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Metacognitive monitoring and learning gain in foundation chemistry
Abstract
The ability to make realistic judgements of one's performance is a demonstration of the possession of strong metacognitive skills. In this study we investigate the relationship between accuracy of self-evaluation as an expression of metacognitive skill, and learning gain in stoichiometry. The context is an academic development programme at a South African University offered for under-prepared students enrolled for science and engineering. These students generally exhibit unrealistically high levels of confidence in performance and this could potentially place them at risk by negatively affecting decisions regarding time management and self-regulation. We investigated whether overconfidence before instruction is corrected upon exposure to teaching. A three-tier stoichiometry test was used to collect qualitative and quantitative data before and after instruction. Findings indicate that the majority of the students were overconfident in the evaluation of their performance in both the pre- and posttests. Overconfidence was not a debilitating disposition when demonstrated in the pretest provided that it was corrected during teaching and learning. The most vulnerable students were those that judged their performance or lack thereof realistically in the pretest but became overconfident during the teaching and learning of stoichiometry. Our results suggest that under-prepared students are slow in developing accurate metacognitive monitoring skills within a classroom environment that did not include instruction focused on the development of such skills. We recommend a proactive and constructive response by educators which may reduce the incidence of failure and preserve the positive contribution of confidence, albeit excessively positive.
... 32 Local judgments (confidence in individual answers) were measured rather than global judgments (overall test scores), as previous studies suggest higher reliability in metacognitive monitoring at the local level. 33 Metacognitive monitoring typically involves students expressing their confidence on a binary 7,34,35 or multipoint scale, 6,36,37 or using graphical elements like a line or smiley face(cf. 38,39 ) or analyzing students' written 40 or drawn 41,42 reflection. ...
... Confidence judgements (CJs) were used as indicator of metacognitive monitoring in general 31,47,48 as well as in chemistry education. 36,49,50 Confidence Judgments (CJs) are retrospective evaluations of performance that play a crucial role in the learning process, acting as significant indicators of success or failure. These judgments, inherently subjective, are pivotal in shaping an individual's expectations. ...
This study investigated students’ problem-solving skills related to the periodic table of elements using three-tier tasks. A sample of 513 first-year nonchemical vocational school students from Czechia was selected to explore their knowledge and abilities regarding use of the periodic table in terms of expected outcomes from the national curriculum, i.e., navigate within the table, and understand its underlying concepts. The research addressed three primary questions: the students’ ability to use the periodic table as an inductive tool, the influence of various factors on their usage of the table, and the relationship between their overall achievement scores and their understanding of periodic table concepts. Additionally, the study examined the impact of students’ confidence levels on their performance, providing a detailed view of metacognitive monitoring within the context of chemistry education. The analysis revealed a significant gap between the students’ ability to recall information from the periodic table and their capacity to apply this knowledge effectively. The findings emphasize the need for educational strategies that extend beyond rote memorization to promote the application of knowledge in varied contexts. The use of three-tier tasks was pivotal in identifying misconceptions and reducing false positives, offering educators clearer strategies for enhancing educational outcomes. The study highlighted the challenges students face with complex tasks and suggested the inclusion of tasks with varying difficulty levels to better assess a wider range of abilities. Ultimately, the research underscores the importance of innovative assessment methods like three-tier tasks in improving students’ problem-solving capabilities and fostering a deeper understanding of chemistry concepts. By addressing these gaps, educators can better prepare students for advanced scientific inquiry and real-world problem-solving.
... However, relatively few studies exist that employ alternate research designs. Exceptions to this include an investigation carried out in South Africa with a group of students of a basic chemistry course (Mathabathe, 2019;Mathabathe & Potgieter, 2014). Mathabathe and Potgieter (2014) sought to establish whether students' overconfidence before instruction was adjusted after instruction. ...
... Exceptions to this include an investigation carried out in South Africa with a group of students of a basic chemistry course (Mathabathe, 2019;Mathabathe & Potgieter, 2014). Mathabathe and Potgieter (2014) sought to establish whether students' overconfidence before instruction was adjusted after instruction. Results revealed that most of the students were too confident in their judgments of performance. ...
Metacognition is an important higher-order thinking process for successful learning. The present study investigated the relation between students’ (N = 65) expectations about their grade (expressed as difference scores between expected grade and actual grade) and their metacognitive monitoring accuracy and bias and the extent to which these difference scores in expected grade versus actual grade predicted accuracy and bias, employing an explanatory sequential quantitative-QUALITATIVE mixed method research design. The study also explored how students develop and refine metacognitive judgments and the types of strategies they employ during this process. Results revealed that there were significant relations between difference scores in expected grade versus actual grade and accuracy and bias (r = .02 to r = .89 in absolute value), and that difference scores significantly predicted both accuracy (R2 = .52) and bias (R2 = .69). Further, qualitative findings revealed that there were differences in how students developed and refined metacognitive judgments as a function of four aspects of learning: effort/preparation, strategy selection/implementation, planning, and evaluation. Educators should explicitly teach metacognitive monitoring skills to improve students’ self-regulated learning.
... The most significant intervention outcomes were achieved by combining different strategies. Metacognitive strategies and self-assessment techniques, in particular, have been found effective in promoting learning (Cengiz-Istanbullu & Sakiz, 2022;Dang et al., 2018;Krebs et al., 2022;Mathabathe & Potgieter, 2014;Osterhage et al., 2019;Vemu et al., 2022;Zamora et al., 2016). ...
This study examined the effects of a technology-enhanced intervention on the self-regulation of 262 eighth-grade students, employing information and communication technology (ICT) and web-based self-assessment tools set against science learning. The data were analyzed using Bayesian structural equation modeling to unravel the intricate relationships between self-regulation, self-efficacy, perceptions of ICT, and self-assessment tools. Our research findings underscored the direct and indirect impacts of self-efficacy, perceived ease of use, and perceived use of technology on self-regulation. The results revealed the predictive power of self-assessment tools in determining self-regulation outcomes, underlining the potential of technology-enhanced self-regulated learning environments. The study posited the necessity to transcend mere technology incorporation and to emphasize the inclusion of monitoring strategies explicitly designed to augment self-regulation. Interestingly, self-efficacy appeared to indirectly influence self-regulation outcomes through perceived the use of technology rather than direct influence. Analytically, this research indicated that Bayesian estimation could offer a more comprehensive insight into structural equation modeling by assessing the estimates’ uncertainty. This research substantially contributes to comprehending the influence of technology-enhanced environments on students’ self-regulated learning, stressing the importance of constructing practical tools explicitly designed to cultivate self-regulation.
... Meaning, top performers had lower perceived confidence compared to their actual confidence in the test. The findings of the study conformed to the result of Mathabathe and Potgieter (2014) in investigating the relationship between accuracy of confidence on self-evaluation and learning gain in stoichiometry. ...
For decades of experience in teaching Chemistry, a chemical equation is usually balanced by writing a coefficient before the formula of atoms, ions, or molecules. In this study, the effect of a pedagogical intervention on the understanding and confidence of students was investigated by combining the guided-inquiry approach and the process of drawing of particles on balancing a chemical equation in a Philippine science classroom context. This action research gathered both qualitative and quantitative data in two phases. Initially, a three-tiered concept test determined the students' initial understanding and perceived confidence in balancing chemical equations using particulate drawings. The inquiry-based worksheets were implemented and investigated for its effectiveness. Specific cases from reflection responses and interviews were presented. The use of three-tiered tests and inquiry-based particulate worksheets exhibited significant change and a moderate positive correlation between conceptual understanding and confidence. This study was able to help Grade 11-STEM students improve their understanding and became more confident in learning the unseen particulate level of Chemistry concepts.
... Active methodologies stimulate the development of autonomy and engagement in students (Berbel, 2011;Randi and Carvalho, 2013;Borges and Alencar, 2014), with a positive effect on cognitive gain, defined as growth in knowledge, understanding, and cognitive skills linked to the desired learning results or course objectives (Rogaten et al., 2019). Studies have observed these effects in areas of knowledge including physics (Hoellwarth et al., 2005;Novilia et al., 2016), chemistry (Mathabathe and Potgieter, 2014), and physiology (Bhattacharya et al., 2017;Thomas et al., 2017). The increased learning observed here with the use of the educational game was consistent with previous work by our research group (Cardozo et al., 2016;Luchi et al., 2017;Luchi et al., 2019;Cardozo et al., 2020a) and other authors (Freeman et al., 2014;Gentry et al., 2019;Contreras-Arellano et al., 2020). ...
Stress and anxiety caused by assessments are often related to the student’s insecurity regarding the knowledge to be evaluated, while teaching strategies that increase effective learning can assist in reducing it. The aim of this study was to evaluate the hypothesis that the use of an active methodology, associated to formative assessment, could reduce students’ anxiety and stress, when compared to the traditional method, by promoting greater learning. New students enrolled in the same discipline of a Dentistry course were invited to participate in the study and were divided into two groups: traditional method and active methodology. The traditional method group received two lectures, delivered orally. The active methodology group received a lecture about cardiac cells and the autonomic control of cardiac function, with home study of the cardiac cycle using a textbook. In the second class, an individual formative assessment was applied. Afterwards, a group activity was performed with an educational game about the cardiac cycle, followed by a group formative assessment. After applying the traditional or active methodology, test 1 was carried out. Immediately before this test, saliva samples were collected for determination of the concentrations of the stress biomarkers cortisol and α-amylase. The students also answered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire, used for anxiety level determination. The score obtained in the test 1 was significantly higher for the active methodology group, compared to the traditional method group. No significant differences between the groups were observed for baseline cortisol and salivary α-amylase concentrations, or for anxiety scores. Before test 1, traditional method group presented higher concentrations of salivary cortisol and α-amylase, compared to the respective baseline values, while the active methodology group showed no difference between the baseline and test 1 levels. Before test 1, there were increases in anxiety levels, relative to the respective baseline values, regardless of the teaching methodology used, but this increase was greater for the traditional method group, compared to the active methodology group. These results showed that the active methodology, associated to formative assessment, decreased test stress and anxiety, with improved student performance in comparison to traditional lectures.
... Moreover, the previous study found that employing a metacognitive strategy is a practical approach to learning (Cengiz-Istanbullu & Sakiz, 2022;Mathabathe & Potgieter, 2014;Osterhage et al., 2019;Vemu et al., 2022). Self-assessment, a technique that enables students to evaluate their performance based on predetermined criteria, helps students identify their learning progress (Dang et al., 2018;Krebs et al., 2022;Zamora et al., 2016). ...
This study examined the effects of a technology-enhanced intervention on the self-regulation of 262 eighth-grade students, employing information and communication technology (ICT) and web-based self-assessment tools set against science learning. The data were analyzed using both maximum likelihood and Bayesian structural equation modeling to unravel the intricate relationships between self-regulation, self-efficacy, perceptions of ICT, and self-assessment tools. Our research findings underscored the direct and indirect impacts of self-efficacy, perceived ease of use, and perceived use of technology on self-regulation. The results revealed the predictive power of self-assessment tools in determining self-regulation outcomes, underlining the potential of technology-enhanced self-regulated learning environments. The study posited the necessity to transcend mere technology incorporation and to emphasize the inclusion of monitoring strategies explicitly designed to augment self-regulation. Interestingly, self-efficacy appeared to indirectly influence self-regulation outcomes through perceived the use of technology rather than direct influence. Analytically, this research indicated that Bayesian estimation could offer a more comprehensive insight into structural equation modeling by more accurately assessing our estimates' uncertainty. This research substantially contributes to comprehending the influence of technology-enhanced environments on students' self-regulated learning, stressing the importance of constructing practical tools explicitly designed to cultivate self-regulation.
Stereotype threat (ST) is implicated as a contributory factor to attrition in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) fi elds. One of the mechanisms by which ST degrades performance is by impairing metacognitive monitoring (Schmader et al. 2008), which is positively related to learning and performance (Hadwin et al., 2017; Winne & Hadwin, 1998, 2008). Several interventions to improve metacognition exist, but to our knowledge, none have evaluated their eff ectiveness in improving performance outcomes among ST susceptible students who are more likely to suff er situational defi cits in metacognitive processing under threat. The present investigation fi lls this gap in the literature through a brief intervention to improve performance judgments. 25 Black Engineering students participated in a four-week intervention to improve judgments of learning. Results showed that the intervention improved student calibration among Black engineering students susceptible to race-related ST and attenuated the negative relationship between calibration bias and performance. Specifi cally, study participants underestimated their performance, which was negatively and signifi cantly associated with performance at the onset of the study. However, calibration bias diminished signifi cantly over the intervention and subsequently had no impact on performance at four and six weeks (two weeks post-intervention).
What do students learn if they participate in extracurricular projects? They produce an artefact or organise an event. Default they tell you 'a lot'. Zooming in requires some effort but then reveals that students do learn a lot. As compared to curriculum based courses they are allowed to specialise and set their own targets within the project setting. Does this translate into a regular curriculum? Maybe, at least it is a great source of inspiration!
Many studies in science education research have found metacognition to be beneficial for undergraduate STEM students. Students do not necessarily know how to employ their metacognition without some training or prompting, and undergraduate chemistry instructors do not always have the capacity to instruct their students on metacognition. Thus, it would be beneficial for instructors and students if metacognition development could be implicitly incorporated into typical classroom activities. In this study, 25 undergraduate students in an upper-division biochemistry course were interviewed via a think-aloud protocol. In the interviews, they were asked to solve two open-ended buffer problems. Before answering the second buffer problem, the students were asked questions designed to target their metacognition. The interview transcripts were qualitatively analyzed through a codebook thematic analysis, with deductive and inductive coding, to understand the types of metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive skills these students demonstrated while solving the buffer problems. The transcripts were also analyzed to understand how these metacognitive prompts may have changed students’ metacognitive approaches to solving the problems. Overall, 20 of the 25 students demonstrated some type of metacognition in response to the metacognitive prompts that they had not demonstrated in the first buffer problem. We discuss how asking students to think how an “unreflective” student would answer a question can prompt students to metacognitively evaluate their thought processes. © 2021 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error. Paradoxically, improving the skills of participants, and thus increasing their metacognitive competence, helped them recognize the limitations of their abilities.
There is a growing theoretical and practical interest in the topic of metacognition; how we monitor and control our mental processes. Applied Metacognition provides a coherent and up-to-date overview of the relation between theories in metacognition and their application in real-world situations. As well as a theoretical overview, there are substantive chapters covering metacognition in three areas of application: metacognition in education, metacognition in everyday life memory and metacognition in different populations. A diverse range of topics are covered such as how we judge our own learning, why we create false beliefs about our past, how children learn to monitor and control their memory, how well eyewitnesses can judge the accuracy of their own memories and how memory judgements change across the lifespan. The book has contributions from many of the leading researchers in metacognition from around the world.
Contributions by leading experts and others to understanding the crucial role of metacognition in relation to broad areas of education make this collection a uniquely stimulating book. It encompasses metacognition in both the neglected area of teaching and the more well-established area of learning. The twelve chapters contribute to our understanding of the construct of metacognition and to its role in both teaching and learning. It addresses domain-general and domain-specific aspects of metacognition, including applications to the particular subjects of reading, speaking, mathematics, and science. It is organized into four major sections which address metacognition in relation to students' learning, motivation, and culture; and to teachers' metacognition about instruction. This collection spans theory, research and practice related to metacognition in education at all school levels, from elementary through university. Dr. Robert J. Sternberg, IBM Professor of Psychology at Yale University, is the discussant.
This chapter focuses on research program, providing a description of a theoretical framework that has evolved out of metamemory research, followed by a few remarks about the methodology. Research in metamemory is initiated by the paradoxical findings that people can accurately predict their subsequent likelihood of recognizing nonrecallable items and that they can quickly and accurately decide-on the basis of no more than a cursory search through memory-that they will not retrieve particular sought after items. Those findings lead to develop a methodology based on psychophysical methods that are used to empirically investigate people's feeling of knowing. The results of the experiments convinced that for dealing with only a part of a complex metacognitive system and to account adequately for feeling-of-knowing phenomena, a larger perspective was needed. This eventuated in the present theoretical framework that emphasizes the role of control and monitoring processes. The embedding of the feeling of knowing in a richer framework helped to dissipate the paradoxical nature of the feeling of knowing. The chapter discusses that today there are many capable, active investigators and a wealth of solid empirical findings.
People feel they understand complex phenomena with far greater precision, coherence, and depth than they really do; they are subject to an illusion-an illusion of explanatory depth. The illusion is far stronger for explanatory knowledge than many other kinds of knowledge, such as that for facts, procedures or narratives. The illusion for explanatory knowledge is most robust where the environment supports real-time explanations with visible mechanisms. We demonstrate the illusion of depth with explanatory knowledge in Studies 1-6. Then we show differences in overconfidence about knowledge across different knowledge domains in Studies 7-10. Finally, we explore the mechanisms behind the initial confidence and behind overconfidence in Studies 11 and 12, and discuss the implications of our findings for the roles of intuitive theories in concepts and cognition. © 2002 Leonid Rozenblit. Published by Cognitive Science Society, Inc. All rights reserved.
The main aim of this study was to discover interrelations between university students' self-perceptions, expectancies, and academic achievement. A sample of 645 Unisa students was divided into three groups: Overestimators, Realists, and Underestimators. The data revealed that, compared to Underestimators, Overestimators (a) expected significantly higher marks; (b) were significantly more confident about their expectations, and (c) perceived themselves to have significantly more ability. Although Overestimators had more positive psychological profiles than Underestimators, they gained significantly lower marks than Underestimators (47% and 76% respectively) in the examinations. In strong contrast to major psychological theories the results suggest that, in a university context, (a) poor performance is not associated with negative self-perceptions and low expectancies, and (b) overoptimistic self-perceptions and high expectancies may in fact be maladaptive. Indeed these results suggest that humble self-assessments may be more conducive to success.
(South African Journal of Higher Education: 2003 17 (1): 67-73)
People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error. Paradoxically, improving the skills of the participants, and thus increasing their metacognitive competence, helped them recognize the limitations of their abilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)