THE ASSESSMENT OF SELF-REGULATION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS WITH AND WITHOUT ACADEMIC DIFFICULTIES

This chapter examines the problems involved in evaluating the cognitive and motivational skills of college students of different ability and academic success. A battery is presented which examines students’ self-regulation and some factors underlying it. A study with 240 undergraduates at the University of Padua shows some implications in the use of the battery and proposes a causal model of self-regulation. Self-regulation, defined with reference to the basic competencies of elaboration, organization and self-evaluation, appears critical for student success and is related to students’ implicit theories, self-attribution, academic self-efficacy and motivation to use strategies.