Short- and long-term effects of students’ self-directed metacognitive prompts on navigation behavior and learning performance

• Published in: Computers in human behavior 2015-11, Vol.52, p.293-306
• Main Authors: Bannert, Maria, Sonnenberg, Christoph, Mengelkamp, Christoph, Pieger, Elisabeth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Knowledge acquisition; Long-term effects; Metacognition; Metacognitive prompts; Metacognitive skills; Self-directed prompts
• ISSN: 0747-5632; 1873-7692
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.05.038

•Effects of self-directed metacognitive prompts were analyzed in an experiment.•Self-directed prompts improved learning process and transfer performance.•Findings indicate greater effects for students who complied with prompts.•Effect on learning transfer was still present in a follow-up-session without prompts. This study seeks to promote learning in computer-based learning environments utilizing students’ self-directed metacognitive prompts. Such prompts are based on the idea of instructing students to design their own metacognitive scaffolds and learn with them afterward. In a pre-post experimental design, students in the experimental group (n=35) were instructed to configure their own metacognitive prompts before learning whereas students in the control group (n=35) learned without prompts. Log file analysis of navigation behavior indicates that students who learned with their individually designed, self-directed prompts visited relevant webpages significantly more often and spent a longer time on them compared with students in the control group. Moreover, participants in the experimental group attained better transfer performance immediately after learning. The long-term effect in transfer performance was even greater in a follow-up learning session conducted after three weeks without any instructional support in either group. These results are consistent with theories of metacognition and self-regulated learning and indicate that self-directed prompts can lead to sustainable effects.