Self-Regulated Learning Project [20 pts]

Part 1

(Sections: 1 – 4)

I would like to encourage students to get into the habit of creating a study/homework/reading/writing schedule that they can follow throughout the term to help them stay organized and be successful in their academic endeavors. Just as you have a schedule for attending class or going to your job, (or dare I say, watching your favorite television programs) you can successfully learn to follow a schedule for your academic out-of-class requirements too. Try it out and see if it makes a positive difference in your grades, your lifestyle, and your overall well-being!

This will be an on-going project throughout the term. Students will be keeping track of when, where, and how they study, if they can follow through with designated study schedules, and what types of consequences follow when they are/are not unsuccessful. The idea is not to punish students for failing to adhere to strict study schedules, but rather to help students discover
how they learn best and
under what conditions so that they can
maximize their academic success. Even if you feel like you have strong study skills already, there is always room to gain greater metacognitive awareness and improve on techniques you might be currently using.

Instructions for the Term

Listed below are instructions for the various activities you will complete in the Project throughout the term. It is important that you follow the deadlines and dates specified and complete all the required activities. The entire Project will be submitted in two sections (Part 1 and Part 2) as noted on your syllabus. Please note that ALL answers submitted throughout this project are to be typed. I would recommend printing this document off and keeping it handy so that you can check regularly to see what tasks are required on a weekly basis.

Section 1 [Oct 2 – Oct 8] … we begin the 2nd week of term

Begin by providing an answer to the following question:

Q1. Do you feel time and time constraints play a role in your life as a student? Discuss in a
2 or more paragraphs.

A:

Now, please watch a provocative TED talk titled “
How to Gain Control of Your Free Time” at the link below:

https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_vanderkam_how_to_gain_control_of_your_free_time

Q2. After watching the video, what is your reaction to Laura’s talk? Discuss in a detailed paragraph.

A:

Q3. How might you be able to take what Laura has suggested and put it into practice in your own life? Discuss in a few paragraphs citing
specific strategies you could try.

A:

/4 pts

Section 2 [Oct 9 – Oct 15]

You will begin this 3rd week of term by simply keeping track of when you engage in academic-related activities (
studying) that occur outside of regular class time.
“
Studying”
includes: when you engage in assigned readings, work on projects, write or review notes, prepare for tests, write papers or reports, etc. It does not include time spent physically in-class on campus.
Students will monitor and record this behavior for the
entire
7
day
week for all of their classes this term.
This will serve as a
baseline for determining your current study habits. So, don’t try to alter anything with your study habits, simply keep track of your current study habits. Please see below.

While monitoring your
studying habits over the week you will need to make note of and discuss
each of the following:

·
What you are studying (courses)
: …

·
Where you specifically engage in your studying (e.g., dorm room, library, etc.); (table, bed, desk, couch, etc.)
: …

·
What time(s) of day you found yourself tending to study
: …

·
How many hours you spend
in-class (remote synchronous or in-person class attendance)
: …

·
How many hours you spend at
work if employed or
volunteering: …

·
*****How many hours total you spent all week engaging in

studying
behavior
outside of class time
: …

Charts must be included. Then, type up a
summary of what you have observed from tracking the 6 bullet points above and record any other observations or comments you have about your time commitments and challenges at this time. You MUST quantify the number of hours spent studying (*****).

/4 pts

Section 3 [Oct 16 – Oct 22]

Given the information you gained last week from monitoring your study habits and other real-life responsibilities, I would now like you to try to
chart out a study schedule for this entire 7 day week (construct the presumed study schedule early Monday morning), and then
attempt to follow it as best as you can throughout the entire week.

You have some choices in how you go about this depending on what you find works best for you. You can designate set amounts of time during the day when you will engage in studying behavior. I like this approach personally, that way I keep a schedule for when I attend the gym each day, take my son to his swim practice, engage in school work for my job, write for my own academic pleasure, etc. If you feel this would not work best for you, then you can set tangible study goals such as “read chapter X in textbook for X class & conduct research for essay on Tuesday.” Either way, you are setting
specific study goals for each day that you want to meet.

At the end of the week (
Sunday), look back over your week to see if you were able to adhere to your designated study times and answer the following questions.

Q1. (a) How successful and/or unsuccessful were you in sticking with your predesignated
study times?

A:

(b) If unable to stick with any, or all of your intended
study times, what were some reasons for this?

A:

c) How might you be able to address those issues/distractions in the future? This should be a detailed paragraph or two.

A:

Q2. (a) How many
total hours did I devote to
study related behaviors outside of class this week?
Include charts.

A:

(b) Do you feel this is an adequate or inadequate amount of “study” time necessary for you to accomplish your academic goals? Discuss.

A:

/6 pts

Research has demonstrated that we perform better in environments in which we are happy and feel comfortable. Have you created a school study space that feels comfortable for you?

Section 4 [Oct 23 – Oct 29]

To be successful at most things requires that we give a task more than one attempt, so with that in mind, I would like you to
revisit the steps you took last week in
Section 3. Thus, designate blocks of
study time for the entire 7 day week and see if you can adhere to the schedule.
Note that your schedule for this week may look different from last week to accommodate timeslots that weren’t successful or require adjustments. Life is fluid, so your schedules must be too! At the end of the week (
Sunday), look back over your week to see if you were able to adhere to your designated study times and answer the questions below.

Q1. (a) How successful and/or unsuccessful were you in sticking with your predesignated
study times
this week as compared with last week?

A:

(b) If unable to stick with any or all of your intended
study times, what were some reasons for this?

A:

(c) How might you be able to address those issues/distractions in the future? This should be a detailed paragraph or two.

A:

Q2. (a) How many
total hours did I devote to
study related behaviors outside of class this week?
Include charts.

A:

(b) Was this a sufficient amount of time in order for you to accomplish your academic goals? Discuss.

A:

/6 pts

Submit
Part 1
(Sections 1-4) at the link provided on CANVAS under “Assignments” by 11:00 pm, Sunday, Oct 29th, 2023.
No late work will be accepted as that would obviously be out of keeping with the point of this exercise!

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