their cognitive strategies and affective states. To determine if this is a realistic description, college students were surveyed on their reading and studying of their texts across a semester. In Experiment 1, moderate correlations between self-reported studying and quiz scores were found. However, students did not adjust their study strategies despite relatively poor performance. Two different courses were examined in Experiment 2. In one, students increased their effort and improved their test scores. In the second, students experimented with deep processing strategies, but this did not lead to higher test scores. Overall, little evidence of the sophistication described in contemporary models of self-regulation was found in these classroom studies.

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Jerrold E. Barnett

Jerrold E. Barnett, Department of Psychology, Sociology, and Counseling, Northwest Missouri State University. Jerrold received his Ph. D. from the Pennsylvania State University in Educational Psychology. He teaches Educational Psychology and Psychological Testing at Northwest Missouri State University. Correspondence concerning this article should be sent to the 2430 Colden Hall, Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO 64468. Electronic mail may be sent to [email protected].