Contributions to the measurement and promotion of higher education students’ self-regulated learning using social media

Resumo

Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) is a crucial feature that Higher education (HE) students should possess to accomplish successful learning, especially in the COVID-19 era. Given the SRL importance, several methods exist for its measurement and promotion. Up to date, the popular way to assess SRL is through using self-report instruments, particularly, very large or limited questionnaires, usually administered in a single session at the term beginning. These instruments are susceptible to biases that can undermine their reliability. As a long session including numerous questions approaches its end, the respondents tend to answer haphazardly or even quit answering. Furthermore, these instruments do not present a dynamic view about how learners adjust their learning tactics and strategies over time, but only a snapshot. Other methods that employ data analytics techniques such as Learning Analytics (LA) and Educational Data Mining (EDM) are less feasible for large populations and difficult to apply outside the laboratory environment. This thesis aims to improve the measurement and promotion of SRL among HE students. Due to the shortcomings of the current instruments, this thesis created a novel instrument that extends for a long period to obtain a full picture of the evolution of the student’s SRL. Considering the long period, such instrument should include a greater number of items to measure and promote a broader spectrum of the students’ SRL capacities. To accomplish these objectives, this thesis introduces the Social Media Based Self -Regulated Learning Questionnaire (SM-SRLQ); an instrument adapted from 12 different questionnaires to measure 9 SRL competencies. The principal idea of the SM-SRLQ is dividing questions into small chunks and administration over several weeks via Facebook throughout the term so that the students answer a limited number of questions per time to obtain more reliable responses. The SM-SRLQ benefits out of the social media capabilities and its popularity among young students. Its usage is not only for SRL measurement but for intervention as well. The thesis procedure involved three phases. Phase I included the problem definition, and a systematic literature review studying the usage of the self-report instruments and the data analytics in the SRL measurement among the HE students. Phases II and III involved conducting two empirical studies in the context of Egyptian HE system to apply SM-SRLQ and compare its results against the well-known Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Both questionnaires were presented in English and Arabic to help the non-English speakers to participate. The first study witnessed using the SM-SRLQ for measurement only, while the 2nd included using the SM-SRLQ for measurement and intervention. This thesis contributes to the SRL line of research from two aspects: methodology and application. Methodologically, the contribution is twofold. First, the measurement and promotion of students’ SRL strategy usage using self-report questionnaires over a period is considered original. Traditionally, questionnaires have been used for SRL measurement only. Second, the provision of feedback via Facebook to enhance the students’ participation and improve their SRL capacities. This approach can enhance the instrument’s reliability, as students answer without time pressure or getting bored. Application wise, the thesis introduces social media utilization, a familiar environment for students that facilitates their participation. This is the first study to use social media to administer a questionnaire to measure and promote SRL among students over an extended period to the best of the researcher's knowledge. This thesis provides opportunities for the research community to explore the relationship between utilizing social media and the SRL measurement & development among HE students. The SM-SRLQ helps obtain a comprehensive picture of the HE students’ SRL throughout a long period and provides information about the students’ evolution throughout the term. The SM-SRLQ keeps the students alert and thinking about SRL behaviors and strategies and increases their knowledge of the self-learning concept. The presentation of questionnaires in two languages enables analyzing the SRL behaviors of students from various backgrounds.