The Influence of Metacognition on the Development of Science Identity in Anatomy Labs
Authors: Daemicke Alexandra Kristin , Bergan‐Roller Heather , Olson Daniel 
Published: June 2021

The rising concerns over STEM retention have led to numerous calls for universities to develop or adopt programs to improve STEM degree outcomes by way of understanding the root cause behind loss of interest throughout the course of a student's time studying a STEM related discipline (Michael, Cliff, McFarland, Modell & Wright, 2017). Moreover, the advances in educational psychology and cognitive science that make up “second‐generation research” have unearthed increasing amounts of evidence that point to psychosocial variables as being vitally influential in a student's acaedmic success (Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan & Willingham, 2013). However, despite promising findings pertaining the advantages metacognitive skills have on perfomance, many college science teachers are resistant to tackling psychological variables in favor of creating a more traditional didactic environment (Freeman et al., 2014).

Metacognition

Metacognition is a component of self‐regulated learning that is often defined “as thinking about one's thinking” (Schraw, Crippen & Hartley, 2006). As self‐regulated learners, students are able to take control of their learning environment and most importantly that are able to adapt to different learning situations and reflect upon content on a deeper level. Metacognitive skills allows students to assess their strengths and weaknesses as a learner, as well as when and how to use different cognitive strategies. Just as students learn the didactic material through exposure and practice, metacognitive skills develop properly when exercised repeatedly. It has been found that students with poor metacognition perform poorer than their peers (Georghiades, 2000). Moreover, instructors are urged to attend to student metacognition, as it may be particularly salient in this time of “second generation research”. In other words, promoting acquisition of metacognitive skills may augment curriculum changes suggested in recent biology education research to result in robust outcomes.

Current Project

Many introductory biology courses at high academic institutions are taught in a way that prioritizes memorization of facts rather than conceptual understanding and higher‐order thinking. However, this mode of instruction runs counter contemporary best practices in science education research (Momsen, Long, Wyse & Ebert‐May, 2010). Much attention has focused on the impacts of curriculum change and teaching practices on student performance in anatomy and physiology courses, but fewer studies have examined how this shift to student‐centered learning can be improved by attending to psychological variables. This can be quite profound, as teaching students to be more metacognitive throughout the learning process provides an important vehicle through which they learn to think more like a scientist (Tanner, 2012). Furthermore, this project seeks to investigate how attention to improving student metacognition in anatomy and physiology courses can benefit their science identity, overall course grade and retention.

This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.