Introduction
The purpose of this unit is to introduce you to social cognitive theory and self-regulation and its application to educational problems. It includes topics such as: how are people’s behavior, the external environment, and their internal beliefs related to each other? How is it that people sometimes produce novel behavior that they have never been reinforced for? How do a person’s beliefs mediate their behavior? How can we teach learners to be more self-regulated?

Behavioral psychology dominated educational thinking for about 60 years, and successfully explained how environmental contingencies are an important influence on one’s behavior. However, it did not account for the internal cognitive processes that can also impact behavior. Julian Rotter (1916- ) found that some people who were reinforced would not persist at a task and Albert Bandura (1925 – ) argued that individuals could learn new behavior merely by observing others perform them. The observer did not even have to be reinforced for his or her observation. Julian Rotter helped us understand that there are stable individual differences in how people learn (he is responsible for the “locus of control” measure). But it is Bandura who is the name most associated with social cognitive theory. Like Skinner, Bandura is viewed as one of the major learning theorists in the history of psychology. His research and writings influenced our understanding that people learn through observation or modeling, that we can change behavior, that our beliefs about our own capabilities, our “self-efficacy,” has a huge influence on our learning, and the importance of self-regulation in learning and motivation. Bandura’s social cognitive theory has made a major contribution to our understanding about learning and instruction.

At one time, it was thought that intelligence was the main factor determining academic success. After years of research in learning and motivation, educators have found that students can learn how to become more successful learners by using appropriate learning strategies to manage their motivation, behavior, and learning. The word regulation is a key term in understanding successful learners. They self-regulate or control the factors influencing their learning by establishing optimum conditions for learning and removing obstacles that interfere with their learning. Educators use a variety of terms to describe these students (e.g., self-regulated, self-directed, strategic, and active). No matter what term is used, the important factor is that these students find a way to learn. It does not matter if the instructor is a poor lecturer, the textbook is confusing, the test is difficult, the room is noisy, or if multiple exams are scheduled for the same week, successful learners find a way to excel.

Learning Objectives For This Unit
Describe the principles of learning in Bandura’s social cognitive theory.
Explain how social cognitive theory modified behavioral theory.
Evaluate the contributions of social cognitive theory to our understanding of the teaching-learning process, behavioral change and the instructional and performance improvement strategies we use in any setting.
Apply the principles of social cognitive theory to solve learning and motivation problems.
Describe self-regulated learning and explain the benefits and challenges of teaching self-regulation.
Assess and evaluate your own self-regulatory practices.
Identify strategies for promoting self-regulation in learners, including for your own learning.
Analyze different problems of learning to identify appropriate strategies to promote self-regulation in a case study.

Learning Strategies For This Unit
Review the slides before you start the readings. (HINT: print out the slides to write down notes as you read and bring them to class.)
View the online recorded lecture.
Complete the readings in the order listed in the syllabus, writing down a one or two sentence synthesizes of major ideas (use the Note-taking scaffold)
Think how the principles of social cognitive theory could help close the performance goal gap in your case study. Write down your notes and bring them to class.

In-class Practice and Feedback
Application scenarios
Work on individual gap analysis: How can the principles of social cognitive theory help close your performance gap? Write down your notes in your gap analysis draft.

Advance Organizer For Next Class
In order to get ready for the In-class Gap Analysis Goals’ Workshop:
Be sure to bring your laptop to next class.
Review the Gap Analysis Goals’ Worksheet posted on Bb (both the template and the worked example).
Create a draft of your organizational goal. Remember that a well-stated goal includes the following: WHO will achieve WHAT by HOW MUCH by WHEN?
Identify at least three stakeholders for your organization. A stakeholder is anyone who directly contributes to and benefits from the achievement of the organization’s goal (e.g., at USC the stakeholders include students, teachers, administration, and parents).