Engineering Science Students’ Self-Regulation: A Baseline

Today’s society is characterized by swift technological advancements. Engineers cannot solely rely on what they learned at university, as new technologies pop up quickly. They need to participate in lifelong learning (LLL) in order to keep up with the state-of-the-art. Self-regulation is a core competency for lifelong learning that can be used as a proxy for it in an educational context. This study aims to establish a baseline for engineering students’ self-regulation. Their levels are measured by the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale (SRIS), consisting of three subscales: need for self-reflection, engagement in self-reflection, and insight. 1128 students enrolled at KU Leuven’s Faculty of Engineering Science (response rate = 36.6%) completed the SRIS. Mean scores are compared across study phases by use of Kruskal-Wallis and posthoc Wilcoxon tests. Effect sizes are interpreted using Cohen’s d. Students’ engagement in reflection does not differ significantly across cohorts, but some significant differences are found in terms of need for reflection, insight, and self-regulation as a whole. The engineers’ results are compared to other SRIS measurements reported on in the literature. Our study shows differing scores between males and females, which contrasts other studies’ findings. Over the next three years, the SRIS will be administered to the same cohorts to determine whether a natural growth exists. These results will be supplemented with qualitative methods to gauge the effectiveness of future interventions.