Metacognitive decision making and social interactions during paired problem solving

The study described in this paper investigated the metacognitive strategies used by a pair of senior secondary school students while working together on mechanics problems. Verbal protocols from think-aloud paired problem-solving sessions were analysed in order to examine the monitoring contributions of each individual student, and the significance of student-student interactions. Although the students were generally successful in coordinating their different, yet complementary, problem-solving roles, their metacognitive decision making was sometimes adversely affected by the social interaction between them. The findings suggest some potential benefits and pitfalls of using small group work for problem solving.