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The role of metacognitive skills in learning to solve problems

The role of metacognitive skills in learning to solve problems

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Study III: added value <strong>of</strong> the task model 135<br />

order <strong>to</strong> <strong>solve</strong> <strong>problems</strong>. This is not related <strong>to</strong> knowledge acquisition as<br />

is shown <strong>in</strong> this section. Students <strong>in</strong> the no-model condition use <strong>metacognitive</strong><br />

<strong>skills</strong> <strong>to</strong> regulate the learn<strong>in</strong>g process. For them, the use <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>metacognitive</strong> <strong>skills</strong> is related <strong>to</strong> knowledge acquisition.<br />

Hypothesis 5 states that concurrent measures <strong>of</strong> metacognition such<br />

as pro<strong>to</strong>col analysis are more related <strong>to</strong> learn<strong>in</strong>g than <strong>in</strong>direct measures.<br />

<strong>The</strong> results <strong>of</strong> this study partly support this hypothesis. It appears that<br />

both measures <strong>of</strong> metacognition from the pro<strong>to</strong>col analysis (G META<br />

and KM META) are significantly related <strong>to</strong> learn<strong>in</strong>g success but only <strong>in</strong><br />

the no-model condition. When the KM model is present <strong>in</strong> the learn<strong>in</strong>g<br />

environment, no such correlations exist.<br />

Hypothesis 7 concerns a positive relation between metacognition and<br />

transfer. <strong>The</strong> results concern<strong>in</strong>g this hypothesis are presented <strong>in</strong> detail<br />

<strong>in</strong> figure 6.5.<br />

This study cannot confirm that a relation exists between concurrent<br />

measurement <strong>of</strong> metacognition and transfer. Instead, <strong>in</strong> the no-model<br />

condition, the amount <strong>of</strong> discussion related <strong>to</strong> cognitive activities (KM<br />

COG) appears <strong>to</strong> positively <strong>in</strong>fluence transfer. Also, the amount <strong>of</strong> <strong>metacognitive</strong><br />

contributions (either G META or KM META) that students<br />

make <strong>in</strong> their communication is positively related <strong>to</strong> the acquisition <strong>of</strong><br />

knowledge. Earlier (see table 6.15) it was shown that knowledge acquisition<br />

is related <strong>to</strong> the ability <strong>to</strong> transfer knowledge <strong>in</strong> the no-model<br />

condition. It appears that the use <strong>of</strong> <strong>metacognitive</strong> <strong>skills</strong> is not directly<br />

related <strong>to</strong> transfer but that knowledge acquisition mediates or <strong>in</strong>fluences<br />

this relation.<br />

In the model condition no relation is found between any category <strong>of</strong><br />

the cod<strong>in</strong>g scheme and the types <strong>of</strong> knowledge assessed with KMQUESTions<br />

and the transfer test. Concurrent measurement <strong>of</strong> (meta)cognitive<br />

activities is not related <strong>to</strong> learn<strong>in</strong>g. <strong>The</strong> relations between the different<br />

types <strong>of</strong> knowledge <strong>in</strong> this condition have already been presented <strong>in</strong><br />

table 6.16 on page 129.<br />

6.3.4 Additional measures<br />

In order <strong>to</strong> ga<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>sight <strong>in</strong><strong>to</strong> differences <strong>in</strong> how students use KM quest<br />

<strong>in</strong> both conditions, ANALOG was used <strong>to</strong> analyse the content <strong>of</strong> the log<br />

files. In table 6.20 the average percentage <strong>of</strong> time spent on important<br />

elements per student was calculated. <strong>The</strong> element ‘Other’ represents<br />

activities such as Help and spend<strong>in</strong>g time <strong>in</strong> the start page <strong>of</strong> KM Quest<br />

(Office). Students <strong>in</strong> the model condition spend almost twice as long<br />

play<strong>in</strong>g KM Quest as students <strong>in</strong> the no-model condition (respectively<br />

5 hours, 29 m<strong>in</strong>utes and 22 seconds versus 3 hours, 52 m<strong>in</strong>utes and 32<br />

seconds).

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