Gender, Education Level And Autonomous Learning Difficulty

Notions of autonomy and self-regulation

Autonomous actions, as defined on the ground of self-determination theory are intrinsically motivated and therefore “performed with a full sense of willingness, volition and choice” (Deci & Ryan, 2016, p. 12). Autonomy is closely linked to self-regulation. It can be understood as “self-regulation and integration in acting” (Ryan & Deci, 2017, p. 401). Self-regulation can be regarded as autonomous when and individual uses it to attain their goal or values or out of satisfaction from action itself (Grouzet, Sokol, & Müller 2013).

Self- regulation as understood in social cognitive theory is a process in which an individual organizes his or her thoughts, feelings and actions in systematic way to achieve a goal. The process is regarded to be cyclical and progressing from planning through performance and progress monitoring to evaluation of strategies used and outcomes which influences further planning (Usher & Schunk, 2018). Students master self-regulation of learning through interaction with people around them and with learning materials. Learners observe other people how they take advantage of self-regulatory strategies, imitate observed strategic behaviours, gain sense of self-efficacy, internalize use of the strategies which help them to manage their learning and finally, employ them in various contexts motivated by self-efficacy beliefs. Interaction with various learning materials allows learners with time to gain expertise in regulating their learning (Hoyle & Dent, 2018).

Learning autonomy and self - regulation development with age and educational status

Learning self-regulation skills develop with age. The basis for learning autonomy and leaning self-regulation is the development of general self-regulatory and cognitive processes connected with the capacity to inhibit responses and to focus attention. The ability to inhibit behaviours starts at the age of one, inhibition of a dominant response can be observed at the age of three. At the age of four the capacity to delay gratification appears. At preschool age children learn to focus their attention selectively and make connection between ideas they have remembered. In childhood also the capacity to use cognitive strategies and to monitor this process develops. Selecting short-term goals is observed at 8-10 years of age. At the age of ten students benefit from the ability to organize learning material. At the age of Teenagers are able to plan on middle – scale. In middle adolescence students can execute their control over learning by switching between tasks and make plans concerning their future education and employment (Demetriou 2000; Hoyle & Dent, 2018).

The level of self-regulatory skills development is related to metacognition understood as the knowledge concerning information input and output of cognitive processes and about how this information is processed (Winne, 2018). The relationship is evidenced for example in the study by Dağal and Bayindir (2016). The level of self-management and self - control skills and motivation in learning measured by Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale proved to be positively related to scores of Metacognitive Awareness Inventory capturing the level of students declarative, procedural and conditional knowledge of cognitive processes and regulation of cognition including planning, managing information, comprehension monitoring and searching for information strategies.

Research results concerning motivation to regulate learning process show its relationship with educational status. Martinek, Hofman, and Kipman (2016) both in literature review and in their original study provided evidence that the level of students` academic self-regulation decreases with age. Authors gathered measurements of three types of motivation to self-regulate learning from 413 students at the age ranging from 6 to 20 years. The analysed types self-regulated learning motivation were: rather controlled regulation (self-regulating learning for external rewards or to comply to the rule although and individual does not regard it as their own), rather self-detemined regulation (managing learning because one agrees it is valuable) and intrinsic regulation (self- regulating learning because a student wants it and has chosen to do so. The results showed that as students age increased, all three types of analysed motivation to self-regulation of learning decreased.

Contrary results were found in the research with adult learners. Rothes, Lemos, and Gonçalves (2017) in the study of adult learners` motivation to attend a course found that participants who obtained secondary level of education or higher had higher scores on autonomous regulation of learning, which means intrinsic motivation and use of learning strategies than students below secondary level of education.

Measurements of learning autonomy which distinguish such components as desire, initiative, resourcefulness persistence and autonomy appraisal (self-efficacy) showed that there is no linear relationship between learning autonomy and educational level in the group of young adults. Master degree university students had higher results than bachelor degree students only in desire scale measuring capacity to intentional action. Scores in resourcefulness, initiative and persistence scales were higher in secondary school students and in master degree university students than in bachelor degree students (Derrick, Rovai, Ponton, Confessore, & Carr, 2007).

Empirical evidence confirms the increase of learning strategies use with age. Research by Cadime et al. (2017) showed that when doing homework students from elementary school more rarely used self-regulatory strategy of planning than students from middle school. No differences between students of various educational levels in learning self-regulation of homework was found in terms of execution of learning plans and evaluation of learning outcomes.

Gender and learning autonomy and self-regulation

There is agreement that women in comparison to men approach learning differently from motivational, emotional and behavioural perspective (Grover & Miller, 2014). Research review made by Rothes et al. (2017) showed that female students usually score higher in autonomous learning and intrinsic motivation measures than male students. Rothes et al. (2017) in a study with 188 persons aged between 25-64 years, confirmed that men answering questions concerning motives to attend a course for adults scored lower than women on autonomous scale of Self-regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-L). There were also significantly less men than women in the group with high autonomous learning regulation and low controlled learning regulation. There was no statistically significant difference between men and women in the use of learning strategies.

Gender differences were also found in the scores of learning autonomy measurements. Derrick et al. (2007) in their study used Learner Autonomy Profile. Data gathered showed that women had higher scores in such autonomy dimensions measured like initiative and resourcefulness understood as prioritizing learning over other activities ability to overcome obstacles.

Researchers studied gender differences in metacognitive processes, which form the basis for learning self-regulation and autonomy. Tock and Moxley (2018) gathered evidence that there was no difference in the way men and women answered 12 items of Metacognitive Self-Regulation Revised Scale reflecting two dimensions of metacognition: control and regulation. Data from 111 male and 236 female students showed that the model fit where all Scales`items loaded on the same variable was satisfactory in the group of women and the group of men. However, the fit was better for the group of men due to differences in arithmetic mean for answers of men and women to two items.

Differences between male and female students in self-regulation processes other than metacognition were also confirmed. Dresel and Haughwitz (2005) found that in the sample of mathematically gifted teenagers that girls in comparison to boys reported more frequent use of metacognitive strategies, adjusting effort and note taking. The results proved significant independent of participants ability in mathematics and motivation to learn the subject. Data gathered by Gover and Miller (2014) from 165 adult participants showed that women more frequently than men purchased equipment needed to acquire new knowledge and skills and attended workshops and subscribe to mailing lists connected with their interests. Testing factorial structure and validity of Homework Behavior Questionnaire on sample of elementary and middle school students showed that girls in comparison to boys more frequently used self-regulatory strategies connected with planning, execution of learning plans and evaluation of outcomes when doing homework. Karimpour, Sayad, Taheri, and Shelbani (2019) to test gender differences in learning self-regulation administered Self-Regulation learning strategies questionnaire by Zimmerman and Pounz (as cited in Usher & Schunk, 2018) to 200 Iranian students aged between 20 and 40. Data showed that women have higher score in in comparison with men in goal – setting, planning and expectations concerning outcomes. Men obtained higher scores in comparison to women in seeking support from a teacher, reviewing notes and doing homework.

Research tool

In the study Learning Autonomy Difficulty Questionnaire (LADQ) was used. The tool was constructed for the purpose of the research on the basis of Self-regulation Model suggested by Zimmermann (as cited in Usher & Schunk, 2018). The tool was constructed to measure perceived difficulty of actions connected with independent learning not their frequency. The final LADQ version contains 34 items. Each item begins with phrase: “When you study how difficult is it for you independently to …”. The phrase is followed by a short description of action connected either with planning, realization, motivation control or evaluation of learning. Each ALDI item is evaluated on a seven-point scale ranging from: very easy (0 points) to very difficult (6 points). The higher the number on the scale the respondent indicates, the more difficult is it for them to perform activity described in an item. During factor analysis of answers of 264 students to 34 LADQ items (KMO=0,904) with oblimin rotation three main components emerged, explaining 44,9% of variance in the data. On the basis of this analysis LADQ items were divided into three scales labelled: difficulty of reflective evaluation, difficulty of learning motivation control and difficulty of planning learning

Participants

There were 454 persons who took part in the research. The participants were 150 middle school students (average age M=14,63; sd=0,93) and 302 secondary school students (average age M= 16,47, sd=1,56)). Among middle school students there were 77 women (51,3%) and 73 men (48,7 %). The group of secondary students consisted of 171 women (56,6%) and 131 men (43,4%). Two persons in this subgroup did not provide data concerning their gender.

Activities connected with autonomous learning participants experienced as the most difficult and the least difficult

To verify which activities connected with autonomous learning participants experience as most difficult and which as least difficult, for each LADQ item median of students` answers and number of “very difficult to number of “very easy “ answers ratio were calculated. The higher the difficulty experienced by the participants during performing autonomous learning action described in a given item, the higher the median and the ratio of number of “very difficult to number of “very easy “ answers. The results are shown in Table 01 .

Among 34 activities included in Learning Autonomy Difficulty Questionnaire (LADQ) there were two with median of answers distribution equal to five, two with median equal to four, in the case of eighteen items median value was three and for 12 answers median equalled two. The value of number of “very difficult to number of “very easy “ answers ratio ranged from 0,05 to 9,55. On the basis of median and the number of number of “very difficult to number of “very easy “ answers ratio it can be concluded that autonomous learning actions which participants experienced as the most difficult were:

• Increasing the willingness to learn in themselves (median equal to 5, number of “very difficult to number of “very easy “ answers ratio equal to 9,55);

• Continuing learning when other activities would be more pleasant (median equal to 5, number of “very difficult to number of “very easy “ answers ratio equal to 7,26);

• Concentrating on learning in the face of distractors (median equal to 4, number of “very difficult to number of “very easy “ answers ratio equal to 9,6,39);

• Resigning from doing things which distract from learning (median equal to 4, number of “very difficult to number of “very easy “ answers ratio equal to 2,67);

All statements concerning the four activities described by the participants as the most difficult in autonomous learning belong to ALDI scale measuring difficulty in learning motivation control.

As the easiest autonomous learning activities the participants indicated

• Determining what helps and what disturbs their learning (median equal to 2, number of “very difficult” to number of “very easy “answers ratio equal to 0,05);

• Deciding what learning outcomes they want to achieve (median equal to 2, number of “very difficult” to number of “very easy “answers ratio equal to 0,15);

• Identifying which goals concerned with learning they want to achieve (median equal to 2, number of “very difficult” to number of “very easy “answers ratio equal to 0,18);

• Organizing a place advantageous for learning (median equal to 2, number of “very difficult” to number of “very easy “answers ratio equal to 0,19);

The four activities indicated by the participants as the easiest during autonomous learning are included in the statements belonging to difficulty of planning learning ALDI scale.

Gender, educational level and experienced autonomous learning difficulty evaluations

For each ALDI items answers of men and women as well as answers of middle and secondary school students were compared by means of Mann-Whitney test. The results are presented in Table 02 .

The results presented in Table 02 show that women in comparison to men indicated greater difficulty in performing eight out of 34 activities connected with autonomous learning described in ALDI items. These eight autonomous learning activities experienced as more difficult by women than by men were:

• Four activities connected with reflective evaluation of learning

  • determining whether what a person is going to do will help them to achieve their goals (p=0,001)

  • determining how a person will use their strong points during the test or the presentation of their work results (p=0,003)

  • determining whether the level at which one has mastered a certain knowledge or skill is satisfactory (p=0,022)

  • evaluating the effectiveness of one`s learning (p=0,046)

• Two activities related to planning

  • determining what kind of knowledge or skill is needed to achieve goals a person has set for themselves (p<0,001)

  • determining the level of detail at which learning material should be mastered (p=0,022)

• Two activities pertaining to learning motivation control

  • mastering emotions a person experiences in connection with their learning (p=0,016)

  • concentrate on learning in the face of various distractors (p=0,029)

Hypotheses assuming differences between men and women in difficulty evaluation was verified in the case of eight out of 34 autonomous learning activities described by LADQ items no. 10, 16, 22, 25, 28, 29 and 34.

Secondary school students in comparison with middle school students evaluated as more difficult the following autonomous learning activities:

• Two activities from the scale of reflective evaluation of learning

  • checking the effectiveness of various ways of learning (p= 0,001)

  • use various ways of learning (p=0,009)

• One activity belonging to controlling learning motivation scale, namely putting learning plans into practice (p=0,001).

The data gathered also show that middle school students in comparison with secondary school students among 34 autonomous learning activities described in LADQ items indicated two as more difficult. These activities were:

• determining what kind of knowledge or skill you need to achieve goals you have set yourself (p=0,027), and

• identifying which goals connected with learning you want to achieve (p=0,044).

The results obtained support hypotheses assuming differences between middle and secondary school students in evaluation of autonomous actions difficulty in the case of actions described in 5 LADQ items numbered 1, 2, 18, 19 and 21.