The purpose of the present study was to construct goal-setting mechanisms in a web-based portfolio assessment system (WBPAS), based on the self-regulated learning (SRL) process proposed by Zimmerman, and to examine effects of these mechanisms on SRL. The participants were two classes of 11th
graders taking the website design class in a vocational high school. The participants were assigned randomly to either an experimental group (n ¼ 40) learning with a WBPAS or a control group (n ¼ 41)learning with a paper-based portfolio. The study results revealed the following: a) the quality of goalsetting mechanisms may facilitate SRL. b) Students setting learning goals with the WBPAS demonstrated
significantly better SRL than students setting learning goals with the paper-based portfolio.
