The Development of Strategic Learners: A Study of Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This thesis study set as its objective to investigate the effect of a comprehensive intervention to develop strategic learners on participating teachers and students. The intervention, named CORE Program for Strategic Teaching and Learning, was implemented throughout the entire curriculum by every teacher in Grades 7 - 12 in the Classical School. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methodology was used for the study. Grade 7 students were chosen for research purposes. Teacher participants included both certified and non-certified individuals, all with degrees in their area of instruction, whose experience ranged from none to decades. The student population was atypical, as it was composed of very highly-achieving and above average students in a private school. A review of the literature was made in an attempt to determine the critical elements of strategic learning and the necessary components for a successful intervention. Metacognition, self-regulation, self-efficacy, attribution for success, learning goal orientation, motivation, volitional control, and learning strategies were found to be interactive processes within strategic learning. Borrowing from chaos theory, strategic learning was viewed as a complex web of interacting influences, from which one could not extract a particular element to examine. Therefore, the study attempted to implement an intervention that would affect all of the above-named skills and attitudes exemplified by strategic learners. Teachers involved accepted the intervention and utilized it within their teaching, showing progress in ease of inclusion with years of experience in the program. The study data showed that the intervention had a generally positive student learning effect on 17 out of 21 items surveyed, with statistical significance determined for five items. The intervention was equally effective with very high-achieving students as well as with the lowest achieving students in the population studied.