Student-teacher relationships in higher education take place in two embedded social contexts: the in-class environment and the educational institute in which the in-class environment is situated. The interplay between the two contexts and their association with students' motivation was studied in the current study. In a broad sample (N=597),…

Background: During self-study, students need to monitor and regulate mental effort to replete working memory resources and optimize learning results. Taking breaks during self-study could be an effective effort regulation strategy. However, little is known about how breaktaking relates to self-regulated learning. Aims: We investigated the effects…

We investigated whether finger pointing is an effective cognitive-load self-management strategy to mitigate the split-attention effect during learning. This effect holds that learning from split-attention examples consisting of spatially separated, but mutually referring text and picture, is less effective than learning from equivalent spatially…

Statistics on study disruptions and delays and their negative impact on academic performance call for action-regulation strategies that students can use to manage their performance and well-being. In the present research, we rely on the action-regulation model of selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC), which was developed in the life span…

With the development of information technologies, many learners opt to stay home receiving various forms of online education such as massive open online courses (MOOC). However, many learners and instructors complain that MOOC-based learning effectiveness has been dampened by many factors. Through a meta-analysis using Stata/MP 14.0, this study…

When analyzing student reflection assignments from a mandatory research methods course, the authors were struck by the tension between students' own approaches to learning and the challenges, uncertainties, and frustrations accompanying their efforts. Students' ideas about what constitutes learning, how learning is to be done, and how they…

Training researchers represents a substantially deeply international activity for higher education, and yet the transition into independence, a critical aim of doctoral education, remains a challenge for both supervisors and doctoral students, especially those from different cultural backgrounds. Interactions between Chinese doctoral students and…

Despite the frequently reported association of characteristics of assessment policies with academic performance, the mechanisms through which these policies affect performance are largely unknown. Therefore, the current research investigated performance, motivation and self-regulation for two groups of students following the same statistics…

To foster lifelong learning skills, we need new didactic approaches with aligned assessment methods. Therefore, we investigated whether the outcomes of a project assignment show a different relation to learning strategies than a longitudinal knowledge-based assessment. We studied learning strategies of first year students of medicine and…

Supervision meetings give teachers and students opportunities to interact with each other and to co-regulate students' learning processes. Co-regulation refers to the transitional process of a student who is becoming a self-regulated learner by interacting with a more capable other such as a teacher. During a task, teachers are expected to pull…

Higher education tries to comply with a societal need for lifelong, self-directed learners, for which suitable learning formats are needed. Here, we consider Open Space Technology (OST) as a format for self-directed learning in medical education. It involves a voluntary meeting in which students explore topics of their own interest, related to the…

This mixed-methods study examines the design and delivery of MOOCs to facilitate student self-monitoring for self-directed learning (SDL). The data collection methods included an online survey (n = 198), semi-structured interviews of MOOC instructors (n = 22), and document analysis of MOOCs (n = 22). This study found that MOOC instructors viewed…

This study investigated the design and delivery of MOOCs to facilitate student self-monitoring for self-directed learning (SDL) using mixed methods. The data sources of this study included an online survey with 198 complete respondents, semistructured interviews with 22 MOOC instructors, and document analysis of 22 MOOCs. Study results indicated…

In educational theory, deep processing (i.e., connecting different study topics together) and self-regulation (i.e., taking control over one's own learning process) are considered effective learning strategies. These learning strategies can be influenced by the learning environment. Problem-based learning (PBL), a student-centered educational…

Being overconfident when estimating scores for an upcoming exam is a widespread phenomenon in higher education and presents threats to self-regulated learning and academic performance. The present study sought to investigate how overconfidence and poor monitoring accuracy vary over the length of a college course, and how an intervention consisting…