The role of metacognitive skills in learning to solve problems

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learning. Finally, in the no-model condition, the amount of cognitive
contributions is positively related to transfer (r = 0.45, p < 0.05).
6.4 Discussion and conclusions
The central question in this final empirical study was what the added
value of the task model in KM Quest is with respect to learning and
the use of metacognitive skills. The general assumption according to
the theoretical model is that the inclusion of a task model replaces the
need to use metacognitive skills. Presenting a task model that prescribes
which cognitive activities should be used in order to solve the problem,
should positively influence knowledge acquisition. The hypotheses formulated
at the beginning of this study will be discussed here.
First of all students learn from KM Quest. They acquire declarative, KM
model-specific and general procedural knowledge. This result replicates
the results of the previous study described in chapter 5. Hypothesis 1
that states a learning effect on all types of knowledge is supported. Also,
students are capable of transferring their knowledge to an alternative
case. More specifically, the amount of knowledge acquired is positively
related to the ability to transfer knowledge in both conditions. This
is support for hypothesis 6 that states a relation between learning and
transfer. Students are able to apply their knowledge of KM as learned
in the Coltec case to another case that represents a different type of
company. This is a matter of near-transfer. Well-learned automated
routines such as deciding on the nature of an event appear to be easily
transferred and applied to another business case. In the model condition,
the relation between learning and transfer is stronger than in the
no-model condition. Nonetheless, the scores of the transfer test do not
differ between conditions.
The presence of a model in the learning environment that prescribes
how to solve KM problems only has an added value for the acquisition of
KM model-specific procedural knowledge. Students in both conditions
significantly acquire KM model-specific procedural knowledge but students
in the model condition gain significantly higher scores than their
peers in the no-model condition. Therefore, hypothesis 2 is partially supported.
However, students in the model condition take almost twice as
long to finish the game and they are heavily focused on the KM model
in contrast to the other students. Students in the model condition also
communicate a lot more than students in the no-model condition, they
write over two-third of all chat contributions.
In conclusion, constructivist learning environments such as KM Quest
enable knowledge acquisition both at the object- and the task-level. The