Learning Design: Creating Powerful Learning Environments for Self-Regulation Skills

Erik De Corte - Professor Emeritus, Center for Instructional Psychology and Technology (CIPT), University of Leuven, Belgium.Address: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Oude Markt, 13, Bus 50053000 Leuven, Belgium. E-mail: erik.decorte@kuleuven.beThe interdisciplinary research in the learning sciences has and still does substantially contribute to meeting the current need for new environments for learning by developing and elaborating new perspectives on the ultimate goal of school education, and on the nature of learning to achieve this goal. The presentation start with a brief review of such a perspective. Against this background the article will focus on self-regulation as a major component of the goals of education. Findings about the positive relationship between self-regulation and student learning have lead researchers to design learning environments for improving students' self-regulation skills. Several metacognitive methods have been designed especially for the math learning; as an example the IMPROVE model developed by Mevarech and Kramarski (2014) well briefly be presented. Research evidence will then be discussed showing that such learning environments are effective for developing and improving self-regulated learning in Kindergarten children and primary and secondary school students. Of course, realizing this potential requires in the classroom teachers pay explicit attention to the teaching of self-regulated activities. Therefore, a major challenge for teacher training and professional development consists in improving teachers' awareness and knowledge of self-regulation and equipping them with effective strategies for developing self-regulation skills in students.