Self-regulated learning in mathematics classes

Abstract

Developing a sense of agency as a learner is at the heart of Self-Regulated Learning (SLR). If students in mathematics are going to become self-regulated learners they need to be confronted with opportunities that allow them to reveal their thinking and to observe and emulate the thinking of others. In what follows we begin by introducing SRL and exploring its connection with mathematics education. In our small-scale classroom study, two elements of instruction in mathematics stood out as providing rich opportunities for students to begin practising self-regulatory behaviours. The first was the use of models to represent problem situations and the second, reflective journalling. We describe the exploratory study and in particular, examine how involving models and journalling as part of instruction, enabled students to observe and emulate self-regulating behaviours.