Students’ Use of Strategies for Self‐regulated Learning: cross‐cultural perspectives

The paper first focuses on some current instruments for assessing students’ use of self‐regulated learning strategies. Cultural differences that may contribute to differences in the use of such strategies, are then discussed, focussing on the cultural influence factors of individualism versus collectivism, the value placed on education, belief in ability versus effort and social support for academic pursuits. Further, research on cultural differences in the use of strategies for self‐regulated learning is reviewed, with a special emphasis put on the authors’ own recent research on the learning and study strategies of Norwegian college students. It is concluded that the use of self‐regulated strategies at the post‐secondary level shows much commonality in the USA and Norway and that American research on students’ self‐regulation should, therefore, be highly relevant for Norwegian educators. However, to develop a conceptual framework for understanding the parallels and contrasts of self‐regulation in different cultural groups much work is still needed.