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Mother’s, father’s regulation and child’s self-regulation in a computer-mediated learning situation

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Abstract

This study has explored the parents’ regulation strategies that were more likely to support children’s self-regulation in learning situations with computers. These strategies have been analysed by means of new grids involving seven categories of behaviour: cognitive strategies relating to identification of objective, exploration of means, attention and evaluation; motivational strategies; and socio-communicative strategies such as joint attention and request. 62 7-year-old children from Quebec families were examined with their mothers and fathers. The children were asked to complete two learning tasks that involved using LOGO software to draw a picture. Results indicated that parents’ regulation varied depending on their gender; a higher directivity was observed in mothers, more specifically through some specific strategies. Analysis of variance on repeated measures showed that, during the session, there was a decrease in the specification of the objective, the initiation of joint attention and of behaviour regulation in parents; and an improvement of the identification of the objective, planning and self-evaluation in children. Correlations between parental regulation and children’s self-regulation strategies indicated positive links concerning strategies relating to joint attention and to motivation; and negative links concerning strategies relating to the exploration of means and evaluation. A good adjustment of the parents’ regulation and the children’s self-regulation correlated positivel with success in the task. Methodological implications are proposed for research and psycho-educative intervention.

Résumé

Cette étude a investigué quelles stratégies parentales sont plus susceptibles de soutenir l’autorégulation d’enfants en situation d’apprentissage médiatisé par l’ordinateur. Ces stratégies sont analysées au moyen de grilles intégrant: des stratégies cognitives d’identification de l’objectif, de planification et d’exploration de moyens, d’attention et d’évaluation; des stratégies motivationnelles; des stratégies socio-communicatives d’attention conjointe et de requête. 62 enfants québécois de 7 ans ont été examinés avec leurs mères et pères. L’apprentissage consistait à réaliser 2 dessins au moyen du logiciel LOGO. Les résultats ont indiqué que: la régulation des parents variait en fonction de leur sexe dans le sens d’une plus grande directivité maternelle mais particulièrement pour certaines stratégies. L’analyse de variance sur mesures répétées a montré qu’au cours de la séance, les parents diminuaient le rappel de l’objectif, l’initiation d’attention conjointe et de régulation du comportement; et les enfants amélioraient leur identification de l’objectif, leur planification et leur évaluation. Des relations positives sont obtenues entre les stratégies d’attention conjointe et de motivation respectives des enfants et des parents, des relations négatives sont obtenues quant aux stratégies respectives d’exploration et d’évaluation. Un bon ajustement de la régulation parentale et l’autorégulation des enfants sont liés positivement à la réussite à la tâche. Des implications méthodologiques sont dégagées pour la recherche et l’intervention psycho-éducative.

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  1. Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l’Education, Université Catholique de Louvain, 10, Place Cardinal Mercier, 1348, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgique

    Nathalie Nader-Grosbois

  2. École de Psychoéducation, Université de Montréal, succursale centre ville, C.P. 6128, H3C 3J7, Montréal, Qc, Canada

    Sylvie Normandeau

  3. Département de psychologie, Université de Montréal, succursale Centre-Ville, C.P. 6128, H3C 3J7, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Marcelle Ricard-Cossette

  4. Département de Psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, succ. Centre-Ville, CP 8888, H3C 3P8, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    Germain Quintal

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Nader-Grosbois, N., Normandeau, S., Ricard-Cossette, M. et al. Mother’s, father’s regulation and child’s self-regulation in a computer-mediated learning situation. Eur J Psychol Educ 23, 95–115 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173142

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