The Science of Learning Transfer – Self-Regulated Learning
Last time, we looked at neuroscience and the role it plays in learning transfer. Continuing our deep dive into the science of Learning Transfer, this month we are going to look at the educational psychology behind self-regulated learning.
The most daunting aspect of research into learning transfer is that there is no correct approach that responds to the learning preferences of every individual. Simply put, people learn differently. The approach that reaches one learner will be ignored by another.
However, there is one principle about learning that applies to everyone: there is benefit in encouraging self-regulated learning.
Learners who apply the tools of self-regulated learning are more likely to have increased understanding and ownership of what they have learned. They speak their own language, they access information that they can most easily understand, and they learn the material that most directly applies to their needs, their motivations, and their prior knowledge. In many ways, it is helping personalise the learning on an individual level. They can then decide why and how it is relevant to them, their external circumstances, and their psychological makeup.
“Self-regulated learning (SRL) includes the cognitive, metacognitive, behavioural, motivational, and emotional/affective aspects of learning. It is, therefore, an extraordinary umbrella under which a considerable number of variables that influence learning (e.g., self-efficacy, volition, cognitive strategies) are studied within a comprehensive and holistic approach. For that reason, SRL has become one of the most important areas of research within educational psychology.” (A Review of Self-Regulated Learning: Six Models and Four Directions for Research, Frontiers in Psychology, 28th April 2017)
We can see why self-regulated learning is so important when we consider the research of Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. In the mid-80s, they studied the theory of self-determination and discovered that the most powerful motivation is intrinsic, which is ‘activated’ in the presence of three human needs – autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Self-determination theory and self-regulated learning overlap and complement each other.
Let’s consider three factors that cultivate successful self-regulated learning.
Task Conditions
Learning is about growth, and as such, conditions must be appropriate for growth to occur. It is not unlike having a vegetable garden. The soil must be conducive, the environment must be appropriate, and there must be time available to tend to the needs of the garden.
Task conditions include resources, instructional cues, time, and social context.
In the case of workplace learning, the “soil’’ is the resources available to the learner, the “environment” is the instructional cues that provoke and prompt the learner, and “time” is, well, time. The learner must be able to put in time in a studious manner unhindered by pressure from a clock or calendar.
As well to the task conditions for learning we also need to consider the task conditions for learning transfer. Is the learner given the time and resources to practically apply the learning in their role? Are they operating in a social context that supports learning transfer – are they ‘allowed’ and/or encouraged to apply the learning by peers or managers?
Task conditions can be thought of as external to the individual. In the ‘80s and ’90s, learning professionals (mistakenly) thought task conditions were the most significant barriers to overcome in the transfer of learning. Now we know they can be overcome practically, with thought, and by ensuring the program you are running is designed to solve a relevant and real business challenge. Developing cognitive conditions can create learners that are more equipped to overcome environmental limitations.
When applied in a work setting, there must be consideration given to the task conditions that work best for the learner. While transfer of learning within a leadership training program must apply standards and principles to be used with every learner, the program must allow for variances in the task.
Cognitive Conditions
A person is only going to learn what they want to learn, based on their role, previous experience, and map of the world. Hammering home knowledge into a brain that hasn’t made the connection of relevance to themselves will bear little fruit.
For self-regulated learning to succeed, the learner must have the motivation to learn, and that motivation must be uppermost in their mind as they put their task plans in place.
Applying motivational challenges is a multi-pronged approach to learning. It is not enough for a learner to know their motivation; they need to know why that motivation exists. They need to be aware of their own personal back story to pull from it the demands and personal desires that drive their need to learn.
It is also necessary for the self-regulated learner to consider their own belief in the work they are doing and the relevance of the learning. They must reflect on the way they are accessing new information and understand how this approach is beneficial to them. It is up to the self-regulated learner to believe in what they are doing and believe that it will be successful. How do we access this why and create this belief? We ask questions to get the individual to reflect on these principles.
The self-regulated learner must also be self-aware. They must recognise the personal dispositions that can both aid and block learning transfer and respond accordingly. In the learning phase, for example, they may be the sort who only learns in complete silence, or they may be exactly the opposite – one who learns in the midst of others learning (libraries or university settings bear witness to thousands of such learners). They can also recognise the materials that work for them. Are they bullet-point learners, or are they a paragraph-by-paragraph sort? Are they a 30-minute learner or a two-hour learner?
For learning transfer, this phase is even more powerful. What are the thoughts, feelings, values, beliefs, fears and needs that are intrinsic to the individual governing how they apply the learning? What internal resources do they have, and have they experienced in the past, successes, and failures that can aid the mission to apply the learning?
As we so often do, we once again recognise the genius of Socrates, who said “Know thyself”. Within the construct of leadership training, self-regulated learning is only going to work if conditions lend themselves to it both in the program and at the application stage. If the instructional design does not allow for individual instructional modes, manners, or methods, then the purpose of self-regulation is defeated. Likewise with the learning transfer.
Designing your training programs to leverage the principles of self-regulated learning will deliver improved and demonstrable organisational outcomes.
Knowledge
The final factor in self-regulated learning is knowledge. This is easier to understand – for the transfer of learning to occur the learning needs to be learned! The content of skills must be acquired to a level of proficiency (if not excellence at this stage.) Relevant factors include the individual’s overall level of knowledge on the topic; the knowledge they have of the specific task they are looking to apply; and knowledge of the strategies and tactics that help with the learning. These all have an influence on self-regulated learning.
There must be a confluence of all the above ingredients for a self-regulated learner to succeed – task conditions, cognitive conditions, and knowledge.
No two learners are alike. Both the instructional design and learning transfer strategy need to leverage this and using self-regulated learning principles can help.
Coach M and our Turning Learning into Action methodology is specifically designed to provide a level of cognition where people are reflecting and making the connections in their minds that embody self-regulated learning. Contact us to find out more.
References:
A Review of Self-Regulated Learning: Six Models and Four Directions for Research, Frontiers in Psychology 28th April 2017
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5408091/
Turning Learning into Action – A proven methodology for effective transfer of learning pages, Emma Weber 50-52