Investigating self-regulation and motivation: Historical background, methodological developments, and future prospects

The topic of how students become self-regulated as learners has attracted researchers for decades. Initial attempts to measure self-regulated learning (SRL) using questionnaires and interviews were successful in demonstrating significant predictions of students ’ academic outcomes. The present article describes the second wave of research, which has involved the development of online measures of self-regulatory processes and motivational feelings or beliefs regarding learning in authentic contexts. These innovative methods include computer traces, think-aloud protocols, diaries of studying, direct observation, and microanalyses. Although still in the formative stage of devel-opment, these online measures are providing valuable new information regarding the causal impact of SRL processes as well as raising new questions for future study. KEYWORDS: self-regulated learning (SRL), motivation and SRL, event mea-sures of SRL, cyclical analyses of SRL Research on self-regulation of academic learning and performance emergedmore than two decades ago to answer the question of how student