A domain-specific account of self-regulated learning: the cognitive and metacognitive activities involved in learning through historical inquiry

Abstract

Educational researchers have recently begun to conceptualize theoretical constructs and mechanisms of metacognitive activities in terms of the features that are specific to particular academic domains and subject matter. In this paper, we propose a framework of domain-specific metacognition in relation to learning through historical inquiry. The framework postulates that students' comprehension of historical events is mediated by a state of coherence in understanding the causes that explain why an event occurred. Comprehension breaks down when the causes that explain the occurrence of historical events are unknown, uncertain, or unreported. In order to reinstate coherence in understanding, students engage in cognitive and metacognitive activities in accordance with disciplinary-based practices. Drawing on the existing empirical evidence, we discuss how the study of self-regulatory processes contributes to our understanding of the challenges faced by students while learning about complex historical topics as well as the skills that are required to gain knowledge while investigating the past.

Detangling the Interrelationships Between Self-Regulation and Ill-Structured Problem Solving in Problem-Based Learning

“…When a learner is presented with a historical document, there are oft en events of which the causes are unknown, uncertain, or unreported. In other words, a state of coherence is lacking in the learner's understanding of the causes that explain why an event occurred (Poitras & Lajoie, 2013). In such a case, performing inquiries into the causes of a historical event is an ill-structured problem-solving task with the purpose of reinstating coherence in understanding (Greene, Bolick, & Robertson, 2010;Poitras & Lajoie, 2013).…”

“…In other words, a state of coherence is lacking in the learner's understanding of the causes that explain why an event occurred (Poitras & Lajoie, 2013). In such a case, performing inquiries into the causes of a historical event is an ill-structured problem-solving task with the purpose of reinstating coherence in understanding (Greene, Bolick, & Robertson, 2010;Poitras & Lajoie, 2013). Th rough their conceptualization and review of empirical studies, Poitras and Lajoie (2013) presented a detailed account of the self-regulatory processes in historical inquiry, which enabled us to analyze historical inquiry processes according to our model.…”

“…The planning phase is characterized by (1) reading task materials, (2) activating prior knowledge and motivational beliefs, and (3) forming initial goals for problem representation. For each of the three problemsolving contexts, the learner would first engage in an attempt to closely read an IPS task (Brand-Gruwel et al, 2005), a historical document (Poitras & Lajoie, 2013), or a challenge or topic in science (Pedaste et al, 2015). Based on the readings, the learner may recall relevant prior knowledge, which may include both content knowledge related to the task and learner's conceptualization of domain standards.…”

“…In this phase, the learner (1) applies prior knowledge and sometimes refers to additional information or resources provided by the task to further interpret and analyze the problem at hand, (2) identifies key components of the problem, and (3) formulates a problem representation. In historical inquiries, learners may apply prior knowledge or refer to additional resources on hand to examine the historical document and may identify events depicted in the document that has unknown, uncertain, or unreported causes (Poitras & Lajoie, 2013). In the case of science inquiry, learners may apply prior knowledge to identify the variables involved in a science problem and subsequently formulate preliminary research questions and hypotheses regarding the relationships among the variables (Pedaste et al, 2015;van Joolingen & de Jong, 1997).…”

“…For IPS, the tasks include implementing queries, scanning search results, identifying relevant websites, close reading, organizing and integrating information, and compiling a response or presentation (Brand-Gruwel et al, 2005). For historical inquiry, the tasks may involve searching and reading information, formulating explanations, and corroborating information (Greene et al, 2010;Poitras & Lajoie, 2013). In science inquiry, the learner needs to systematically manipulate variables, make observations, and gather, analyze, and interpret data (van Joolingen & de Jong, 2007).…”