Effect of an intervention in self-regulation strategies on academic achievement in elementary school: A study of the mediating effect of self-regulatory activity

Abstract

The aim of this study was twofold: (1) to analyse the extent to which a training program in Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) and Reading Comprehension (RC) strategies would lead to improvements in these competencies in elementary school students, and (2) the extent to which the improvements in these competencies would be associated with improvements in academic achievement. An experimental study with an experimental group and a control group was conducted in an authentic environment with pre, post, and follow-up measures. A total of 758 elementary school students participated in the study, (403 in the experimental group and 355 in the control group). The results revealed that (1) the strategic activity mediated the effect of the intervention on academic achievement. In fact, (a) the intervention produced significant improvements in the reported use of SRL and on RC strategies and (b) the increase in such strategies was associated with higher academic achievement. In addition, (2) we found that, together with this indirect effect, the intervention influenced academic achievement through variables or conditions other than the strategic activity displayed. Likewise, (3) we were able to verify that the indirect effects through RC strategies were greater than those of SRL strategies. Finally, the analysis results showed that the total effect of the intervention explained 30% of the academic achievement variance. These results are discussed in relation to those reported by previous similar studies.