Probing the Elaboration of Metacognition

Abstract

At the St. Louis College of Pharmacy a teaching group has been working on development of student metacognitive skills through using ‘Two Stage Cooperative Testing’ in the Physiology course sequence. A research group has been administering the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) and tracking students through the curriculum to see what relationship between MAI scores and success in the program might exist. In fall of 2017 the two groups found a natural point of connection and began comparing course grade information with MAI results. The result was demonstration of both a slight positive correlation between the MAI and overall semester GPA (r=0.313, p<0.001) and a slightly stronger correlation between the Knowledge of Cognition sub-score and course grades specifically in Medical Physiology (r=0.377, p<0.001). The relationship between the Regulation of Cognition sub-score and Medical Physiology course grades was also significant but less robust (r=0.273, p<0.001). Future collaboration will continue investigating how metacognition in students might be more systematically fostered.