An analysis of the self–regulated learning abilities of standard 10 biology students in the Mankwe region

Abstract

The aim of this research was to determine by means of the review of the literature and an empirical investigation whether meta-cognition. self-efficacy, goal-setting and learning strategies have an influence on the academic achievement or Standard 10 Biology students, It was concluded from the literature review that meta-cognition, self-efficacy, goal setting and learning strategies influence academic achievement, Students who appraise, manage, evaluate, regulate and monitor their learning tasks achieve academically better than their counterparts, High efficacy students choose challenging tasks and are task-persistent, unlike low efficacy students who avoid difficult tasks and choose easy tasks in order to preserve their self-esteem, Goal-setting enhances self-efficacy because efficacious students will pursue their set goals and work much harder in order to achieve their set goals, Students who use learning strategies achieve better than those who don't use learning strategies, Learning strategies such as note-taking enable students to recall information, The above variables, viz: meta-cognition, self-efficacy, goal-setting and learning strategies enhance self-regulated learning because students who use these variables become engrossed in the learning task on their own, By means of an empirical investigation, though, it could not be concluded that self-efficacy influence students' academic achievement Meta-cognition influenced academic achievement with reference to self-testing, while learning strategies influenced academic achievement through the use of study aids. It was accepted that goal-setting influenced academic achievement of the Standard 10 Biology students. Goal-setting enhances motivation, and as a result students are self-driven to work hard.