CULTURAL-DIFFERENCES IN THE USE OF STRATEGIES FOR SELF-REGULATED LEARNING

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.