LEARN 2 LEARN: A Metacognitive Intervention for Middle School

Self-regulated learning is comprised of motivation, cognition, and metacognition. This study aimed to improve eighth grade social studies students’ self-regulated learning and academic performance through the implementation of an intervention into their social studies curriculum. The intervention centered on exposing students to the different dimensions of metacognition (i.e., comprehending and being able to control one’s own cognitive processes) based on research findings that showed a link between metacognition and academic performance (Dignath & Büttner, 2008; Kistner, Rakoczy, Otto, Dignath-van Ewijk, Büttner, & Klieme, 2010). The intervention was designed to foster the students’ knowledge and use of metacognitive strategies through group work and cognitive discussions based on the research by Paris and Paris (2001). Four eighth-grade history sections taught by one teacher and two sections taught by a second teacher participated in the study. Three sections were randomly assigned to the intervention group and the other three to the control group. All students completed pre- and post-testing quantitative measures of metacognition and motivation. Teachers rated students’ ability beliefs and their levels of metacognition at post-testing. In addition, student performance was evaluated in terms of overall changes in grades from the first to third marking period. As predicted, the experimental group showed more improvement than the control group at post-testing in terms of their levels of metacognition. There was no effect of the intervention on the students’ academic performance or motivation; however, all the quantitative measures of metacognition and motivation were positively correlated with quarterly grades. Furthermore, the quantitative measure of metacognition developed for the present program of research was found to be a better predictor of grades than a widely used measure of metacognition (Sperling, Howard, Miller, & Murphy, 2002)

Self-Regulated Learning Intervention: Teaching Metacognition to Enhance School Performance and Motivation of Middle School Students

Self-regulated learning is comprised of motivation, cognition, and metacognition. This study aimed to improve eighth grade social studies students’ self-regulated learning and academic performance through the implementation of an intervention in the social studies curriculum. The intervention centered on exposing students to the different dimensions of metacognition (i.e., comprehending and being able to control one’s own cognitive processes) based on research findings that showed a link between metacognition and academic performance (Dignath & Büttner, 2008; Kistner et al., 2010). The intervention was designed to foster the students’ knowledge and use of metacognitive strategies through group work and cognitive discussions based on the research by Paris and Paris (2001). Four eighth-grade history sections taught by one teacher and two sections taught by a second teacher participated in the study. Three sections were randomly assigned to the intervention group and the other three to the control group. All students completed pre- and post-testing qualitative and quantitative measures of metacognition. In addition, student performance was evaluated in terms of overall changes in grades from the first to third marking period. As predicted, the experimental group showed an increase in metacognition assessed through qualitative and quantitative measures. There was no effect of the intervention on student performance; however, both the qualitative and quantitative measures of metacognition were positively correlated with course grades

Learning through assessment

This book aims to contribute to the discourse of learning through assessment within a self-directed learning environment. It adds to the scholarship of assessment and self-directed learning within a face-to-face and online learning environment. As part of the NWU Self-Directed Learning Book Series, this book is devoted to scholarship in the field of self-directed learning, focusing on ongoing and envisaged assessment practices for self-directed learning through which learning within the 21st century can take place. This book acknowledges and emphasises the role of assessment as a pedagogical tool to foster self-directed learning during face-to-face and online learning situations. The way in which higher education conceptualises teaching, learning and assessment has been inevitably changed due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, and now more than ever we need learners to be self-directed in their learning. Assessment plays a key role in learning and, therefore, we have to identify innovative ways in which learning can be assessed, and which are likely to become the new norm even after the pandemic has been brought under control. The goal of this book, consisting of original research, is to assist with the paradigm shift regarding the purpose of assessment, as well as providing new ideas on assessment strategies, methods and tools appropriate to foster self-directed learning in all modes of delivery

Learn 2 Learn: A Metacognition Intervention for Improving Academic Performance and Motivation on Middle School-Aged Students

The current study explored the effect of metacognition training on the academic performance of middle-school students. Intervention sessions for 6th and 8th graders were designed and implemented to enrich metacognitive skills, based on Ambrose et al.’s (2010) model of metacognition. Two classrooms of 6th and 8th graders received the Learn 2 Learn metacognition curriculum, while two other classrooms in both grade levels received the control curriculum on school transitions for either high school or college. Students’ level of metacognition and motivation were measured with pre- and post- qualitative and quantitative assessments along with quarterly grades. Overall, results from the intervention showed the expected pattern of increase in students’ metacognition, although it only approached statistical significance (p = .11). The 6th graders showed higher levels of metacognition, self-efficacy, and engagement than the 8th graders, and lower levels of anxiety. As expected, metacognition and motivation were positively correlated with academic performance. An additional pilot study was also conducted to explore measuring metacognitive use with an online assessment

Metacognition for spelling in higher etudents with dyslexia: is there evidence for the dual burden hypothesis?

We examined whether academic and professional bachelor students with dyslexia are able to compensate for their spelling deficits with metacognitive experience. Previous research suggested that students with dyslexia may suffer from a dual burden. Not only do they perform worse on spelling but in addition they are not as fully aware of their difficulties as their peers without dyslexia. According to some authors, this is the result of a worse feeling of confidence, which can be considered as a form of metacognition (metacognitive experience). We tried to isolate this metacognitive experience by asking 100 students with dyslexia and 100 matched control students to rate their feeling of confidence in a word spelling task and a proofreading task. Next, we used Signal Detection Analysis to disentangle the effects of proficiency and criterion setting. We found that students with dyslexia showed lower proficiencies but not suboptimal response biases. They were as good at deciding when they could be confident or not as their peers without dyslexia. They just had more cases in which their spelling was wrong. We conclude that the feeling of confidence in our students with dyslexia is as good as in their peers without dyslexia. These findings go against the Dual Burden theory (Kruger & Dunning, 1999), which assumes that people with a skills problem suffer twice as a result of insufficiently developed metacognitive competence. As a result, there is no gain to be expected from extra training of this metacognitive experience in higher education students with dyslexia

Applying science of learning in education: Infusing psychological science into the curriculum

The field of specialization known as the science of learning is not, in fact, one field. Science of learning is a term that serves as an umbrella for many lines of research, theory, and application. A term with an even wider reach is Learning Sciences (Sawyer, 2006). The present book represents a sliver, albeit a substantial one, of the scholarship on the science of learning and its application in educational settings (Science of Instruction, Mayer 2011). Although much, but not all, of what is presented in this book is focused on learning in college and university settings, teachers of all academic levels may find the recommendations made by chapter authors of service. The overarching theme of this book is on the interplay between the science of learning, the science of instruction, and the science of assessment (Mayer, 2011). The science of learning is a systematic and empirical approach to understanding how people learn. More formally, Mayer (2011) defined the science of learning as the “scientific study of how people learn” (p. 3). The science of instruction (Mayer 2011), informed in part by the science of learning, is also on display throughout the book. Mayer defined the science of instruction as the “scientific study of how to help people learn” (p. 3). Finally, the assessment of student learning (e.g., learning, remembering, transferring knowledge) during and after instruction helps us determine the effectiveness of our instructional methods. Mayer defined the science of assessment as the “scientific study of how to determine what people know” (p.3). Most of the research and applications presented in this book are completed within a science of learning framework. Researchers first conducted research to understand how people learn in certain controlled contexts (i.e., in the laboratory) and then they, or others, began to consider how these understandings could be applied in educational settings. Work on the cognitive load theory of learning, which is discussed in depth in several chapters of this book (e.g., Chew; Lee and Kalyuga; Mayer; Renkl), provides an excellent example that documents how science of learning has led to valuable work on the science of instruction. Most of the work described in this book is based on theory and research in cognitive psychology. We might have selected other topics (and, thus, other authors) that have their research base in behavior analysis, computational modeling and computer science, neuroscience, etc. We made the selections we did because the work of our authors ties together nicely and seemed to us to have direct applicability in academic settings

Metacognitive Awareness and Strategy Use in Academic English Reading among Adult English as a Second Language (ESL) Students

This mixed method research study explored the role of metacognitive awareness in reading among adult English as a Second Language (ESL) students of various academic levels enrolled in a university in the southeastern part of the United States of America while engaged in academic reading. In addition, this study examined metacognitive reading strategies employed by those students. In the quantitative portion of the study, 98 students responded to the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) instrument and a background information questionnaire. The SORS measured metacognitive awareness and use of reading strategies. In the qualitative portion of the study, six students (two English Language Institute [ELI], two undergraduate, and two graduate) participated in semi-structured interviews, including examinations of their academic reading materials. The quantitative results showed that the ELI students reported the most frequent use of metacognitive reading strategies, compared to the undergraduate and graduate students as measured by the SORS. Analysis of the data showed no positive correlations between the students\u27 academic performance measured by grade point averages (GPAs) and their scores of overall and sub-scales on the SORS. The analysis did not show any relationships between the students\u27 self-rated English reading proficiency and their scores on the overall and sub-scales on the SORS. The qualitative results suggested that participating students at different academic levels were aware of metacognitive reading strategies when engaged in academic reading. Key reading strategies used by these students included adjusting reading speed and selecting strategies for different purposes, using prior knowledge, inferring text, marking text, focusing on typographical features, and summarizing. When encountering challenges in reading comprehension, the students interviewed said they used context clues, re-read, and depended on supportive resources. In addition, examination of reading strategies in first language (LI) and second language (L2) reading indicated that the participants used similar strategies in both LI and L2 reading. Reading speed, use of dictionaries, and languages used for monitoring were identified to be different. Based on the findings, implications for students, teachers, and researchers to improve reading strategies were discussed. Recommendations for further research were also given

A Think-Aloud Assessment of Metacognition in 8th Grade Students: Using The Oregon Trail

Metacognition, the awareness of one’s own learning, can be divided into five distinct steps (Ambrose et al., 2010). Moreover, metacognition can be measured through offline (retrospective self-report questionnaires) or online assessments (asking students to explain their decision making during a problem solving task, called “think-aloud”). The current study assessed the effectiveness of a think-aloud assessment using The Oregon Trail game to measure metacognition, in comparison to a self-report measure of metacognition, the Metacognition Five (MC5). The Oregon Trail, which is metacognitive in nature, is a videogame designed to teach students about the journey of the pioneers and the obstacles they faced during the era of Westward Expansion in the United States during the 19th century. The students play the game as the wagon leader that tries to successfully take his or her party from Independence, Missouri to Oregon. Of additional interest was whether there was a relationship between academic grades and performance on The Oregon Trail task. Participants played the game for twenty minutes as the researcher tallied their game play behavior and asked them to explain their reasoning behind key game play decisions. Both behavioral tallies and coded statements from the think-aloud procedure were positively correlated with academic performance and with scores on the MC5 measures. Due to the small sample size (n=15) these correlations were not statistically significant but were in the predicted direction. The study demonstrated the potential usefulness of online assessments of metacognition