Short- and long-term effects of students' self-directed metacognitive prompts on navigation behavior and learning performance

Effects of self-directed metacognitive prompts were analyzed in an experiment.Self-directed prompts improved learning process and transfer performance.Findings indicate greater effects for students who complied with prompts.Effect on learning transfer was still present in a follow-up-session without prompts. This study seeks to promote learning in computer-based learning environments utilizing students' self-directed metacognitive prompts. Such prompts are based on the idea of instructing students to design their own metacognitive scaffolds and learn with them afterward. In a pre-post experimental design, students in the experimental group (n=35) were instructed to configure their own metacognitive prompts before learning whereas students in the control group (n=35) learned without prompts. Log file analysis of navigation behavior indicates that students who learned with their individually designed, self-directed prompts visited relevant webpages significantly more often and spent a longer time on them compared with students in the control group. Moreover, participants in the experimental group attained better transfer performance immediately after learning. The long-term effect in transfer performance was even greater in a follow-up learning session conducted after three weeks without any instructional support in either group. These results are consistent with theories of metacognition and self-regulated learning and indicate that self-directed prompts can lead to sustainable effects.

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