The role of formative evaluation in self-regulation learning strategies: A quasi-experimental study

Evaluation is recognized as one of the effective factors in forming how students learn in higher education and the quality of learning outcomes is associated with the quality of student evaluation. Formative evaluation leads learners to increase their learning and ultimately results in appropriate achievements to learners, including creativity, confidence and motivation needed for academic success. This study aimed at investigating the impact of formative evaluation on applying self-regulation learning strategies by students.

This quasi-experimental cross-sectional study was conducted on 68 undergraduate nursing students. A formative exam was performed for the experimental group at the end of each month. The control group was only subjected to the final exam. The use of self-regulation learning strategies was assessed before and after the intervention in two groups with Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) developed by Pintrich & De Groot. Finally the collected data were analyzed by SPSS.

There was no significant difference between the mean use of self-regulation strategies in the control group in pre and post-test phases (76.79±8.13 vs. 77.17±3.33, p=0.921), however the experimental group showed a significant increase in the mean use of self-regulation strategies after the intervention (94.26±6.44 vs. 77.26±9.78, p>0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in the mean scores of two groups before the intervention (p=0.89), whereas it was significant after the intervention (p> 0.001).

Formative evaluation can significantly increase the use of self-regulation learning strategies in students. In addition to its crucial effectiveness for students' readiness to take the final exam, it can promote their independent and self-directed learning skills.