Do learning protocols support learning strategies and outcomes? The role of cognitive and metacognitive prompts
Introduction
Typically, the contents of lessons and lectures “evaporate” rather quickly. After the learners have left the classroom or the lecture auditorium, few continue to organize or elaborate the material to which they were just exposed. As a consequence, a lack of understanding and poor long-term retention can result. Furthermore, illusions of understanding are likely to occur. A learning method that may help to overcome these shortcomings is the writing of learning protocols as follow-up course work. In a learning protocol, the learners are supposed to apply cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Again, however, many learners do not engage in such strategies to the expected extent. Against this background, we experimentally analyzed the effects of varying sets of prompts for writing a learning protocol on understanding and retention.
Section snippets
Learning protocols and learning journals
A learning protocol—as conceptualized in this article—is a writing assignment for learners to be performed as a follow-up course work activity. Learners are instructed to write down a text in which they reflect on the previously presented learning contents. In addition, they should ask themselves what they do not understand, why not, and finally, what can be done to bridge the gap in understanding. When a series of learning protocols is written over a longer period of time, it is termed
Cognitive and metacognitive strategies in writing learning protocols
Typically, a learning protocol is not merely a documentation of a writer's learning outcomes and learning processes elicited in a preceding learning episode (e.g., a lecture or seminar session). Rather, it is an opportunity to engage in planning, drafting, and revising (see Hayes & Flower, 1980). Such writing activities contribute to learning by transforming the writer's knowledge (Bereiter, 1980, Bereiter and Scardamalia, 1987). For example, a writer can evaluate a preliminary draft in order
Effects of learning protocols and learning journals
Although keeping some type of learning journal is a common requirement in many instructional courses in North America, little empirical research has been conducted on whether these practices actually increase learning, and if so, how (Connor-Greene, 2000, Garmon, 1998). While some studies on the effectiveness of writing learning journals have been conducted, the bulk are characterized by an assessment of attitudinal indicators rather than learning processes and learning outcome measures.
In
Supporting the writing of learning protocols by prompts
Prompts are questions or hints that induce productive learning processes. They are designed to overcome superficial processing (King, 1992, Pressley et al., 1984, Wong, 1985). We conceive of prompts as strategy activators (Reigeluth & Stein, 1983) because they induce learning strategies that the learners are, in principle, capable of, but do not spontaneously demonstrate, or demonstrate to an unsatisfactory degree. King, 1992, King, 1994 obtained positive results with prompts for follow-up
Research questions
Although the writing of learning protocols is a successful type of follow-up course work, cognitive and metacognitive processing in “naïve” learning protocols have turned out to be suboptimal (Nückles et al., 2004). Therefore, learners should be supported in order to exploit the full potential of this learning method. It is sensible to use prompts to elicit cognitive and metacognitive strategies. However, previous research on learning protocols did not analyze systematic variations of cognitive
Design and participants
A one-factorial laboratory experiment with repeated measurements was conducted. The participants were 84 undergraduate students of psychology (65 females, 19 males). By their participation, the students could fulfill part of the psychology program's requirement to participate in empirical studies. About 75% of the participants were first-semester students. The experimental groups did not differ with respect to the number of terms at university and attended seminars and lectures in Developmental
Results
Table 2 presents the mean scores and standard deviations for each experimental group on the pretest, the learning strategy measures of the protocols, the outcome measures, and the perceived helpfulness. Furthermore, the mean Fisher-Z correlations representing the accuracy of self-assessment were included in Table 2. These dependent measures were subjected to analyses of variance that answered our research questions. According to the recommendations of Rosenthal and Rosnow (1985); (see also
Discussion
We systematically varied cognitive and metacognitive prompts and analyzed their effects on learning strategies, learning outcomes, accuracy of self-assessment, and perceived helpfulness. The results revealed five contributions to the literature on writing learning protocols and learning journals as follow-up course work: (1) It was possible to prompt cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies by means of prompts. (2) The elicitation of cognitive learning strategies or cognitive and
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Current address: Department of Psychology, Instructional and School Psychology, University of Goettingen, Germany.