The Impact of Metacognition Training on Undergraduate Biology Students

Metacognition can be thought of as how individuals think about and control their own learning. Metacognitive skill has been tied to improved academic performance and thinking skills. In this study, undergraduate biology students received training in three aspects of metacognition: planning, monitoring, and evaluating. The goal of this study was to investigate if students who were explicitly taught metacognitive skills through online instructional videos and quizzes bettered their academic performance and increased metacognitive awareness. Course grades and scores on a metacognitive awareness inventory were compared between groups across one academic semester. The results showed a significant improvement in one skill set, monitoring, and students in the experimental group showed improvements in final laboratory grades in their biology course that closely approached significance. These results indicate that further testing as well as some alteration to the content of the training are warranted.