How rubric performance-level order and feedback shape students’ real-time self-regulation and self-efficacy

Abstract This study examines how the order of rubric performance levels (high-to-low vs. low-to-high) and four types of feedback (no feedback, rubric-based, product, and process) influence university students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) and self-efficacy during an academic task. A total of 120 first-year students completed two landscape analysis tasks supported by rubrics while verbalizing their thoughts through think-aloud protocols. Self-efficacy was measured before and after the experimental session. Students predominantly produced positive self-regulatory actions across the five task phases, displaying a W-shaped pattern that reflected shifts in task demands: higher regulatory engagement during rubric reading and written analysis, and lower engagement during oral description phases. Negative actions were less frequent and concentrated in the initial rubric reading and first written analysis. Neither performance-level order nor feedback type significantly affected positive or negative SRL actions; the only significant within-subjects factor was task phase. Self-efficacy decreased across all conditions, suggesting a recalibration of confidence in response to task demands and rubric criteria. These findings indicate that moment-to-moment SRL engagement is primarily shaped by the nature of the task phase rather than by the specific scaffolding configuration, and underscore the importance of process-oriented methods for capturing dynamic regulatory patterns in rubric-supported learning environments.