Use of metacognitive regulation strategies to increase student academic achievement in microbiology course

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the influence of metacognitive regulation strategy to improve students’ achievement in microbiology learning. The method used was Quasi-Experimental. Participants of this study were 27 students from Biology Education in a university in West Java. There were two classes used in this research, namely the class using metacognitive regulation strategies as an experimental class consisting of 14 students and the non-metacognitive regulation strategies class as a control consisting of 13 students. In the experimental class, discussion was assisted with questions about subject matters. The instrument was used consist of the concept mastery test and self-reflection questionnaire. Data were analyzed by Analysis of Variance. The results of this research showed that there were differences in student achievement between metacognitive regulation and non-metacognitive regulation strategies. Students who learned with metacognitive regulation strategies was obtained high moderate criteria score (g = 0.59), while students who learned with non-metacognitive regulation strategies were obtained low of criteria score (g = 0.26). Study on self-reflection after carrying out the test obtained the following results: aspects related to the use of learning resources (21%), time management (29%), learning behavior (36%), attending and concentration in learning (14%). The implementation of the metacognitive regulation strategy was significantly effective to improve academic achievement in a microbiology course, so this strategy is an innovation in learning.