Jenefer Husman Arizona State University Jenefer Husman Arizona State University When learning seems (un)important: Future Time Perspective and post-secondary students’ self-regulatory strategy use. When and how do students think about their futures? That is the focus of Future Time Perspective (FTP) research. FTP is a theory about how people conceptualize their futures, and how those conceptualizations affect them in the present. It captures both dispositional (long-term, slow to change) aspects and situational (short-term, tied to immediate experiences, thoughts, and feelings) aspects of thinking about the future. Dispositional aspects of FTP include connectedness (tendencies to link the present and future), speed (how manageable the future seems), and extension (how far into the future thoughts extend). Situational aspects include Perceptions of Instrumentality (PI)--the perception that a particular activity is critical for reaching a valued future goal. This correlation study of 276 university students suggests that students’ connectedness and PI account for as much as half of the variance in their reported use of learning strategies. That is, when students make connections between their present and their future, and recognize that a particular course is important to achieving that future, they engage in more effortful and effective learning. This suggests that if we can help students to build a positive vision of their future as a scientist, and show them how the work they do now will lead to that future, we can help them become more motivated and more effective learners in the present, and more successful and fulfilled scientists in the future. Introduction Research on post secondary students’ Future Time Perspective (FTP) has focused on both its dispositional (Shell & Husman, 2001) and situational (Simons, Dewitte, & Lens, 2000) aspects. Dispositional aspects of FTP include connectedness (tendencies to link the present and future), speed (how manageable the future seems), and extension (how far into the future thoughts extend). A situational construct within FTP is students’ Perceptions of Instrumentality (PI). PI is the perception that a particular activity is critical for the achievement of a valued future goal, and is dependent upon the actual activity and students’ dispositional tendencies to make connections between the present and the future (Husman & Lens, 1999). There is evidence that connectedness is related to academic success (Shell & Husman, 2001), and that PI accounts for more variance in academic achievement than dispositional aspects (Malka & Covington, 2005). One remaining question is how FTP impacts post secondary students’ academic success. We suspect students’ who are high on dispositional and situational aspects of FTP will be more likely to engage in active learning strategies, allowing them greater accessibility to future information. Specifically, this study investigates the relationship between FTP and students use of Knowledge Building strategies Procedure We assessed students FTP and strategy use in two courses: a general studies geo-science course and an introductory mechanical and aerospace engineering course. Students from a variety of majors take the geo- science course to fulfill science requirements. Students who have or will be declaring an engineering major are required to take the introductory engineering course. Participants Geo-Science course participants. Students (n = 185; women = 93) were recruited from one large section of a geo-science course at a large southwestern public university in the southwestern United States. The majority of the students were sophomores (45% n=84). Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering participants. Students (n = 91) were recruited from several small sections of an introductory engineering course at the same large public southwestern university. Over 70% of the participants were freshmen males. + Instruments Strategic Self-Regulation Measure. The Student Perceptions of Classroom Knowledge Building (SPOCK) was used to assess students’ strategic self-regulation (Shell et al., 2005). All questions were answered on a five-point Likert scale from 0 (almost always) to 4 (almost never). The Knowledge Building subscale (8 items) of the SPOCK will be the focus of this presentation. It assesses student exploration and interconnection of course knowledge. Future Time Perspective. Dispositional Future Time Perspective (FTP) was measured with the Future Time Perspective Scale. The FTP Scale is a 20-item instrument containing three subscales: connectedness, extension, and speed. Participants were asked to indicate their agreement with each question using a 5-point Likert scale from 0 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). Perceptions of Instrumentality. Students’ perceptions of the instrumentality of their coursework and course performance were assessed with the PI scale. The Endogenous subscale consists of four items that ask about the utility of learning the course content for future goals. Students responded to both subscales on a five point Likert type response from 0 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). Results Geo-Science Course Students, on average, did not think learning the content in this course would support their future goals. On a scale from 0 to 4, the mean response was Bivariate correlations indicated that students’ self-regulatory strategy use was positively related to both endogenous PI and speed but negatively related to connectedness. Together the dispositional and situational aspects of FTP explained 24% (F(3, 178) = 19.10, p <.001) of the variance in students’ use of Knowledge Building strategies. Connectedness, although predicting the least amount of variance, did function as a negative predictor. The stronger the students’ tendencies to make connections between the present and the future the less likely they were to use knowledge building strategies. Engineering Course Students, on average, did think learning the content of this course would support their future goals. On a scale from 1 to 5 the mean response was Bivariate correlations indicated students’ self- regulatory strategy use was positively related to endogenous PI, speed, distance, and connectedness. To understand the possible interactions between students FTP beliefs and their combined relationship with strategy use we completed a planned stepwise regression. First, we entered the situational variable, PI, and then each dispositional variable (speed, extension, and connectedness) in subsequent steps. Together the dispositional and situational aspects of FTP explained 54% (F(4, 85) = 7.58, p <.001) of the variance in students’ use of Knowledge Building strategies. PI and connectedness each accounted for unique variance in students’ use of knowledge building strategies. Conclusion This study provides evidence that students’ use of learning strategies is related to their FTP. There is also evidence that when coursework has obvious connection with students’ future goals, the relationship between FTP and use of learning strategies is stronger than when coursework is less instrumental. This research also indicates that students, who make connections between the present and the future, in general, may actually disengage from a course they do not think is useful for their futures.