N. Purdie et J. Hattie, CULTURAL-DIFFERENCES IN THE USE OF STRATEGIES FOR SELF-REGULATED LEARNING, American educational research journal, 33(4), 1996, pp. 845-871
This article reports the results of a study that compared the strategi
es used by three different groups of upper secondary school students t
o regulate their own learning processes: Australian students, Japanese
students at school in Japan, and Japanese students studying in Austra
lian schools. Although students in the three groups used a similar ran
ge of strategies, the pattern of use for each cultural group varied. V
ariations in the pattern of strategy use were also associated with aca
demic achievement. The structuring of the physical environment for stu
dy purposes and the checking of one's work were two of the most import
ant strategies for each of the groups. The Japanese students used memo
ry strategies significantly move than did the Australian students. Fur
thermore, although Japanese students studying in Australia resembled t
heir Australian counterparts more than their Japanese counterparts on
many of the strategies, they still attached significantly greater impo
rtance to the use of memorization than did the Australian students. Th
is finding is discussed in the light of cultural and educational diffe
rences between the two groups in terms of their beliefs regarding the
relationship between memorization and understanding.