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Credentials Display

Pola Ham, EdD, OTD, MS, OTR/L, CAPS

Abstract

First-generation students at U.S. universities have lower academic performance than their continuing-generation counterparts. They also have a lower level of academic self-regulation and academic self-efficacy. Bandura’s social cognition theory and Zimmerman’s self-regulation theory were used as theoretical frameworks to guide an intervention program relating to self-efficacy and self-regulation. A pretest and posttest survey measured changes in the participants’ use of the academic self-regulatory strategies and level of confidence in using those strategies. An open-ended questionnaire provided a detailed account of the participants’ lived experiences of the program. The researcher-facilitator designed an academic self-regulation program using Zimmerman’s (1998) self-regulated learning framework to increase the use of academic self-regulatory strategies and confidence in using the strategies among first-generation students in occupational therapy. The results of the survey revealed statistically significant changes in the participants’ use of academic self-regulatory strategies and level of confidence after the intervention. The participants also reported that the program improved their academic goal-setting, self-assessment, self-reflection and implementation of various strategies to improve their learning. Overall, the program improved the participants’ use of academic self-regulatory strategies and confidence in using those strategies. Findings from this study can inform occupational therapy programs about the benefits of an academic self-regulation program on students’ learning, which has implications for their academic performance and overall success in the program.

Comments

The author declares that they have no competing financial, professional, or personal interest that might have influenced the performance or presentation of the work described in this manuscript.

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