Exploring Engagement, Learning Satisfaction, and Learning Outcomes in a Technology-Aided Self-Paced Flipped Model

2.1 Effort Allocation and Metacognitive Monitoring in the Self-Paced Learning Model

It is demonstrated that there is a bidirectional relation between efforts allocated to study and metacognitive monitoring judgment (Baars et al., 2020). And its direction largely rests with learners’ choice of effort allocation. In the self-paced learning model, effort allocation is negatively correlated with monitoring judgment since it is, to a large extent, influenced by the easiness of memorizing. According to some researchers, judgments of learning depend on memorizing effort heuristic. Easier items are more likely to be learned. And both adults and children monitor their study based on the feedback (Anja. et al., 2010). While with strategic allocation, the correlation between the allocated effort and the monitoring judgment tends to be positive. Strategies like highlighting the importance degree of learned information and setting time limits are of great help. As researchers noted that contents are released step by step in the instructor-centered courses, while all the contents are released in the beginning in the self-paced MOOCs, thus students can study any material at any time (Moreno-Marcos et al., 2020). Therefore, a learning contract is considered an effective method to promote self-paced learning (Robinson & Persky, 2020). A learning contract is a concept borrowed from the business field, which can be considered a unanimous agreement between instructors and learners or the constraints on learners that certain work will have to be completed within the stipulated time. In case various distractions occur in the period of self-study, learning contracts can be regarded as potent measures to organize individuals and thus increase the quality of learning. In a word, students’ self-regulation must be seriously considered. Besides, instructors-learners communication and learners-learners communication can be dramatically increased, which is also deemed as a significant component in Communicative Language Teaching.