Self-Regulated Learning of a Motor Skill Through Emulation and Self-Control Levels in a Physical Education Setting

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of the second and third level of Zimmerman's (2000) model of self-regulated learning development. Participants were 72 (28 boys and 44 girls) fifth- and sixth-grade students who practiced the novel task of dart-throwing. Results showed that sixth-grade Greek students who proceeded sequentially from the emulation to the self-control level improved their dart-throwing performance more than students who missed one or both of these levels, but fifth-grade students benefited equally either from the sequential practice at the emulation and the self-control level or from the experience at one of these self-regulatory levels. No differences were found in self-efficacy, although sixth-grade students who practiced at the emulation level reported higher satisfaction, and sixth-grade students who practiced at the self-control level reported higher intrinsic motivation compared to control group students. These results attest to the effectiveness of learning at the emulation and self-control levels and are discussed with reference to the social cognitive model of self-regulation development.

This research was supported by a scholarship to the first author from the Greek State Scholarship Foundation.

Notes

¹If a student had not demonstrated the proper performance in a dart-throwing subskill in the predefined practice min, the corresponding social feedback was provided with the first occurrence of the proper performance.

²The content of the social feedback statements for each dart-throwing subskill was, partially, based on directions provided by Zimmerman and Kitsantas (1997).

^asignificant difference with fifth grade Group 4,

^bsignificant difference with sixth grade Group 1,

^csignificant difference with sixth grade Group 4. Group 1: group with social feedback in the first practice session and process goal and self-recording in the second practice session; Group 2: group with social feedback in the first practice session but without process goal and self-recording in the second practice session; Group 3: group without social feedback in the first practice session but with process goal and self-recording in the second practice session; Group 4: the only practice control group.

∗significant correlation at level .05,

∗∗significant correlation at level .01.