The purpose of this paper is to suggest future directions of researches in "Self-regulated Learning (SRL)". SRL is the process by which learners monitor and control their learning by themselves, and many researchers proposed the models of SRL. These models are roughly classified into two categories. One category is the models concerned with self-regulation beyond contexts, and the other category is the models concerned with self-regulation depending on contexts.
However, there are little researches which focus on individual differences in the way learners regulate their learning. Therefore, this paper will introduce "Regulatory Focus Theory", which organizes the differences in the strategies people use when pursuing their goal. According to this theory, when people represent their goal in terms of gain-no gains (promotion focus), they prefer the strategy of approaching self-states that are matches to their goal. On the other hand, when people represent their goal in terms of loss-no losses (prevention focus), they prefer the strategy of avoiding self-states that are mismatches to their goal. If this theory is applied to SRL, while promotion focused learners may be concerned with organizing their knowledge, prevention focused people may be concerned with compensating losses of their knowledge.
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