Introduction
Over the years, scholars in the education field have actively developed studies to develop the best motivational models to be applied in the teaching field for the purpose of enhancing the performance of students. The main motivation for this study was to establish a comprehensive strategy for students to apply when studying different complex concepts in class. The validation of the hypothesis would imply that it is possible to enhance individual performance through controlling and monitoring metacognitive processes. While there are many theories related to the enhancement of performance in school, there are limited guidelines to the practical implementation of the respective models.
One of the motivational elements in enhancing the performance of students in class is the use of self-evaluation. Self-evaluation entails a regular scrutiny of individual performance on grasping the concepts introduced in class. Various researchers have developed studies to review the effectiveness of this approach in enhancing the performance of students. It is apparent that there is a need for researchers to look into the validity of the hypothesis that self-regulated learning platforms enhance the performance of students. Several studies have been developed to evaluate the efficiency and accuracy of the metacognition process involved in self-regulation to enhance performance.
Several studies have revealed that the ability to understand the metacognitive process, evaluate it, and control it can help in increasing the cognitive ability required in learning. Most of the studies also reveal that the control of metacognition is based on the development of the right responses to various cues. When an individual has the appropriate response to cues, their performance in cognition is enhanced; however, inaccuracy in the use of cues can lead to the deterioration in learning. This paper looks into three studies that focused on metacognition in self-regulation as a viable approach to enhancing performance in learning. The development of accurate cues in metacognition enhances the performance of students because it fosters the accurate retrieval of concepts from the memory.
Literature Review
Thiede, Griffin, Wiley, and Anderson (2010) conducted a qualitative study that included two experiments with a group of at-risk college students and typical college students. The at-risk participants were involved in a low performance level in comprehension subjects, whereas the typical students performed fairly well. The study focused on highlighting the role of meta-comprehension accuracy in the development of cues that enhance the ability to create a more efficient memory retrieval process. The first experiment involved the subjection of the participants to a comprehension process that was followed by a delayed test to summarize the comprehended ideas. The results revealed that the at-risk students performed a relatively lowly in summarizing the concepts than their typical student counterparts.
These findings were influenced by the fact that the at-risk students did not develop accurate cues to help them in the development of effective memory for the summarization test. The second experiment involved the development of concept mapping model that facilitated the development of the appropriate cues for the at-risk participants. The result of the new paradigm was a positive enhancement of the ability of the at-risk students to summarize the concepts. This study affirms the hypothesis that self-regulation with ultimate accuracy in the development of cues can improve performance in learning for students. However, the study also reveals that there are incidences where the development of cues can be inaccurate, leading to relatively low performance in tests. Students should, therefore, consider developing better meta-comprehension skills to facilitate the development of efficiency in cues development.
Serra and Metcalfe (2009) conducted a qualitative study to highlight the factors that are required to develop an accurate metacognition to enhance the efficiency of self-regulation in learning. According to the study, there are three aspects of metacognition that must be satisfied for the required accuracy in the development of cues to take place. These aspects include acquiring knowledge about metacognition, monitoring the metacognition process, and controlling it. The knowledge about metacognition should be availed to students so that they can learn how to develop cues related to the various concepts they intend to learn. Through the development of metacognition skills, students can effectively control the development of memory.
The monitoring process entails the articulation of cues in a manner that facilitates efficiency in remembering the different ideas gathered from a comprehension process. Monitoring metacognition processes is vital because the process is associated with errors that might lead to the creation of cues that do not help in remembering the required concepts. The controlling aspect entails the ability to employ metacognition where it is required. This is a skill in self-regulation that every student must be guided to attain because it enhances their ability to comprehend ideas. This study revealed that it is possible to influence the accuracy of metacognition cues through training the mind to think about ideas in a concise and articulate manner.
As more scholars embark on a course to highlight the accuracy in metacognitive judgment in a criterion learning paradigm, Pyc, Rawson, Aschenbrenner (2014) developed a study to reveal the relationship between cues and judgment of learning and the performance of the participants in criterion learning. The essence of the experiment was to reveal the relationship between criterion learning and the ability to monitor the metacognitive process. The researchers performed a test-restudy experiment until the participants could recall the items accurately. The researcher then compared the cues used by the participants, their judgment of learning, and the subsequent performance in the tests.
The results of the experiment revealed that the cues associated with the judgment of learning were not efficient in predicting the performance of the participants. Contrastingly, the delayed judgment of learning led to a significant increase in the performance in the tests. The timing of the judgment of learning had an effect on the performance in the subsequent tests. The delayed judgment of learning increases the accuracy in the utilization of the metacognitive cues. The study further revealed that in the initial process of learning, individuals normally use intrinsic cues in comprehension, which are relatively inefficient in fostering learning.
However, as the learning process becomes repetitive, individuals shift from the reliance on intrinsic cues to mnemonic cues. Mnemonic cues are relatively accurate in the retrieval of information; hence, with practice comes higher levels of performance among students. The implication of the findings on the part of students is that they would rather use the delayed judgment of learning in the process of self-regulation because the associated cues have a higher influence on the performance in tests (Pyc, Rawson, & Aschenbrenner, 2014).
The study also revealed that different concepts require different levels of repetition to develop the appropriate cues that enhance the retention of the associated information. This means that students do not have to struggle with conceptualizing all the ideas learned during self-regulation. The retention level of information should be identified in the monitoring process of the metacognitive process, and students should concentrate on learning the concepts that portray repetitive inaccuracy in cues.
References
Pyc, M. A., Rawson, K. A., & Aschenbrenner, A. J. (2014). Metacognitive monitoring during criterion learning: When and why are judgments accurate?. Memory & cognition, 42(6), 886-897.
Serra, M. J., & Metcalfe, J. (2009). 15 Effective Implementation of Metacognition. Handbook of metacognition in education, 1(1), 1-44.
Thiede, K. W., Griffin, T. D., Wiley, J., & Anderson, M. C. (2010). Poor metacomprehension accuracy as a result of inappropriate cue use. Discourse Processes, 47(4), 331-362.
