Chyna Miller (Mathematics Learning Center) and Matthew Bernacki, formerly of UNLV and now with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, recently had a paper published for a special issue on self-regulated learning (SRL) in the Journal of High Ability Studies. In the article titled, "Training Preparatory Mathematics Students to be High Ability Self-regulators: Comparative and Case-Study Analyses of Impact on Learning Behavior and Achievement," non-parametric, comparative analyses revealed that students in a preparatory mathematics class, who were trained in SRL strategies through the Science of Learning to Learn, more efficiently mastered math topics during digital problem-solving, demonstrating superior learning efficiency. Under a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, a follow-up multiple case study approach aligned to the Situated Model of SRL, traced adaptive learning processes employed by multiple high-ability self-regulators and contrasted them with learning processes of exemplar learners from the untrained group. Findings suggest that as students transition from high school to college, high school achievement is an insufficient indicator that students are able to engage in the self-regulated learning that is implicitly required for university-level math, and support for SRL is needed to address this gap. Miller is both a faculty member and a doctoral student.
