Quick personal summary

I have to do a short summary about scores for a skills assessment.

Here are the Instructions:

You received information about your learning skills after you took the self-regulated learning (SRL) survey, as well as suggestions for becoming a more effective and efficient learner. Now, in order to reflect on your learning skills and receive feedback on your writing, please use the results from your SRL survey to do your best writing in a brief essay that answers the questions below.

Essays must be at least 350 words in order to be meaningfully scored. Please aim to write a complete, well-developed essay in order to get accurate feedback about how ready you are for academic writing, and what you can do to strengthen your writing skills.

·      What do your self-regulated learning survey results and the feedback tell you about your learning skills? Use results from the survey and the feedback to support your analysis.

·      Which suggested strategies from the feedback are you committed to using this term? Explain why you are committed to using those strategies.

Metacognition

Students who are successful in college often use metacognitive skills including planning, monitoring, and evaluation. Metacognitive skills are important because they help students stay aware of and take control over how they approach and react to learning tasks.

Your metacognition score was in the high range, suggesting that you have a strong set of the metacognitive skills that are necessary to succeed in college-level work. You might be ready to up your game by using some sophisticated metacognitive strategies that involve the deep processing of information.

To learn more about these strategies, please click on the Planning, Monitoring, and/or Evaluation buttons.

Planning

Planning is one aspect of metacognition. Your responses to the SRL survey suggest that you are a frequent planner. This is a very positive quality because it means that you often think before taking action. When students think about the expectations for assignments, reflect on how to organize their work, and ask themselves about the best ways to learn, they will often have an easier time completing activities. Keep up the good work!

Evaluation

Evaluation is one aspect of metacognition. Your SRL survey results suggest that you frequently evaluate your learning. Thus, you seem to figure out how well you learn. You also tend to think about what worked well and how you can improve. Continuing to evaluate your thinking and learning will help you avoid mistakes and can let you know when you might need to adjust your approach to learning and studying.

Monitoring

Monitoring is one aspect of metacognition. Your responses to the SRL survey indicate that you frequently monitor while you learn. Thus, you seem to be aware of when something is challenging for you and or when you are not performing at a desired level. Keeping a high level of awareness about your thinking is important because it lets you know when and how you might need to adjust to improve your learning.

Strategies

Strategies are the procedures people use to enhance their learning. The SRL survey examined the frequency with which you reported using four of the most effective types of strategies: (1) help-seeking, (2) managing your time, (3) managing your environment, and (4) understanding new material.

Your overall score indicates that you frequently use learning strategies. To learn more about strategies, click on the More Info button.

Strategies for Managing Time

Going to college requires students to use effective time management strategies in order to manage multiple tasks and avoid becoming overwhelmed. People who use time management strategies tend to work more efficiently, feel less stressed, and experience a greater level of confidence in school. Fortunately, your SRL survey results suggest that you frequently use strategies to manage your time (see your responses below). You probably do things like set aside regular times for schoolwork, use a calendar to mark down due dates for assignments, and keep track of much time assignments take. Good for you!

Strategies for Managing Environments

There are many things that can cause people to become distracted from their studies. One of the most common problems is not having a quiet place to do work. A surprising number of students attempt to study with noise or people around them. They also let technologies, such as TV, cell phone, or internet, interfere with their attention. A key to success in college is developing proficiency in using strategies to eliminate or reduce distractions.

The SRL survey showed that you frequently use strategies to minimize disruptions and distractions (see your responses below). You probably turn off your phone and make sure that your family and friends do not distract you. It is fantastic that you take control of your learning environment in these ways. Keep up the good work!

Strategies for Help Seeking

The reality is that some classes and topics in college can be difficult. Further, when taking online classes, there may not always be a teacher monitoring your progress and checking in with you about your work. As a result, asking for help when you get stuck or do not understand something is an important survival skill.

The SRL survey results indicate that you frequently reach out for help when you need it (see your responses below): You do things like ask your teacher questions about the details of upcoming assignments, and bring up topics that confuse you. 

Strategies for Managing Understanding & Learning

Students who perform well in college use a variety of learning strategies to understand new material. The SRL survey results suggest that you frequently use different types of strategies to help you learn and remember information (see your responses below). A strong repertoire of study strategies is valuable because different subjects require different approaches to learning.

Motivation

Motivation is the desire or will to do something. When people are motivated, they invest a lot of effort in their work, persist when challenged, and try do the best possible job they can. The SRL survey addressed four sources of motivation: self-efficacy, goal orientation, mindset, and test anxiety.

Your results suggest that your level of motivation was in the high range.

Mastery Orientation

Goal orientation refers to the reasons people engage in learning. Two types of goal orientation include mastery orientation and performance orientation. People with a mastery orientation want to master skills and gain knowledge. In contrast, people with a performance orientation want to perform well so they appear intelligent or capable to others. Most people have a combination of both types of goal orientation, but good learners tend to be more mastery oriented.

The scenario below illustrates the distinction between mastery orientation and the less adaptive performance orientation.

Janet and Rick are classmates in an Introductory Psychology course. With the midterm exam just a week away, both learners are spending a lot of time studying, but for very different reasons. Rick thinks, “This material is fascinating, and I really want to master the basics so that I can take a more advanced course next semester.” [mastery orientation] Janet, on the other hand, says to herself, “I better do well on this exam so that I don't come across as dumb or stupid.” [performance orientation]

The distinction between a mastery and performance orientation may seem like a very minor thing, but it is actually quite important. For Rick, learning is often fun and interesting, whereas for Janet, it can be anxiety-provoking and overwhelming.

The SRL survey focused only on mastery orientation. Your results suggest that you have high mastery orientation, which is fabulous! This means that you are motivated to work hard because you enjoy learning and want to gain knowledge and skills. Maintaining a mastery orientation will help keep you motivated to learn and work hard in school.

Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy is your level of confidence in your ability to do something. Self-efficacy is specific to a certain task so, for example, you might have high self-efficacy for a math test but low self-efficacy for public speaking, or vice versa.

The SRL survey suggests that you have high self-efficacy for online learning. That means you probably feel capable of performing well in an online environment. This is great, because high self-efficacy leads people to try hard, persist, and succeed.

Anxiety

Test anxiety is experienced as negative thoughts (worries, fears), uncomfortable and unpleasant feelings (anxiety), and physical reactions (increased pulse rate). The SRL survey results suggest that you have a low level of test anxiety. That is good news! You may occasionally feel nervous about an exam, but it appears that you don't worry enough to let negative thoughts and feelings affect your performance.

Mindset

Mindset refers to your beliefs about whether you think your intelligence or ability is fixed (called a fixed mindset) or can change over time (called a growth mindset). It refers to your beliefs about intelligence, not whether or not you are smart.

The SRL survey results suggest that you have a growth mindset. This is a very positive thing because it means that you probably are not afraid of trying hard and persisting even when something is difficult, and view mistakes as a natural part of learning. The two scenarios below illustrate the distinction between a fixed and growth mindset, and how mindset influences behavior.

FIXED: Ben received a poor grade on his science midterm and was quick to label himself as “bad at science” and “a failure”. Ben decided he was not capable of doing well on the final, and thought that no amount of effort and practice could change that: Why would he put the effort into studying if it wouldn't make a difference? Feeling defeated, Ben stopped paying attention in class and barely studied for the final exam.

GROWTH: Nicole took the same science midterm and also received a poor grade. Nicole thought she must not have studied well enough. Although she was disappointed with the grade, Nicole understood that she could improve if she put in more effort and studied the material more thoroughly. Nicole took more detailed class notes, asked questions to clear up confusions, and studied every week using study aids to help her master the material.