Metacognition and Self-Efficacy in Action: How First-Year Students Monitor and Use Self-Coaching to Move Past Metacognitive Discomfort During Problem Solving

Stronger metacognitive regulation skills and higher self-efficacy are linked to increased academic achievement. Metacognition and self-efficacy have primarily been studied using retrospective methods, but these methods limit access to students' in-the-moment metacognition and self-efficacy. We...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:CBE life sciences education Vol. 23; no. 2; p. ar13
Main Authors: Halmo, Stephanie M, Yamini, Kira A, Stanton, Julie Dangremond
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 01.06.2024
Subjects:
Humans
Mentoring
Metacognition
Problem Solving
Retrospective Studies
Self Efficacy
Students
ISSN:1931-7913, 1931-7913
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:Stronger metacognitive regulation skills and higher self-efficacy are linked to increased academic achievement. Metacognition and self-efficacy have primarily been studied using retrospective methods, but these methods limit access to students' in-the-moment metacognition and self-efficacy. We investigated first-year life science students' metacognition and self-efficacy while they solved challenging problems, and asked: 1) What metacognitive regulation skills are evident when first-year life science students solve problems on their own? and 2) What aspects of learning self-efficacy do first-year life science students reveal when they solve problems on their own? Think-aloud interviews were conducted with 52 first-year life science students across three institutions and analyzed using content analysis. Our results reveal that while first-year life science students plan, monitor, and evaluate when solving challenging problems, they monitor in a myriad of ways. One aspect of self-efficacy, which we call self-coaching, helped students move past the discomfort of monitoring a lack of understanding so they could take action. These verbalizations suggest ways we can encourage students to couple their metacognitive skills and self-efficacy to persist when faced with challenging problems. Based on our findings, we offer recommendations for helping first-year life science students develop and strengthen their metacognition to achieve improved problem-solving performance.
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ISSN:1931-7913
1931-7913
DOI:10.1187/cbe.23-08-0158