Self-regulation in learning is one of the main predictors of achievement. In e-learning it is even more important because, compared to learning from printed material, it gives the learner more opportunities to look for different options and at the same time lose focus while learning. Therefore, the aim of our study was to find out: 1. which learning strategies students use during e-learning and how often they use them; 2. how the use of these strategies is related to the achievement; and 3. the differences in the use of learning strategies and in achievement between boys and girls, between students with high and low academic achievement. 443 students (219 boys and 224 girls) from grade 9 of primary school participated in the study. The students learned about the perception of colors with the help of an e-learning unit. They had the choice to make notes for learning. The notes were collected after learning and analyzed according to the used learning strategy (rehearsing, elaboration, and organization) (Weinstein and Mayer, 1986). Their knowledge on the subject was assessed by a pre- and post-test consisting of 6 open and 8 multiple-choice questions covering the learning material. Students who took notes scored higher on the post-test than those who did not take notes. Analysis of students’ notes showed that 1. the rehearsing strategies were used more frequently than elaboration and organization strategies, 2. the correlation between deep strategies (elaboration and organization) and achievement on post-test was significantly higher than the correlation between rehearsing strategies and achievement, 3. and that the students with lower academic achievement scored lower on the post-test than students with higher academic achievement. Compared to boys, girls took longer notes, used more strategies, and achieved a higher score on the post-test. The results showed the importance of prompting the use of higher order learning skills for successful learning in e-environment, especially with boys and students with lower achievement.
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