Supporting technology-enhanced inquiry through metacognitive and cognitive prompts: Sequential analysis of metacognitive actions in response to mixed prompts

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop and examine supports for inquiry practices in computer-based learning environments (CBLEs). Two kinds of supports for inquiry practices were developed, namely cognitive and metacognitive prompts. We employed a multiple case study design to analyze students' metacognitive reactions to these two kinds of prompts and the fading effect on the regulation process using a sequential analysis technique. The results of this study indicate that the high level inquiry group performed not only more metacognitive actions of monitoring and evaluating, but also performed them in different sequences than the less successful students (the middle and low level inquiry groups) during the prompted inquiry tasks. The sequential analysis in this study identified the students' crucial learning patterns of successful inquiry practices in both the structured and guided inquiry stages. The findings can be used to explore the possible alignment between scaffolding and learning behaviors, and the mechanism of fading for inquiry-based learning in CBLEs.