  Students who successfully engage in self-regulated learning, are able to plan
their own studying, monitoring their progress and make any necessary
adjustments based upon the data and feedback they gather. In order to promote
this type of independent learning, a recent introductory mechanics course was
modified such that the homework and tests emphasized the planning, monitoring
and adjusting of self-regulated learning. Students were able to choose many of
their own out-of-class learning activities. Rather than collecting daily or
weekly problem set solutions, assignments were mostly progress reports where
students reported which activities they had attempted, self-assessment of their
progress and plans for their next study session. Tests included wrappers where
students were asked to reflect on their mistakes and plans for improvement.
While many students only engaged superficially the independent aspects of the
course, some did demonstrate evidence of self-regulation. Despite this lack of
engagement, students performed as well as comparable student populations on
course exam and better on the Force Concept Inventory.
