Student centred approach to develop self-regulated learning in undergraduate students using embedded metacognitive prompts

Background
One of the challenges faced by students in their transition to university is the need for the rapid acquisition of skills enabling them to become autonomous and self-directed learners. Self regulated learning (SRL) is a term that describes how individuals master their learning processes and outcomes. Self-regulated learners are active participants in their own learning and utilise cognitive and metacognitive processes to plan, monitor and evaluate their performance.1 For some students, SRL skills are well developed when they begin their university studies, while for others deficiencies in these skills can leave them inadequately prepared to cope with the demands posed by tertiary study placing them at greater risk of attrition and poor academic success.2 Studies have shown that while students need to be proactive in the attainment of SRL behaviours, SRL can be facilitated through instruction, modelling, and assessment design.3,4 Despite the evidence that SRL can be taught, it is not often a priority in curriculum design within university settings.

Methods
This study examines the introduction of meta learning tasks into first- and second-year undergraduate physiology topics in a higher education setting. Meta-learning tasks are short assessment pieces comprising sets of open-ended questions that direct students to (1) reflect on the processes by which they learn, including the resources they utilise, and their effectiveness (2) identify gaps in their knowledge and develop plans to rectify this (3) set learning goals and (4) consider how they seek help and utilise feedback provided to them. By prompting students’ reflection of their learning strategies and approaches, these tasks aim to promote the development of SRL behaviours and improve academic outcomes. Outcome measures included qualitative responses, student grades, student satisfaction and demographic variables.

Results
Analysis indicates differences between students across differing grade band levels in their planning abilities and strategy selection for overcoming challenging concepts. Differences are also observed between students studying different disciplines and across varying student demographics. Most students from both the first- and second-year topics (79% and 83% respectively) reported meta-learning tasks are beneficial. Student evaluation data demonstrated increased student satisfaction and decreased topic fail rates following inclusion of meta-learning tasks.

Conclusions
Curriculum design and educational practice to enhance SRL is important to foster academic success for students and promote equity in higher education.