Can exposure to self-regulatory strategies help boys to improve attainment in Dual Award Science at GCSE level?

Self-regulation is one of the key attributes linked with the successful learner. Positive outcomes in every stage of schooling have been linked to attributes associated with self-regulated learning, however, promoting the skills, attributes or strategies required for accomplishing a studentâs learning goals, or their desired outcomes, is much harder than simply relating these personal qualities with success. Over the course of this research project I have attempted to summarise the key literature to establish the most important strands that are associated with the self-regulated learner. I then devised a yearlong intervention based upon this research for year 11 Science students approaching IGCSE examinations. The success of this was measured in two ways: results were compared with the previous cohort, who, through baseline data can be regarded comparable and broadly equivalent. The other measure utilised was the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, which was distributed at the beginning and end of the intervention. Through conducting this intervention exposing students to theory and practical ideas, their self-regulatory attributes improved slightly, I found a relationship between the achievement of top grades in Science with self-regulatory behaviours and attitudes. The high grades achieved meant a slight improvement on the IGCSE outcomes expected which, though not statistically significant, encourages me in implementing similar interventions on a broader scale in the future.