The development of self-regulatory strategies is a teaching model that contributes positively to the improvement of the weaknesses presented by students (Harris, & Graham, 1996, as referred in Kampylafka, Gakis, & Antoniou, 2016) with double objective a) the development of metacognitive skills and b) the reduction of inaccessible attitudes and behaviors (Kampylafka, Gakis, & Antoniou, 2016). More specifically, self-regulation concerns a multidimensional concept (Kampylafka, Gakis, & Antoniou, 2016), which involves the management of functions such as planning, execution and monitoring (Corno, & Rohrkemper, 1985).
This article aims to present the value of students creating their own questions whilst studying a text. The reason that emphasis is placed on the creation of self-questions is because they offer the possibility for direct interaction with the text, while at the same time enhancing the flexibility and the possibility of retrieving more information (Tzivinikou, 2017). But how can we teach this technique to our students? The answer lies in the behavior and attitude that teachers must adopt.
To begin with, teachers’ first concern should be the familiarization of students with the way questions are being created and answered. Of course, in order to achieve this, they must have clearly informed them about the way in which self-questions assist in the learning process, so that the students will realize the value of the questions and therefore be motivated to use them. Consequently, teachers should guide their students on how to improve those skills that are required in order to create questions, such as identifying the key points of the text on which the first questions will be asked (Harris, & Graham, 1996, as referred in Kampylafka, Gakis, & Antoniou, 2016). Teachers should then act as a role model and provide a variety of examples to make the methodology clear to students. In a late phase, students should utilize this strategy with the active help of their teacher, who has to reinforce and feedback their actions. Thus, students will improve and eventually be able to independently implement this strategy and regulate their learning, without receiving guidance from their teacher.
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Citation
- Corno, L., & Rohrkemper, Μ. M. (1985). The intrinsic motivation to learn in classrooms. In C. Ames, & R. Ames, Research on motivation in education: Vol. 2. The classroom milieu (pp. 53-89). New York: Academic Press.
- Kampylafka, Ch., Gakis, K., & Antoniou, A. S. (2016). Αυτορρύθμιση και στρατηγικές μάθησης μαθητών Δημοτικού με μαθησιακές δυσκολίες. Παιδαγωγικός Λόγος, 1, 55-73.
- Tzivinikou, S. (2017). Αναγνωστική Κατανόηση: Θεωρητικό πλαίσιο και διδακτικές εφαρμογές. Σημειώσεις στο πλαίσιο της Θεματικής Ενότητας “Εκπαιδευτικές παρεμβάσεις στα προβλήματα προφορικού και γραπτού λόγου” του ΠΜΣ “Επιστήμες της Αγωγής: Ειδική Αγωγή και Εκπαίδευση ατόμων με προβλήματα προφορικού και γραπτού λόγου”. Πάτρα: Ελληνικό Ανοιχτό Πανεπιστήμιο.
