A cybernetic method to regulate learning through learning strategies: A proactive and reactive mechanism applied in U–Learning settings

Novel educational environments, particularly those based on information and communication technologies, demand that students consciously regulate the learning process to efficiently reach their goals. However, most of the approaches pursue the acquisition of domain–knowledge (DK)than the development of cognitive skills that foster students to lead their learning activities in diverse educational domains. Hence, this work proposes a cybernetic method to instill learning strategies that enable students to handle their apprenticeship according to proactive and reactive attitudes. Cybernetic baseline supports the method that applies regulatory mechanisms to suggest actions that produce specific outcomes and manage diverse disturbances. With this aim, a real trial was performed to produce empirical evidence of how the cybernetic method to regulate learning biases students' apprenticeship in educational settings that exert a high cognitive load on learners. Due to the trial constraints, experimental students lacked a training phase to know the method, and therefore had to follow its learning strategies simultaneously to the DK acquisition, producing with it a higher cognitive load than their control peers. Despite such a handicap, outcomes reveal more promising learning tendencies for the experimental group than those for the control. The experience highlights the need for including cognitive strategy instruction in the curricula to empower students to regulate their learning processes and enhance their academic achievements.