Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2010
Abstract
The authors designed new content for an online research skills course, to provide instruction and expert modeling of the process for determining bias when evaluating information sources. They also introduced a specific metacognitive strategy (self-questioning) to enhance student self-awareness. Students were encouraged to complete a self-regulated learning survey to raise their awareness of metacognitive strategies. The instructional content, an Adobe Captivate movie, described a cognitive strategy for identifying bias, MAPit, and included activities and questions throughout for students to assess their understanding. Instruction was followed by an online quiz that provided practice in applying the MAPit strategy. Metacognitive prompts within the quiz encouraged students to reflect on and assess their learning. The final course assignment (Capstone) also included application questions, with a reminder about the MAPit strategy. A review of performance on both assignments showed improvement after this intervention. When compared to a later offering of the same course where a more efficient approach to encouraging student self-questioning was applied, the improvement was sustained. This approach can be effectively implemented in a large enrollment online course.
Digital Commons Citation
O'Hanlon, Nancy and Diaz, Karen R., "Techniques for Enhancing Reflection and Learning in an Online Course" (2010). University Libraries Faculty Scholarship. 12.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/lib_faculty/12