Evaluating the Effectiveness of Self-Regulated Learning on Students' Academic Achievement in Secondary Schools in Meezam

Abstract The study was set out to evaluate the effectiveness of self-regulated learning on students’ academic achievement in selected secondary schools in Mezam Division. Two specific research questions were formulated to investigate how goal setting and study habits influence students’ academic achievement. Literature was reviewed from conceptual, theoretical, and empirical perspectives. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design and randomly sampled 120 students from two selected secondary schools; GBHS Bayelle and CKHS Nkwen. A structured questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.811 was used to collect quantitative data. Data were coded, cleaned, and analysed using SPSS Version 27 and Microsoft Excel 2021. Descriptive statistics; frequency table, percentages, means, and standard deviations were used to describe students’ responses and answer the research questions, while hypotheses were tested using simple linear regression at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that goal setting has a statistically significant (p = 0.001) positive effect on students’ academic achievement and accounted for 23.7% of the variation (R² = 0.237). Similarly, study habits showed a statistically significant (p = 0.001) positive effect on academic achievement and explained 28.8% of the variance (R² = 0.288). The results indicated that students who set clear academic goals and practice effective study habits tend to perform better academically. Relying on these findings, the study concluded that self-regulated learning, particularly goal setting and effective study habits, play important role in improving students’ academic achievement. The study recommended that teachers and parent should guide students in setting clear academic goals and developing good study habits. Additionally, School administrators should intensify compulsory self-regulated learning practices among students by proving libraries and quiet study spaces in schools and setting aside specific time for students to study while in school. Keywords: Self-Regulated Learning, Academic Achievement, Goal Setting, Study Habits, Secondary School Students, Mezam Division