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The role of metacognitive skills in learning to solve problems

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cognition <strong>in</strong> a constructivist learn<strong>in</strong>g environment and (2) <strong>to</strong> develop a<br />

concurrent measurement <strong>in</strong>strument for metacognition and <strong>to</strong> develop<br />

an analysis <strong>to</strong>ol for process measures <strong>of</strong> learn<strong>in</strong>g. <strong>The</strong> ma<strong>in</strong> hypothesis<br />

is that KM Quest supports mean<strong>in</strong>gful learn<strong>in</strong>g. Furthermore it<br />

is assumed that <strong>metacognitive</strong> behaviour occurs <strong>in</strong> the communication<br />

pro<strong>to</strong>cols <strong>of</strong> team members so that it can be annotated. This permits<br />

the development <strong>of</strong> an alternative, concurrent measure <strong>of</strong> metacognition.<br />

Forty-one students from the ‘Hogeschool Zuyd’ <strong>in</strong> Maastricht participated<br />

<strong>in</strong> the pilot study <strong>in</strong> Autumn 2002. Only 27 reached the 7th<br />

quarter <strong>in</strong> the game. Data from those who did not reach the 7th quarter<br />

were discarded.<br />

A ‘paper and pencil’ questionnaire was developed that measures transfer<br />

<strong>of</strong> knowledge. Transfer only occurs if mean<strong>in</strong>gful learn<strong>in</strong>g has taken<br />

place. This questionnaire <strong>in</strong>volves apply<strong>in</strong>g knowledge and <strong>skills</strong> learned<br />

<strong>in</strong> KM Quest <strong>to</strong> a slightly different case (HollandSky). <strong>The</strong> use <strong>of</strong> <strong>metacognitive</strong><br />

<strong>skills</strong> was measured retrospectively, by means <strong>of</strong> the scale Metacognitive<br />

self-regulation <strong>of</strong> the MSLQ. A cod<strong>in</strong>g scheme was developed<br />

<strong>in</strong> order <strong>to</strong> explore whether <strong>metacognitive</strong> activities occur <strong>in</strong> the collaborative<br />

chat pro<strong>to</strong>cols.<br />

<strong>The</strong> results <strong>of</strong> the HollandSky test <strong>in</strong>dicate that there is some evidence<br />

that students are capable <strong>of</strong> low-road transfer <strong>of</strong> knowledge. This evidence<br />

however is not very strong s<strong>in</strong>ce the open-question format results<br />

<strong>in</strong> a lot <strong>of</strong> miss<strong>in</strong>g data, especially <strong>in</strong> the post-test. Furthermore, the<br />

self-report questionnaire <strong>in</strong>dicates that students only marg<strong>in</strong>ally agree<br />

with hav<strong>in</strong>g used <strong>metacognitive</strong> <strong>skills</strong> <strong>in</strong> KM Quest. No significant correlations<br />

exist between the transfer test and the self-reported use <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>metacognitive</strong> <strong>skills</strong>.<br />

<strong>The</strong> development <strong>of</strong> the cod<strong>in</strong>g scheme shows that next <strong>to</strong> cognitive<br />

contributions, a variety <strong>of</strong> <strong>metacognitive</strong> contributions exist <strong>in</strong> the pro<strong>to</strong>cols<br />

which can be coded with the categories <strong>of</strong> <strong>metacognitive</strong> <strong>skills</strong><br />

described <strong>in</strong> the theoretical model. Furthermore the pro<strong>to</strong>cols show that<br />

besides doma<strong>in</strong>-related contributions, contributions related <strong>to</strong> groupdynamics,<br />

and functionality and affordances <strong>of</strong> the game environment<br />

exist. A f<strong>in</strong>al outcome <strong>of</strong> the this pilot study concerns ANALOG. <strong>The</strong><br />

development <strong>of</strong> this <strong>to</strong>ol occurred simultaneously with the data analyses.<br />

Its ma<strong>in</strong> contributions are that game sessions <strong>of</strong> teams can be replayed<br />

and it supports annotation <strong>of</strong> the chat pro<strong>to</strong>cols. This analysis <strong>to</strong>ol provides<br />

the opportunity <strong>to</strong> efficiently ga<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>sight <strong>in</strong><strong>to</strong> the learn<strong>in</strong>g process<br />

based on log file data.<br />

In conclusion, the pilot study has presented the opportunity <strong>to</strong> develop<br />

<strong>in</strong>struments and <strong>to</strong>ols that measure learn<strong>in</strong>g and the use <strong>of</strong> <strong>metacognitive</strong><br />

<strong>skills</strong> <strong>in</strong> KM Quest.

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