Goal‐Setting and Self‐Explanation in Elementary Programming: A Self‐Regulated Learning Study

ABSTRACT Background In the dynamic field of programming education, cultivating learners' autonomy and perseverance is paramount, a goal effectively underpinned by self‐regulated learning (SRL). SRL empowers students to actively manage their own learning processes through strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation. Among the myriad of SRL strategies, goal‐setting serves as a critical pre‐action planning and monitoring mechanism, guiding learners towards specific achievements, while self‐explanation acts as a powerful metacognitive tool for real‐time monitoring and reflection, helping learners to articulate and refine their understanding. Despite their theoretical importance within SRL, there remains a significant gap in understanding how these specific strategies—particularly variations in goal‐setting and self‐explanation—can be optimally implemented and their combined effects investigated within elementary programming contexts, especially considering the unique cognitive and developmental needs of younger learners. Objectives This study aimed to examine the effects of different goal‐setting and self‐explanation strategies on elementary students' programming performance and learning attitudes. Methods A 2 × 2 quasi‐experimental design was conducted with 160 sixth‐grade students in an 8‐week Scratch‐based game project, Maze Escape . Students were assigned to four groups combining goal‐setting (phase vs. overall) and self‐explanation (focused vs. open‐ended), and their programming performance and learning attitudes were assessed after the intervention. Results and Conclusions Students who received phase‐goal instructions combined with focused self‐explanation showed stronger comprehension of core programming concepts. Those assigned to overall‐goal setting with focused explanation demonstrated the best performance in programming application and problem‐solving. These strategies also enhanced learning motivation, particularly for students who received either phase goal‐setting or focused self‐explanation, underscoring the value of integrating SRL supports in elementary programming.