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Managing Uncertainty in Group Work: The Role of Self-Regulation and Need for Closure
Schell, Lena (2025) Managing Uncertainty in Group Work: The Role of Self-Regulation and Need for Closure.
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| Abstract: | Collaborative learning involves navigating uncertainty, as students must make decisions under uncertain conditions and respond to evolving task demands. How effectively they manage this uncertainty can influence group performance, engagement, and learning outcomes, making individual traits such as self- regulation and the need for cognitive closure particularly relevant. This study examines how distinct self-regulation components and the need for closure relate to students’ use of four uncertainty management strategies during a collaborative design task. These strategies are reduce, maintain, increase, and ignore. Twenty-one university students participated in a problem-solving task using the Aladdin simulation platform. Their behaviours were coded based on Zimmerman’s self-regulated learning model and Jordan and McDaniel’s uncertainty management framework. Participants also completed the 15-item Need for Closure Scale. Results showed statistically significant positive correlations between the following self- regulation components: strategic planning, task strategy use, self-monitoring and uncertainty strategies, particularly maintain and increase. No significant associations were found between the need for closure and self-regulation behaviours. These findings suggest that highly self- regulated students adopt flexible and context-sensitive strategies to engage with uncertainty, rather than simply aiming to reduce it. Collaborative learning environments should support flexible uncertainty engagement by scaffolding self-regulation processes and accounting for individual differences in need for closure. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology BSc (56604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/106845 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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