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In terms of group differences in learning strategies, there are important studies
that examine different approaches used by different groups. For instance, Garcia,
Yu, and Coppola's (1993) study unpacked gender and ethnic differences in sci-
ence achievement. The design was a pre-post test at two different times to examine
changes in patterns of motivation and learning strategies. Latino and African-
American students' success was correlated with motivation and prior achievement
and not with learning strategies. Also, minority students (African American, Latino
and Asian) reported a higher extrinsic motivation orientation over their White
counterparts. These strategies included metacognitive awareness (e.g., planning,
monitoring, regulating) and effort management. The authors conclude that gender
and ethnicity do not affect achievement outcomes, but preparedness, motivation, and
use of learning strategies do.
In one of the first studies to look at cross-cultural differences in self-regulated
learning and learning strategies, Purdie, Hattie, and Douglas (1996) looked at
conceptions of learning and use of strategies, suggesting that conceptions inform
strategies used. They found that Japanese students use strategies of rote memoriza-
tion and textbooks, and do not seek help from others. Both groups used learning
strategies (e.g., “environmental structuring,” “self-evaluating”) at similar frequen-
cies and the only difference in strategies was which ones were used more by both
groups (“reviewing previous work” was the least used strategy of both groups). In
other words, there was no between-group difference in types of strategies used.
Help-seeking . Adaptive help-seeking has been described as asking for help
needed in order to learn independently, not simply to obtain the correct answer. It
is manifested when students monitor their academic performance, show awareness
of difficulty they cannot overcome on their own, and exhibit the wherewithal and
self-determination to remedy that difficulty by requesting assistance from a more
knowledgeable individual, they are exhibiting mature, strategic behavior (Newman,
2002, p. 132).
Research indicates that students who tend to seek more help are also more
likely to seek instrumental help (Karabenick, 2003; Tobias, 2006). Research fur-
ther indicates that students who engage in instrumental help-seeking become more
competent and independent learners, and they are more self-regulated and metacog-
nitively aware, which influences their awareness of a need for help (Tobias, 2006;
Karabenick, 2003). Karabenick (2003) found that mastery-oriented students not
only tend to seek more help but also perform better. In contrast, performance-
oriented students tend to have lower achievement due to their threat of help-seeking
and resistance to obtaining the help they need, thereby decreasing their chances
of success (Karabenick, 2003). Studies have also shown that help-seeking behav-
iors can lead to increased academic achievement (Karabenick, 2003; Wigfield &
Eccles, 2002). Help-seeking is related to motivational variables as well. For exam-
ple, students who have higher efficacy are more likely to seek help (Ryan, Gheen, &
Midgley, 1998). Students may modify their engagement by adjusting or setting new
goals. They may further reexamine their learning tactics and strategies and select
more productive approaches, adapt available skills, or even generate new learning
or monitoring procedures (Butler & Winne, 1995).
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