Metacognitive Tool Research Articles

A Glimpse of My Progress: Exploring Reflective Journaling as an Innovation to Enhance Metacognitive Skills, Motivation, and Acceptability of Learners

Reflective Journals catalyze increased metacognitive awareness by prompting learners to examine their thought processes. The integration of reflective journaling enhances the clarity of goal setting, thus allowing learners to track progress and employ appropriate strategies for advancement. In this study, the researchers explored this strategy in facilitating learners’ metacognitive skills, motivation in learning, and learners’ acceptability of this strategy as a learning tool. The participants of the study were twenty-two learners enrolled in the Biochemistry subject at UM Digos College. A descriptive-quantitative research approach was utilized in analyzing the data from three modified and validated questionnaires that were used and analyzed: Metacognitive Awareness Inventory, Students' Motivation Towards Science Learning, and Acceptability of reflective journaling. Based on the metacognitive awareness inventory results, students’ metacognitive awareness was fairly observable (%=83.63). The findings also indicated adequate and decent students’ motivation toward science learning (x̄=3.72). The result also revealed that students found reflective journaling to be moderately acceptable as a learning innovation (x̄=3.96) and reported being very satisfied with it. This means that the metacognitive tool, such as an organized RJ, will equip science learners to become critical thinkers and goal-oriented, filled with foundational adaptiveness to new knowledge and intellectual and emotional growth.

Sustainable meaningful learning through the tree of knowledge: a teaching project for Nepal

Introduction: The climate crisis and social justice are at the focus of UNESCO's 2030 Agenda, which presents 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) as a roadmap for the preservation of the planet. From the educational field, its achievement can be promoted through the design of educational projects that promote sustainable meaningful learning (SML) hand in hand with learning for social justice (LSJ). In this context, an innovative teaching practice was developed in 2021-22 using biosphere reserves in Nepal, in which students from the International Primary Education Teacher Degree Program designed teaching materials to be offered to nearby primary schools in Nepal, close to the selected biosphere reserve. Methodology: The students built knowledge models based on conceptual maps about the selected biosphere reserve, creating teaching units with activities aimed at students in Nepal. A tree of knowledge was also designed that summarized the joint project as a metacognitive tool for sustainable meaningful learning. Results: For the evaluation, a double rubric was used that analysed both the oral defence of the project and the different sections of the UD, and personal reflections were analysed, as well as the learning results and motivation. Discussion: Sustainable meaningful learning together with learning for social justice and the didactic tools that were used are very valid methodologies to stimulate international cooperation and promote meaningful, autonomous, motivating and sustainable learning.

Exam Wrappers in Nursing Education: A Metacognitive Tool to Improve Performance.

Metacognition can assist students in improving poor examination (exam) performance. An exam wrapper is a metacognitive tool used to assess a student's thought processes and behavioral patterns during test-taking. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an exam wrapper tool used during one-to-one exam review sessions with faculty on prelicensure nursing students' subsequent exam performance. Paired t-tests and repeated measures ANOVA were used to compare undergraduate students' (n=91) exam scores before and after an exam review session with faculty in which the exam wrapper tool was used. Students who completed a one-to-one exam review session with faculty using the exam wrapper showed significant improvement in subsequent exam scores. Use of an exam wrapper tool as part of a one-to-one exam review session with faculty is a viable way to leverage metacognition to improve student exam performance.

The Effect of Metacognitive Reflective Tools on Historical Writing Ability and Self-Efficacy

Previous research has revealed that students typically struggle with analytical writing, particularly if it deviates from the commonly taught “writing structure” (Murphree, 2014). This struggle is frequently coupled with a lack of understanding of course content materials, or the often-ambiguous nature of analysis in writing, which students typically do not encounter in a structured, standards-based classroom. The pressure surrounding these writing struggles is seemingly amplified in a rigorous, high-performing dual-enrollment high school setting where students are required to demonstrate proficiency in analytical ability and argumentative writing prior to their 10th grade year. This study aims to develop a more comprehensive model to teaching analytical writing by implementing a combination of a skills-based approach and an approach that promotes self-efficacy and meta-cognitive reflection. This combination seeks to not only alleviate anxiety and lack of confidence in the writing process, but also equip students with tools that can increase the accuracy of self-assessment and overall writing scores. The effect of metacognitive tools on student analytical writing in this study is measured primarily through student performance on a series of AP World History-style Document Based Question (DBQ) essays and academic confidence self-evaluation surveys. Data consists of outcomes from one baseline DBQ (prior to supplemental instruction) and outcomes from two DBQ essays after direct instruction of three metacognitive tools and the introduction of a series of surveys designed to promote self-efficacy. Each measure was cross analyzed based on the introduction of a series of three metacognitive strategies to aid in writing DBQs (Pre-write Graphic Organizer, Formatting Guide, and Peer Evaluation Tool) and compared to the baseline scores collected after the pre-intervention DBQ Assessment. Preliminary results indicate that average student confidence, as measured by self-efficacy surveys prior to each DBQ writing assignment, rose over time, with content-based confidence and overall DBQ scoring confidence exhibiting the greatest change. Students initially demonstrated a period of “false confidence” during their baseline assessment, followed by a dip (lack of confidence) and rise (increasing confidence) correlating with increased accuracy in scoring as time progressed. Students’ ability to accurately predict their success on the DBQ rubric increased over time. However, the greatest improvement in this metacognitive skill can be observed in areas related to content knowledge.

Self-reflecting journals as a metacognitive tool to encourage greater learner autonomy – on the example of EAP students

This article focuses on the use of self-reflective journaling as a meta-cognitive tool for enhancing the learner’s autonomy in pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses. It begins by reviewing the literature on language learning strategies, with a particular focus on meta-cognitive strategies. Self-reflection is presented as one of those strategies, which should be implemented in the learning process. Later in the article, several fragments from authentic journal entries written by pre-sessional EAP students to illustrate how the practice of self-reflection can be used to improve learning outcomes. The author advocates incorporating self-reflective journaling into the curriculum, as it provides students with opportunities to think critically, provides extra writing practice and enhances their learning experience. It also provides teachers with a valuable tool for tracking their students’ progress and understanding of course material.

The Influence of Concept Cartoon-Supported Issue of Demarcation-Based Scientific Argumentation on Argumentation Skills and Pseudoscientific Beliefs

Studies have found that argumentation may lessen students' pseudoscientific beliefs. However, few studies of argumentation have been handled in the context of pseudoscientific beliefs. The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of concept cartoon-supported issue of demarcation-based scientific argumentation on middle school students’ pseudoscientific beliefs. A pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design including a control group was employed. Participants were 22 grade 7 Turkish female middle school students sampled from two classes of a single-sex school located at the edge of a southeastern town center in Turkey. When supported by the use of concept cartoons, issue of demarcation-based scientific argumentation significantly reduced the pseudoscientific beliefs with a large effect size and this decrease was retained even after 10 months. In addition, students’ argumentation skills significantly improved. Instructors should offer metacognitive tools in pedagogical approaches along with argumentation to foster middle school students’ argumentation skills and lessen their pseudoscientific beliefs.

SELF-REGULATED LEARNING STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT ON ENHANCING STUDENTS READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS

This conceptual paper explores the importance of self-regulated learning strategy development in enhancing students' reading comprehension skills. It presents an overview of empirical research conducted in this area, emphasizing the impact of metacognitive self-regulated strategies on students' comprehension, engagement, and overall academic success. The paper discusses the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model as a framework for implementing self-regulated learning strategies in reading instruction. The six stages of SRSD, including developing background knowledge, discussing, and modeling the strategy, memorizing it, supporting its use, and establishing independent practice, are outlined as a comprehensive approach to fostering metacognitive awareness and self-regulation in reading. This paper underscores the importance of incorporating self-regulated learning strategies into reading comprehension to empower students as independent, metacognitive readers. By equipping students with cognitive and metacognitive tools, educators can foster a lifelong love for reading and enhance students' comprehension abilities, leading to academic success and continued growth as self-regulated learners.

Reconceptualizing Kolb’s Learning Cycle as Episodic and Lifelong

Kolb’s experiential learning cycle is typically applied in short-term, episodic snapshots of time, while understating the implications of continual, longer-term learning. This fixed-frame, episodic usage may diminish the knowledge that learners bring into an educational experience and the continued shaping of knowledge through future experiences. Thus, the purpose of this conceptual article is to explore how Kolb’s experiential learning cycle is currently utilized and to propose a reconceptualized model that emphasizes learning as a continuous process rather than a fixed mode of learning. A model that merges episodic and lifelong could aid practitioners and researchers in recognizing prior and future learning cycles outside of time-bound, structured learning. This research has implications for practice as the model can be used to address prior learning students are bringing with them, learning during the experience, and further transforming this learning beyond that of a short-term experience. Future research is recommended to explore prior and future learning based on this model as a metacognitive tool to prepare learners before engaging in an experience. Describing the learning process through the lens of experiential learning prior to an experience has the potential to develop a growth mindset in learners, in turn increasing self-efficacy.

Ecological validity of don’t remember and don’t know for distinguishing accessibility- versus availability-based retrieval failures in older and younger adults: knowledge for news events

With pursuit of incremental progress and generalizability of findings in mind, we examined a possible boundary for older and younger adults’ metacognitive distinction between what is not stored in memory versus merely inaccessible with materials that are not process pure to knowledge or events: information regarding news events. Participants were asked questions about public events such as celebrity news, tragedies, and political events that were widely experienced in the previous 10–12 years, responding “I don’t know” (DK) or “I don’t remember” (DR) when retrieval failed. Memories of these events are relatively recently acquired in rich, naturalistic contexts and are likely not fully separated from episodic details. When retrieval failed, DR items were recognized with higher accuracy than DK items, both immediately and 2 years later, confirming that self-reported not remembering reflects failures of accessibility, whereas not knowing better captures a lack of availability. In fact, older adults distinguished between the causes of retrieval failures more precisely than younger adults. Together, these findings advance the reliability, validity, and generalizability of using DR and DK as a metacognitive tool to address the phenomenological experience and behavioral consequences of retrieval failures of information that contains both semantic and episodic features. Implications for metacognition in aging and related constructs like familiarity, remembering, and knowing are discussed.

“I guess it was more than just my general knowledge of chemistry”: exploring students’ confidence judgments in two-tiered assessments

Two-tiered assessment structures with paired content and confidence items are frequently used within chemistry assessments to stimulate and measure students’ metacognition. The confidence judgment is designed to promote students’ reflection on their application of content knowledge and can be characterized as calibrated or miscalibrated based on their accuracy. Previous studies often attributed students’ miscalibrated confidence rankings to metaignorance, however, in this qualitative study, interviews with general chemistry students were thematically analysed to provide a more robust understanding of the processes and factors students use when engaging with these metacognitive prompts in a chemistry assessment. Both calibrated and miscalibrated confidence judgments were observed independent of accuracy. Students who provided miscalibrated confidence judgments often used unreliable metrics such as processing fluency which can mimic content mastery whereas students who provided more accurate evaluations of their confidence relied more heavily on their stable understanding of chemistry concepts. Many students cited previous experiences, underlying self-efficacy beliefs, and/or the use of test-taking strategies which negatively or positively impacted their confidence. These findings suggest that the confidence tier is indeed capturing students’ self-assessment, however, students’ confidence judgments are based on a range of factors independent of content knowledge which may impede on the utility of this metacognitive tool for students, researchers, and instructors.

Using Metacognitive Tools to Enhance Learning Performance Under the Real-Time Location-Based AR Environment

Using Metacognitive Tools to Enhance Learning Performance Under the Real-Time Location-Based AR Environment

Formative assessment and key competences for a conscious recovery after COVID-19: an Action-Research at a school in Italy to enhance reflection starting from mistakes

AbstractThe study presents the results of an Action-Research project carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic with Italian teachers of primary, lower and upper secondary schools, interested in monitoring the activity of students in that difficult situation. The purposes of this study were: (a) to demonstrate that the involvement of teachers in the creation of metacognitive tools promotes the use of formative assessment at school; (b) to verify to what extent the use of a metacognitive form makes students more aware of the mistakes made during the test. The results were: (a) teachers showed great enthusiasm in adapting the metacognitive form to their school subject; (b) students pointed out high percentages of appreciation of the form; what is more, a group of students improved in identifying the typology of errors and understood more clearly what they should study in a better way to correct their mistakes; another group noted that their awareness of their strengths in study method had grown; finally, one group highlighted that the skills used during the completion of the form were also useful in other areas of their daily life, not only at school. Both teachers and students appreciated the online version of the tool: the pie charts created automatically by the system, by displaying percentages over typologies of errors made, provided immediate feedback, motivating students more and more. The study shows how much reflection on mistakes can be a source of growth.

Concept maps in immunology: A metacognitive tool to promote collaborative and meaningful learning among undergraduate medical students.

Introduction: Concept maps are graphical representations of knowledge that connect concepts, ideas, and relationships. The present study aims at assessing the perception of medical students in utilization of concept maps as a tool to foster their lifelong learning skills in immunology.Methods: The current study was approved by Institutional Ethics and Review Committee. Third-year undergraduate (MD3) medical students of the academic year 2021-22 were sensitized about the concept map study and included after obtaining their informed consent. The students worked in teams to find answers and link the different words or phrases of the concept maps. At the end of the immunology course, students’ perception on concept map-based learning strategy was assessed. A pre-designed, self-administered questionnaire, pre-validated by subject experts for relevance and feasibility, was used for the study. The questionnaire included some quantitative questions assessed by using 3-point Likert Scale and an open-ended question to receive students’ comments on concept map-based learning strategy. The responses were collected and analyzed using SPSS version 22. Descriptive statistics was used for the quantitative variables, tabulated as numbers and percentages while the qualitative data was analyzed by thematic analysis. The quantitative data results were prioritized but supported by students’ comments on open ended question.Results: Out of 133 eligible participants, 109 students who volunteered and completed the study were included. Majority of our participants (>80%) welcomed the concept map-based learning strategy. Almost 4 out of 5 expressed that concept maps are interesting and enjoyable, encourage active participation, peer discussion, and enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills. More than 80% of the students agreed that concept maps promoted deep understanding of the topic and lifelong learning. Nearly 3 out of 4 students suggested including concept maps in many immunology topics in future. Majority of students penned down positive comments indicating concept map tool facilitates metacognitive skills.Conclusion: From the study, it can be concluded that concept maps are effective active learning strategies to improve the metacognitive domain of medical students in immunology course, thus assisting them to become better lifelong learners.

The Role of Self-Improving Tutoring Systems in Fostering Pre-Service Teacher Self-Regulated Learning.

Computer-based learning environments serve as a valuable asset to help strengthen teacher preparation and preservice teacher self-regulated learning. One of the most important advantages is the opportunity to collect ambient data unobtrusively as observable indicators of cognitive, affective, metacognitive, and motivational processes that mediate learning and performance. Ambient data refers to teacher interactions with the user interface that include but are not limited to timestamped clickstream data, keystroke and navigation events, as well as document views. We review the claim that computers designed as metacognitive tools can leverage the data to serve not only teachers in attaining the aims of instruction, but also researchers in gaining insights into teacher professional development. In our presentation of this claim, we review the current state of research and development of a network-based tutoring system called nBrowser, designed to support teacher instructional planning and technology integration. Network-based tutors are self-improving systems that continually adjust instructional decision-making based on the collective behaviors of communities of learners. A large part of the artificial intelligence resides in semantic web mining, natural language processing, and network algorithms. We discuss the implications of our findings to advance research into preservice teacher self-regulated learning.

Cooperative Learning: Effect on Prospective Teachers' Metacognitive Skills Development at University Level

This study was conducted while using the Quasi-Experimental design to examine the effect of Cooperative learning on prospective teachers' Meta cognitive skills. The sample for this study included two sections/ groups, each comprising 40 students (40 males 40 females=80) enrolled in the fifth Semester of the B.Ed Honors program in a public university. One of the sections was declared as the Experimental, whereas the other as the Controlled group. The understudy sections were pre-tested, and then the experimental group was exposed to the intervention (cooperative learning strategy), which lasted for one Semester. Both sections were post-tested after the completion of the intervention. Meta cognitive Skills Assessment Tool (MSAT) was used for pre and post-test. Based on the results, it is concluded that Cooperative Learning helps develop Meta cognitive skills in prospective teachers. Therefore, it is recommended that the teachers should teach while using the Cooperative learning approach.

On the development of blockchain-based learning management system as a metacognitive tool to support self-regulation learning in online higher education

ABSTRACT The study of online higher education learning and academic achievement has increasingly emphasized self-regulated learning (SRL). Few studies so far have investigated the blockchain-based learning management system (LMS) and adaptive SRL intervention in online higher education. This paper aimed to develop a blockchain-enabled LMS as a metacognitive tool in online higher education with SRL adaptive intervention (AI) to improve planning, monitoring, collaboration, zone of proximal development (ZPD), scaffolding, and reflection towards self-regulation development and learning achievement. To do that, based on the benchmark data of 33 English Language Teaching (ELT) Master of Art (MA) students, the blockchain-based LMS is developed that provided three phases of planning, action, and reflection SRL AI throughout the online programme. Data were collected quantitatively by utilizing SRL pre – and post-test questionnaire which were analysed along the t-test and qualitatively by adopting reflective essays which were analysed through the content analysis method. The findings of the study revealed that the blockchain-based SRL intervention online programme had provided opportunities for MA candidates to develop their SRL skills in realistic goal setting, and their self-monitoring, self-reflection, self-awareness through coaching/judging, ZPD, and collaboration.

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To implement training in construction and architecture in a metacognitive perspective at the high school stage, it is necessary to construct a new learning environment. The model of learning environment presented in the article includes new elements. In order to effectively apply the metacognitive didactic tools, in addition to teachers and students, the learning process is also attended by prominent representatives of the construction business, university students in architecture and construction, media group specializing in construction and architecture. The described model also includes observations in the context of the topics of the curriculum, that are to be conducted during visits of construction sites and manufacturing plants, as well as many events together with students and young professionals: innovative forums, competitions. The conducted action research shows that in order to comply vocational education with the requirements and needs of the labor market, such education must create opportunities for students to perceive the future profession on a metaphysical level.

Overthinking in Producing Arts and Crafts: <br/>A Metacognitive Analysis

This study uses the meta-cognitive model (developed in clinical psychology primarily in relation to depressive conditions) to explain the causal dynamics of why artists, in always looking for “perfection”, can experience mental states which predicate modes of overthinking which can be detrimental to their careers and/or projects. The meta-cognitive model proposes a specific causal relationship between metacognition and the regulation of thought processes, in which overthinking pertains to excessive metacognitive intervention or total lack thereof. The aim of this study is to establish a practical and implementable meta-cognitive intervention for arts practitioners, arts students, and teachers of arts practice, which will help in avoiding (or teaching how to avoid) the pitfalls of overthinking; to determine a practical “cognitive tool”, or mental framework, in the process of making arts. This meta-cognitive tool is intended as an abstract and intellectual complement to the concrete and formal compositional skills of art production. A key focus of this study concerns the liminal points between healthy/productive and unhealthy (and potentially pathological) aspects of creative overthinking, considering how excessive rumination factors into creative traits such as perfectionism and attention to detail in the production of artworks; looking, further, at how overthinking can affect the mind negatively, such as inducing anger and anxiety for example.

Modelling Teacher Practices to Apply Learning Analytics as a Metacognitive Tool in Learning to Enhance Student Success

In the contemporary context, adoption of educational technologies has become inevitable. In virtual learning environments, teachers are not only exploring new ways of teaching, e.g. blended or online, but also incorporating various tools and strategies in order to facilitate the learning/teaching process. Learning analytics has received a lot of attention as it offers a support to teachers in monitoring students’ performance and making decisions regarding pedagogical approaches and techniques that would enhance learning and fulfil students’ realtime needs. In this research, a case study of university online or blended learning courses investigates the usage of learning analytics as a metacognitive tool to analyse how teaching and learning as well as learning design may be improved in order to enhance student success.

Self‐directed reflective assessment for collective empowerment among pre‐service teachers

AbstractThis study investigated the role and process of self‐directed reflective assessment (SDRA) enhanced by learning analytics to support pre‐service teachers' (PTs') collective empowerment in a knowledge‐building (KB) classroom. The participants were 43 second‐year PTs from a compulsory course taught by a teacher who had 2 years' teaching experience. A comparison class of 47 PTs, taught by the same teacher and studying the same topics in a regular KB environment, also participated. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in participation and domain understanding between the experimental class and the comparison class. Qualitative tracing of the SDRA group's online discourse indicated that the PTs were empowered and that their collective empowerment increased gradually over time. Analysis of the PTs' prompt sheets revealed that analytic‐supported SDRA helped the PTs engage in collective decision making to choose and judge promising ideas, and in collective synthesis and “rise‐above” of ideas, thus helping them engage in high‐level collective empowerment. The findings have important implications for the design of technology‐rich environments as metacognitive tools to support learners' empowerment, and they shed light on how teachers can use such tools to engage learners in metacognitive practices to increase their empowerment. Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic? Empowering pre‐service teachers' (PTs') to master higher order competencies is particularly important; PTs' empowerment primarily consisted of these high‐level competencies. Collaborative inquiry that can help learners to develop higher order competencies and further empowerment primarily depends on learners' metacognition. SDRA has great potential in empowering PTs, however, little research has been conducted to investigate the role and process of SDRA for supporting PTs. What this paper adds SDRA can empower PTs and help them increase their empowerment over time. SDRA effectively drives PTs to actualize and develop their metacognition, which in turn fosters PTs to engage in collective decision making, idea negotiation, and idea synthesis and “rise‐above” thinking, and thereby gradually helps the PTs increase their empowerment. The design of learning environments, which capitalizes on KB pedagogy and SDRA, is accessible to the PTs and fosters their collective empowerment. Implications for practice and/or policy Establishing a democratic and collaborative learning environment, fostering a sense of community and confidence among learners, and helping learners to gradually develop necessary skills are important for supporting their empowerment. The learning design for empowering learners should support learners' agency, collective decision making, reflection and regulation, and collective KB. It is important to organize collective reflection opportunities to help students engaged in data‐supported SDRA.