Last week I reported on the first meta discussion in my intro course this term. Over the weekend I read over their responses and drew some conclusions. First, the majority of students completed the assignment, 70% as compared to 35% for the same assignment last year. What was the difference? I’m not sure. This time, I didn’t emphasize that this assignment was optional, but I did indicate that it was essentially extra credit.
Last year as I read over the metas I asked myself, what are they choosing for their answers? This year I found myself asking, what are they thinking? What is their reasoning for selecting what they did? For students who explained this well, I had a strong sense that they understood the material. By encouraging the students to spell out the metacognition, I think I’ll be able to make these assignments more effective learning tools.
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