CONTEXTUAL DIFFERENCES IN STUDENT MOTIVATION AND SELF-REGULATED LEARNING IN MATHEMATICS, ENGLISH, AND SOCIAL-STUDIES CLASSROOMS

Recent research on self-regulated learning has stressed the importance of both motivational and cognitive components of classroom learning. Much of this research has examined these components without considerat ion of potential contextual differences. Using a within-subject correl ational design, the present study assessed mean level differences in s tudents' task value, self-efficacy, test anxiety, cognitive strategy u se, regulatory strategy use, and classroom academic performance by gen der and across the subject areas of mathematics, social studies, and E nglish. In addition, the relations among the motivational, strategy us e, and performance measures were assessed using multivariate regressio ns. The participants were 545 seventh and eighth grade students (51% f emales) who responded to a self-report questionnaire. Results revealed mean level differences by subject area and gender in the motivation a nd cognitive strategy use variables, but not in regulatory strategy us e or academic performance. In contrast, results indicated that the rel ations among these constructs was very similar across the three subjec t areas examined. Findings are discussed in terms of their importance for understanding the contextual nature of students' self-regulated le arning.