Students' use of good quality cognitive and metacognitive strategies for learning as they progress

through five years of secondary schooling: A multi-level model of change over time.

Associate Professor Helen Askell-Williams

Associate Dean ResearchDirector Flinders Educational Futures Research Institute

School of Education

Research Team• Em/Prof. Mike Lawson• A/Prof. Helen Askell-Williams• Dr Mirella Wyra• Professor Phillip Slee• Dr Grace Skrzypiec• Professor Larry Owens

History• 2004: Meetings/presentations with local schools –

developing research partnerships.• 2006: Application for an Australian Research Council –

Linkage Project Grant.– Partners

• Department of Education & child Development• Four local schools• Flinders researchers

• 2007-2009: ARC funded research• 2010-2011: Flinders Large Grant• 2012-2014: Publishing findings

Theoretical background

Ecological Systems Theory

Social constructivism

Bronfenbrenner, 1979http://nlyingst.iweb.bsu.edu/edpsy251/courseconcepts/251/bronfenbrenner.html

Multiple components based upon our and our school partners’ mutual interests

• Motivation/Cognition/Metacognition• Social and Emotional Wellbeing• Bullying• Popularity• Coping with schoolwork• Coping with homework

Today’s FocusThe facilitating effects of cognitive and metacognitive strategies to enable high quality learning (e.g., see Hattie, 2009).

• Cognition: Three stages of knowledge acquisition, namely, focussing attention, elaborative processing, and organising and summarising information (e.g., see Mayer,1998).

• Metacognition: Categories of monitoring of knowledge, and control of thinking processes and learning activities (e.g., see Pintrich, 2004).

The Provocation

• I don’t know what really helps me to learn…I don’t know how that helps me to learn, it just does. It’s just something I’ve never questioned, it just helps me…it’s just the way I’ve learned to survive while I’m doing these things. But I don’t know how. (Pre-service Teacher)

• If students don’t know how they go about learning, if they can’t make that knowledge available to themselves, then they have a limited repertoire for dealing with problems that arise during learning.

Broad Research questions

• Do students report increased use of good quality cognitive and metacognitive strategies for learning as they progress through secondary school?

• Do students’ reports vary by Gender, School, Year level and Learning Strategy Groups?

Study 1 : Research questions• What is the level of South Australian

secondary school students’ use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies for learning?

• Are there differences in students’ cognitive and metacognitive strategy use according to:– Gender– Year Level, and– Self-reports of coping with schoolwork overall?

Selected cognitive and metacognitive strategies for learning

I draw pictures or diagrams to help me understand the topic

I make up questions that I try to answer

When I am learning something new, I think back to what I already know about it

I practise things over and over until I know them well

I discuss what I am doing with others

I think about my thinking, to check if I understand the ideas

When I don't understand something I go back over it again

I organise my time to manage my learning

I make plans for how to do the activities

I make a note of things that I don't understand very well

When I have finished an activity I look back to see how well I did

Best subject

Study 1: Results: Metacognitive Strategies

Study 1: Results: Cognitive Strategies

Study 2: Change over time

Note: Attrition due to student movement and class availabilities

Sample sizes (2007-2011)

Study 2: Descriptive statistics (Mean Use of Learning Strategies 2007-2011)

Division into subgroupsStudents were divided into four groups based upon their cognitive and metacognitive “Learning Strategies” Factor score in 2007.• “Learning Strategies Low” • “Learning Strategies Low-Medium” • “Learning Strategies Medium High” • “Learning Strategies High”

(Students scores for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 were corrected to account for potential regression to the mean due to grouping on first occasion)

Hierarchical Linear Modelling of change over time in participants’ scores over 5 years

Two-level random coefficients model:

Level-1 Model (WITHIN STUDENTS)

• LEARNING STRATEGIES = P0 + P1*(TIME) + E

Level-2 Model (BETWEEN STUDENTS)

• P0 = B00 + B01*(GENDER) + B02*(SCHOOL A) + B03*(SCHOOL B) + B04*(LS-Low) + B05*(LS-Low-Medium) + B06*(LS-Medium-High) + R0

• P1 = B10 + B11*(GENDER) + B12*(SCHOOL A) + B13*(SCHOOL B) + B14*(LS-Low) + B15*(LS-Medium) + B16*(LS-Medium-High) + R1

(Level 2 variables are dummy variables)

Low disadvantage school

Low disadvantage school

High disadvantage school