First-Year Engineering Students' Reflections: Plans and Actions for Meeting Course Learning Objectives

Abstract

In this Research Category Full Paper, weekly structured reflections were given to students as a means to engage them in planning and acting to improve their learning. First-year engineering students struggle to self-regulate their study habits. The intention was to investigate students' planning and follow-through of different study strategies to gain a better understanding of how students formulate their study plans. This study was conducted in one section (n=114) of a first-year computer tools and problem-solving course. Students were given weekly structured reflections about the learning strategies they used to complete problem sets. The results showed that students overestimated the number of study strategies they planned to use. Frequently completed strategies were less time-intensive, while less frequently completed strategies were more time intensive and involved more deep-thinking. These findings can help inform instructors on how to support student learning and self-regulation.