The role of a novel formative assessment tool (Stats-mIQ) and individual differences in real-life academic performance

Abstract

There is increasing attention being paid to the role that metacognition, a key component of self-regulated learning, plays in learning, particularly adult learning. A novel formative assessment task, the Statistical Metacognitive Instrumentation Quizzes (Stats-mIQ) which provided extensive content and metacognitive feedback to students was developed for a senior undergraduate statistics course (N=214). The task consisted of multiple choice questions, each accompanied by a confidence rating in which participants were asked to rate how confident they were that their answer was correct. The feedback on their answers, their overall progress and metacognitive monitoring was provided within the quiz and after each quiz attempt. Path analysis was used to model the relationships amongst a range of psychological variables, for example quiz accuracy and confidence, and predicted and actual exam performance. Demonstrating the effectiveness of the quizzes, the final exam mark was positively predicted by the total number of quiz attempts, a composite score comprising quiz accuracy and confidence, and students' prediction of their exam mark. Total number of quiz attempts was positively predicted by a composite of conscientiousness and perceived time management skills, whilst quiz accuracy/confidence was positively predicted by the numeracy/statistics skills composite and reported need for feedback. Struggling students reported greater benefit from the confidence-allocation process than other students, highlighting the important role metacognitive feedback may play in a tertiary education setting.