Abstract:

The European Space of Higher Education (ESHE) concedes the student an active role in the learning process which teachers have to address in the classroom. This students’ active role in their learning experience is believed to better adapt them for nowadays technologies and key business paradigms. This way, students develop their ability to learn how to learn in preparation for careers that demand lifelong learning skills (Young, 2005).

Self Regulating Learning (SRL) theory depicts a relevant framework to study factors that lead students to learn and perform better academically. SRL highlights the emerging autonomy and responsibility of students to take charge of their own learning and integrates research on cognitive strategies, metacognition, and motivation in one coherent construct. In turn, traditional learning models do not support SRL because the teacher prescribes and the students perform. On the other hand, students need to be motivated to implement appropriate learning strategies and behaviors and thus achieve metacognitive and cognitive learning strategies (Pintrich, 1999).

In this context we examine the conceptual foundations of self-regulation and how it is related to learning strategies, metacognition, motivation, and related constructs of contextual teaching and learning. More precisely we focus in the role of the achievement goal orientation for actively engaging students in the development of SRL. Future marketing managers are regularly involved in major decisions affecting corporate and national economies. An analysis of the learning system that prepares these managers for their future responsibilities is necessary, because traditional marketing strategies do not work in the current turbulent business environment (Fortier et al., 1998).

In this study we use a sample of students of several marketing courses from three Spanish universities (public and private). We stated some hypotheses and test a model which identifies some antecedent factors influencing students’ SRL strategies. Results show that achievement goal orientation, among other variables, increase the use of SRL strategies due to their positive effect on students’ intrinsic motivation. Our study contributes to help teachers to understand what factors engage their students in SRL. We elaborate some teaching implications which can be very useful for that purpose.

References:
Fortier, J., Albrecht, B., Grady, S., Burbach, M., and Westrich, A. (1998), “Wisconsin’s Model Academic Standards for Marketing Education”, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Bulletin No. 9005, ISBN 1-57337-069-X.
Pintrich, P.R. (1999) “The Role of Motivation in Promoting and Sustaining Self-regulated Learning”, International Journal of Academis Research, 31: 459-470.
Young, M.R. (2005) “The Motivational Effects of the Classroom Enviromment in Facilitating Self-regulated Learning”, Journal of Marketing Education, 25: 25-40.

Keywords:

educational marketing, self-regulated learning, srl, task mastery orientation, learning.