Voluntary use of social media for formal learning : an investigation of using self-regulated learning strategies from the social cognitive perspective

• Main Author: Zhou, Quan
• Other Authors: Lee Chei Sian
• Format: Thesis-Doctor of Philosophy
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2019
• Subjects: Library and information science::Knowledge management; Social sciences::Communication
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/92272; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/49454
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Despite the usefulness of social media in formal education, there are concerns regarding how students can well manage their learning and use social media properly. The concerns are especially salient in the voluntary context, in which social media use is not intended by the instructor for course-related activities and students have the autonomy to select and use social media for course-related learning. Self-regulated learning (SRL) is regarded as a critical component of effective learning with social media, yet research in the voluntary context is lacking. The goal of this research is to shed light on the extent to which students engage in SRL strategies to manage their learning when voluntarily using social media for formal learning, as well as the influential factors and effects of such behaviors. To achieve this research goal, this research draws on the perspective of social cognitive theory, supplemented by the literature on technology affordances, and proposes four research questions: 1) What are the SRL strategies that students use when voluntarily using social media to support formal learning? 2) What are the personal factors that influence the extent to which students use SRL strategies when voluntarily using social media to support formal learning? 3) What are the environmental factors that influence the extent to which students use SRL strategies when voluntarily using social media to support formal learning? 4) What are the effects of using SRL strategies on learning satisfaction when students voluntarily using social media to support formal learning? To address the research questions, three interrelated studies were carried out in sequence. Firstly, Study 1 examined the relationships between two categories of personal factors, the use of specific SRL strategies, and learning satisfaction in the context of voluntary use of social media for formal learning. The hypotheses in Study 1 were empirically tested by analyzing survey data gathered from 192 university students. The results of Study 1 identified four types of SRL strategies: goal setting, environment structuring, performance control, and self-evaluation. In particular, the use of goal setting strategy was found to be influenced by intrinsic goal orientation, social media self-efficacy, and attitude towards using social media for learning. In addition, the use of environment structuring strategies was found to be influenced by self-efficacy for learning, learning outcome expectations for social media, and attitude towards using social media for learning. Next, the extent of using performance control strategies was found to be influenced by intrinsic goal orientation, social media self-efficacy, learning outcome expectations, and attitude towards using social media for learning. Moreover, the use of self-evaluation strategies was influenced by social media self-efficacy, learning outcome expectations, and attitude. Last but not least, the four SRL strategies were also found to be positively associated with students’ learning satisfaction in the context of voluntary use of social media for formal learning in school. Subsequently, Study 2 was conducted to gain a more comprehensive understanding of SRL strategies students use in the context of voluntary use of social media for formal learning, and to explore the social media affordances as potential environmental factors that may influence the extent to which students engage in SRL strategies. Data from 41 university students formed into six focus groups were utilized to explore and identify the SRL strategies and social media affordances. The findings uncovered that the SRL strategies that students used could be grouped into two categories, i.e., regulation of learning and regulation of social media environment. In addition, there were two categories of social media affordances perceived by students in the social media learning environment, i.e., individualized social media affordances and shared social media affordances. Finally, Study 3 was conducted. The aim of Study 3 was to propose and test an integrated model depicting how the personal factors (derived from Study 1) and the environmental factors (derived from Study 2) influence students’ use of SRL strategies (as identified in Study 1 and Study 2), as well as the effects of using these strategies on learning satisfaction with social media. A survey study was conducted, with a total of 385 valid responses from university students. The results of structural equation modeling empirically validated that the model fits well with the data. Regarding the regulation of learning, two personal factors, i.e., self-efficacy and intrinsic goal orientation, and an environmental factor in social media, i.e., interactivity affordance, were significantly associated with the extent to which students engage in regulation of learning. Regarding the regulation of social media environment, it is found that three personal factors, i.e., task value, social media self-efficacy, and attitude toward using social media for learning, and two environmental factors in social media, i.e., affordances of manageability and group association, could significantly influence the extent to which students engage in regulation of social media environment. Further, both regulation of learning and regulation of social media environment were identified to be significantly associated with learning satisfaction in the context of voluntarily using social media for formal learning. For researchers, the present research provides a conceptual model grounded in the social cognitive theory, supplemented by the affordances approach, to advance the understanding of people’ use of SRL strategies in the context of voluntary use of social media for formal learning, as well as the influential factors and effects of such behaviors. For practitioners, the findings from this doctoral thesis provide implications for individual learners, educational policymakers, online education industry, and government on the role of SRL in promoting lifelong learning.