Self- Regulation

Metacognitive strategies allow students to become aware of their own thinking and to regulate it in a deliberate and reflective way. Rather than focusing on what is learned, these strategies focus on how learning happens—how the task is approached, monitored, and evaluated. They involve a sequence of mental operations that help students direct their efforts efficiently and adjust when needed.

In the early stages of learning, the student engages in planning, which involves analyzing what the task requires, identifying relevant prior knowledge, deciding on the steps to follow, and estimating the time and resources needed. This initial reflection helps clarify goals and fosters cognitive and emotional readiness to face the task with purpose and organization.

As the task is being carried out, the student applies monitoring strategies. These involve monitoring one’s own performance, staying focused, checking for understanding, and detecting possible mistakes or distractions. This ongoing self-observation allows for immediate adjustments.

Once a significant part of the task is completed, revision comes into play. At this point, the student reconsiders what has been done, compares it with the initial plan or criteria, and may decide to correct or improve certain aspects of the work.

Finally, after the task is completed, self-reflection takes place. This involves assessing the overall quality of the result and reflecting on the strategies used, the difficulties encountered, and possible improvements for future tasks. This last step consolidates learning and strengthens the student’s ability to transfer these strategies to new contexts.

Together, these four metacognitive strategies—planning, supervision, revision, and final evaluation—support autonomous, flexible, and effective learning.

Cognitive strategies are those that students use to actively engage with information and construct knowledge. Unlike metacognitive strategies, which regulate the learning process, cognitive strategies focus on how content is processed. Their use allows students to select, organize, transform, or retain information more effectively.

At a first level, we find strategies associated with surface-level processing, typically linked to more immediate and less integrated learning. Their main function is to select relevant information, through actions such as underlining, note-taking, or repeating key fragments. These strategies help highlight essential content, although they do not always guarantee deep understanding

When the goal is to achieve more meaningful and lasting learning, students rely on deep processing strategies. Two main types stand out here: on the one hand, organization strategies, such as classifying, outlining, or establishing hierarchical relationships between concepts; and on the other, elaboration strategies, which involve connecting new information with prior knowledge, creating analogies, generating personal examples, or explaining in one’s own words. These strategies promote active and flexible understanding of the content.

Finally, some strategies are aimed at information retention, helping to store specific data more stably in memory. Memorization belongs to this group and may involve mechanical repetition, mnemonic devices, or visual and auditory associations. While they do not promote understanding on their own, these strategies are useful when learning requires accurate recall of specific elements (such as dates, formulas, or definitions).

When used appropriately, these cognitive strategies contribute to more effective learning, tailored to the demands of the task and the learner’s goals.

Context management strategies help students regulate the external conditions that influence their learning. These strategies are essential for creating a physical, social, and temporal environment that supports sustained attention, motivation, and engagement with academic tasks.

One key aspect is time management, which involves planning and organizing the available time in a realistic and purposeful way. This includes setting a study schedule, distributing time according to the complexity of tasks, prioritizing activities, and avoiding unnecessary interruptions. Managing time effectively not only increases productivity but also reduces stress and enhances the feeling of control over one’s learning process.

A second component is resource management, which refers to the strategic use of the tools, spaces, and people that can support learning. This involves, for example, choosing a quiet place to study, using digital or physical materials appropriately, and knowing how to access and use support systems when needed. Among these, one especially important strategy is seeking help—either from teachers, peers, or family members—when facing difficulties. Far from indicating dependency, asking for help in a timely and appropriate way is a sign of autonomy and self-regulation.

Together, time and resource management strategies allow students to take an active role in shaping their learning environment, making it more conducive to focus, persistence, and success.

Motivation regulation strategies allow students to sustain or restore their willingness to engage in learning, especially when the task becomes challenging, tedious, or emotionally demanding. These strategies reflect the student’s capacity to influence their own levels of interest, effort, and persistence in line with their goals.

A first group of strategies is aimed at the maintenance of commitment. These are proactive actions that help preserve motivation throughout the task. One of them is the use of self-reinforcement, where the student rewards themselves after reaching certain milestones (e.g., taking a break or doing something enjoyable). Another is the creation of incentives, where the student mentally highlights the personal or long-term value of completing the task. Environmental control is also part of this group and involves adjusting the physical or social environment to reduce distractions and stay focused (e.g., turning off the phone or studying in a quiet place). Lastly, although not detailed here, attributional control strategies help regulate motivation by influencing how the student interprets success or failure.

A second group includes ego-defensive strategies, which come into play when the student perceives a threat to their sense of competence or self-worth. These strategies may reduce engagement in the short term but serve a protective function. For instance, self-handicapping involves intentionally delaying or avoiding work so that any potential failure can be attributed to external reasons rather than to a lack of ability. Defensive pessimism refers to anticipating failure in order to lower expectations and reduce anxiety. Similarly, self-worth protection strategies aim to shield one’s value as a learner by withdrawing effort or disengaging in situations where the risk of failure feels too high.

While not always beneficial, understanding the role of ego-defensive strategies is essential for supporting students in navigating the emotional complexities of academic engagement. Helping them replace these with more adaptive regulation strategies is key to fostering resilience and sustained motivation.