Personal and behavioural variables and the self-regulated learning abilities of African learners

Abstract

Accepting responsibility for one's learning is not only an important variable that influences effective learning, but is also one of the main characteristics of selfregulated learning. Self-regulated learners know how to use their knowledge of the personal (e.g. goal setting) and behavioural variables (e.g. learning strategies) that affect learning to their advantage. Within the context of self-regulated learning, much emphasis is placed on the role of the self and self-knowledge. In this article self-regulated learning and the role of the self are evaluated from a Christian perspective. In the research underlying this article it was established that, although there were some statistically significant relationships between some personal and behavioural variables and the self-regulated learning abilities of African students, these relationships were not of practical significance. The results of the research led to the conclusion that the subjects lacked knowledge of themselves as learners.