Qualitative Approaches to Investigating Self-Regulated Learning: Contributions and Challenges

The articles included in this special issue demonstrate how qualitative methodologies can be profitably employed to enhance understanding related to self-regulated learning (SRL) and the contexts that support it. This concluding discussion underlines ways in which these articles contribute to an understanding of SRL, with a particular focus on the advantages associated with the methodologies employed. Discussion centers on 4 themes that emerged across articles from authors' attempts to view SRL from a qualitative perspective. These themes include consideration of (a) how SRL should be defined, (b) investigating SRL in context, (c) documenting intervention-outcome linkages, and (d) the interplay between researchers', teachers', and students' co-constructions of theories of SRL. As part of the discussion in each section, the article highlights outstanding conceptual and methodological challenges for researchers and educators interested in SRL.