Work in progress-student descriptions of self-regulated learning: A qualitative investigation of students' reflection on their first semester in engineering

This work in progress paper summarizes initial work conducted to understand how students discuss their self-regulated learning skills through an end of semester reflective assignment. As part of a first year seminar course for engineering students, students are asked to complete weekly reflective assignments relating the week's topic to their own practice as a student. At the end of the semester, students are asked to complete a summarizing reflective assignment where they look at their growth as a learner over the academic term. Using the framework of self-regulated learning, our research team has begun coding the end of semester reflective assignments to understand how students discuss their self-regulation. In this work in progress paper, we will discuss initial results of the qualitative coding. Specifically, we focus on defining themes in how students talk about their motivation during and after one semester as an engineering student. Themes for motivation include the fear of missing out on opportunities, tangible and indefinite rewards, and the expectation of family members.