Self-Regulation

Self-regulation is a psychological concept important that refers to individuals consciously controlling their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to achieve their goals. In the ordinary flow of daily life, people set numerous goals across various domains and strive to attain them. One of the areas where these goals become particularly concentrated is academia. Implementing academic plans requires effective management of order, discipline and time. Here, individuals’ self-regulation skills come into play.

Many definitions have been proposed for the concept of self-regulation. Risemberg and Zimmerman define it as “setting goals, developing strategies to achieve those goals, and monitoring the outcomes of these strategies.” According to Kauffman, self-regulation is “the effort of the learner to control and manage complex learning activities.” More broadly, self-regulation ability is defined as the capacity to control and regulate emotions, delay or abandon behaviors and desires, conform to social norms, maintain focus on goals, and sustain attention throughout the process of achieving those goals. The process of individuals setting personal goals and cognitively managing themselves through self-generated strategies is also considered within the context of self-regulation.

The Self-Regulation Process

Self-regulation consists of three main interrelated components. Their mutual interaction enables:

• Cognitive Components: The stage in which individuals discover how they learn best and which methods are most effective for them.
• Emotional Components: The development of emotion regulation strategies through awareness of one’s own emotions and more effective expression and management of both positive and negative emotions.
• Behavioral Components: This includes planning, monitoring, and adjusting one’s learning process after identifying personal abilities and learning styles, as well as acting in accordance with time management principles.

Academic Self-Regulation Skill

Self-regulation skill holds considerable importance for achievement and academic performance. Individuals with academic self-regulation skills can plan, organize, execute, observe, and evaluate every stage of their learning processes from a metacognitive perspective. They perceive themselves as capable and autonomous. One reason for this is that their motivation stems from intrinsic sources rather than external factors additional.

Developing Academic Self-Regulation Skill

1. Goal Setting and Planning: A weekly and daily work plan is created. Identifying tasks necessary to reach goals and categorizing them by deadline is essential for effective goal setting and planning.

2. Time Management: It is important to complete tasks on time to achieve goals. Therefore, various constraints can be applied to carefully plan work and break periods and reduce procrastination rates.

3. Learning Strategies: This involves individuals becoming aware of their own learning style and advancing their learning process using strategies suited to that style.

4. Self-Motivation: Acting on intrinsic motivation during the learning process, rather than being influenced by external factors, enables individuals to pursue goals based on their own desires, making goal attainment easier and more effective.

5. Attention and Focus: To enhance learning efficiency, distracting elements must be removed from the learning environment. Different exercises (breath exercises, the Pomodoro technique) can be used to increase focus duration.

6. Self-Evaluation and Feedback: This involves obtaining feedback from peers and teachers to understand the effectiveness of learning. It also includes regularly reviewing one’s own learning process and evaluating it individually.