Homework as a metacognitive tool in an undergraduate physics course

A considerable body of research shows that individuals who demonstrate a wide variety of metacognitive skills perform better on scientific problem solving. We developed a way of implementing homework in an undergraduate physics course to promote metacognitive skills. This novel homework design includes both an individual and a team phase and was implemented in a team-based learning environment. We developed a coding table to conduct both qualitative and quantitative analyses of students’ expressions of metacognitive thinking. Results indicate that students’ expressions of metacognitive thinking improved during the term. Data also show that team discussion helps improve metacognitive skills.

Figure 1

Number of metacognition comments over time. The number of comments in the knowledge of the cognition (black) category increases over the semester. There is no significant increase in the regulation of cognition category (gray).

Figure 2

Mean and error bars of the number of metacognitive comments written by students during the semester. The data show a statistically significant improvement in the students’ metacognitive skills.

Figure 3

These data show a statistically significant decrease in the difference between students’ self-rating of their overall understanding and their actual scores on the readiness assessment activities, which suggest that students are getting better at self-evaluation as the semester progresses. These findings indicate a high probability that students’ metacognitive skills have improved during the semester. The error bars represent the 95% confidence interval.

Figure 4

Mean of students’ self-rating of their overall understanding (ORU) and readiness assurance activity scores for males and females. Error bars show the standard error of the mean. Even though there is no statistically significant gender difference in RAA performance, females have statistically significantly less confidence in their own level of understanding.