Study context matters: A case study on how time crunches lead to coping modes of learning

Self-regulated learning (SRL), an important part of student learning success, is a complex process that includes the learner's beliefs about his or her own learning, motivations, pre-existing knowledge, and cognitive and metacognitive skills. Despite the importance of context to SRL, very little research has specifically examined the contextual factors that impact SRL among college engineering students. To contribute to building a knowledge base of the contextual factors important to SRL among college engineering students, we engaged in an ethnographically-informed study of engineering students who study in teams outside the classroom environment. Time outside the classroom is often structured by the students themselves in response to the requirements of their courses and competing demands. A focus on this self-structured time enables us to consider the specific contextual factors that contribute to students' SRL within these outside the class environments where they are making choices about learning habits that impact what, where, how and with whom to study. Situated in a larger study, in this analysis we describe one specific example of how context can impact students' approaches to learning. We used Boekaerts1 Model of Adaptable Learning as a lens to view the activities of a student study group on two separate occasions. By comparing these two study group examples, we found that feeling a time crunch can cause students to shift from a mastery mode to a coping mode of learning. While in mastery mode, students tend to exhibit behaviors that are shown to promote deeper learning. In coping mode they are just trying to get done and learning is secondary. Implications for research and practice are discussed.