Cognitive Style and Learning Goals Settingin Computational Environments

Abstract

Objective.
To explore the influence of cognitive style, in the field dependence - independence dimension,
on the setting, fixing and accuracy of learning goals, and at the same time to determine this influence on
high school students’ expected learning achievement during their interaction with a hypermedia environment
–called “Softri”– designed for solving problems related to rectangular triangles.
Method.
85 tenth grade
students from a state school in Bogotá, Colombia, took part in the study. The EFT (Embedded Figures Test) was
used to measure cognitive style. Academic achievement was indicated by evaluations administered by the
computational environment, and the goals selected by the students were registered by the software “Softri”.
An Anova analysis was carried out to establish the presence of significant differences between academic
achievement and goal setting for different groups of students, according to their cognitive style.
Results.
The
results showed that independent field students set higher goals and are more accurate with respect to their
expected learning achievements.
Conclusion.
It is possible to establish that independent field students have
higher beliefs of control over their own learning process. They probably have higher internal locus of control. It
is also possible for these students to have higher levels of academic self-efficacy since they set more demanding
goals. These behaviors may be associated to a greater capacity for self-regulated learning.