The role of metacognitive skills in learning to solve problems

Study III: added value of the task model 103
relation between the acquisition of knowledge and the ability to transfer
it. For example, students who are able in KM Quest to solve particular
problems with the KM model, should also be capable of solving
similar problems in another setting. Another hypothesis (hypothesis 6)
therefore predicts a strong positive relation between post-test measures
of learning and scores on the transfer test.
6.1.2 Task model
One of the main components of KM Quest is the Knowledge Management
model (KM model, see also chapter 3). This model is embedded in
the learning environment as a means of support for systematic problem
solving. It prescribes how students should solve knowledge management
problems. The KM model can be seen as a set of problem solving activities
that are instantiated for a specific type of task. It is this instantiation
of a general problem solving method towards a particular type
of task, that is at the heart of the theoretical model in chapter 2. In
the KM model, the general phases of problem solving, such as, orientation,
execution and evaluation (Masui & de Corte, 1999) are applied to
a monitoring-diagnosis task. Such a task includes analysing an ongoing
process and checking whether it occurs according to the expectations,
identifying possible discrepancies and if needed, taking action. This
process is represented in the phases FOCUS, ORGANISE, IMPLEMENT
and MONITOR in the KM model. In KM Quest, students analyse the
knowledge household of Coltec and their goal is to optimise it according
to their targets. The KM model prescribes how to perform this task,
because each phase consists of elementary executable activities relevant
for that particular phase at the object-level. (see chapter 3).
The assumed benefit of the KM model with respect to self-regulatory
skills is the following: the KM model supports learners in the sense that
in this model domain-independent metacognitive skills are transformed
into cognitive activities at the object-level. Therefore, learners that are
confronted with the KM model do not necessarily need to use metacognitive
skills in order to learn. Instead they can use the KM model.
The hypothesis is that the KM model in KM Quest is responsible for
the learning success established so far in the previous studies since it
represents a compiled model of how to solve KM problems. Thus, the
assumption is that students working with the KM model achieve higher
scores on the knowledge tests than students who do not have the model
available.
Furthermore, when no model is present, the use of metacognitive skills
becomes more important. Students who have an adequate framework of
metacognitive skills at their disposal (the MS+ group) are able to use