Individuals in a group: Metacognitive and regulatory predictors of learning achievement in collaborative learning

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2022.102146Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Achievement in collaborative learning depends on the individual and the group.

  • Metacognitive interaction, co-regulation and monitoring accuracy were examined.

  • Metacognitive interaction predicts learning achievement in collaborative learning.

  • Metacognitive interaction and monitoring accuracy moderate effects of co-regulation.

  • The study shows the multilevel interplay for achievement in collaborative learning.

Abstract

Self-regulated learning theory acknowledges the importance of an individual's metacognitive monitoring and group-level regulation for learning achievement in collaborative learning. However, very few studies have empirically investigated the interplay of these factors. This study aimed to investigate how groups' metacognitive interactions, group-level regulation, and individuals' metacognitive monitoring accuracy together predict students' learning achievement. Thirty groups of secondary school students (n = 94) attended a five-week physics course involving four 90-min lessons. Each lesson included a collaborative learning session in which the students solved physics problems in groups of three. After each session, the students filled out a quiz that evaluated their learning of the core concepts related to each lesson. The students' collaborative learning was video-recorded using 360-degree cameras. First, the groups' metacognitive interaction, co-regulation (CoRL), and socially shared regulation (SSRL) during collaborative learning were coded from the video data. Second, the students' metacognitive monitoring accuracy was determined in relation to quizzes presented at the end of each collaborative session. Each student's learning achievement was assessed at the end of the course with an individual written exam. Bayesian multilevel models were used to analyze the nested data. The results showed that the frequency of metacognitive interaction was positively related to learning achievement. However, the relation between CoRL and learning achievement was moderated by monitoring accuracy and metacognitive interaction. The relation between CoRL and achievement was positive when coupled with a high frequency of metacognitive interactions but negative under a low frequency of metacognitive interactions. In addition, in line with theory, the students with lower monitoring accuracy achieved higher learning when CoRL was frequent in a group. Due to the low occurrence of SSRL, its relation with learning achievement could not be analyzed. No reliable evidence for the relation between monitoring accuracy and learning achievement was found. The results highlighted the complex interplay of individual-and group-level factors related to collaborative learning outcomes.

Keywords

Collaborative learning
Metacognition
Self-regulated learning
Co-regulation
Socially shared regulation

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