Self-Regulated Learning in Essay Writing: Consistency of Strategies and Impact on Outcomes

TL;DR

This study investigates how secondary students self-regulate during online essay writing, analyzing strategy patterns over time and their impact on learning outcomes using process mining and machine learning.

Contribution

It identifies dominant SRL strategies in online essay tasks and examines their stability and relation to outcomes, revealing strategy shifts and their effects.

Findings

Three dominant SRL strategies identified.

Students often shifted to 'Read first, write next' strategy.

The 'Write intensively, read selectively' strategy was positively linked to outcomes.

Abstract

Background: Abilities for effective self-regulated learning (SRL) are critical for lifelong learning, particularly during adolescence when these skills consolidate and strongly influence future learning. Their importance has grown with the rise of online and blended education. Yet, little is known about how secondary school students self-regulate in online environments, how their SRL processes and strategies evolve, or how they affect outcomes. In secondary education, understanding these processes can reveal patterns and indicators of learning success, informing the design of online support mechanisms. Evidence from repeated-measures designs remains scarce. Objectives: This study aims to examine how secondary school students enact SRL strategies during online essay writing, how these strategies change over time, and how they relate to learning outcomes. Methods: We analysed metacognition-related trace data collected from secondary students during a two-wave online essay-writing task conducted one week apart in two Colombian schools (N = 93 for session 1, N = 95 for session 2) via a digital learning platform. Using a combination of process mining and unsupervised machine learning techniques, we identified dominant SRL strategies grounded in established SRL processes and examined their stability and association with learning outcomes. Results and conclusions: Three dominant SRL strategies were identified. Results showed variability: many students remained in or shifted to Read first, write next, while none used Write intensively, read selectively in session 2. Although less common, latter strategy was positively associated with learning outcomes.