Investigating the role of socially mediated metacognition during collaborative troubleshooting of electric circuits

Abstract

Developing students' ability to troubleshoot is an important learning outcome for many undergraduate physics lab courses, especially electronics courses. In other work, metacognition has been identified as an important feature of troubleshooting. However, that work has focused primarily on individual students' metacognitive processes or troubleshooting abilities. In contrast, electronics courses often require students to work in pairs, and hence students' in-class experiences likely have significant social dimensions that are not well understood. In this work, we use an existing framework for socially mediated metacognition to analyze audiovisual data from think-aloud activities in which eight pairs of students from two institutions attempted to diagnose and repair a malfunctioning electric circuit. In doing so, we provide insight into some of the social metacognitive dynamics that arise during collaborative troubleshooting. We find that students engaged in socially mediated metacognition at multiple key transitions during the troubleshooting process. Reciprocated metacognitive dialogue arose when students were collectively strategizing about which measurements to perform, or reaching a shared understanding of the circuit's behavior. Our research demonstrates the value of the framework of socially mediated metacognition in providing insight into the nature of collaborative student troubleshooting in the context of electronics. As such, this framework may be a useful resource for future efforts to examine and support the development of student troubleshooting skills in other upper-division laboratory courses.

The cognitive and affective roles of learning assistants in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics college classrooms: An exploration of classroom experiences and students' metacognitive awareness and disciplinary identity

“…This is consistent with research that has shown that collaboration and metacognition are mutually related (Frith, 2012). The development of individual metacognitive skills improves the nature of the collaboration as individuals become more aware and reflective, and at the same time, collaboration benefits individuals' MA by helping them reflect on their own actions (Goos et al, 2002; Van De Bogart et al, 2017). In fact, a growing body of literature has begun to establish the important connection between social learning experiences and the development of individual MA (Goos et al, 2002; Hogan & Tudge, 1999; Järvelä et al, 2015; Liskala et al, 2004; Zion et al, 2015).…”

Fostering Metacognition to Support Student Learning and Performance

“…, 2002 ). Students also use social metacognition when they assess, modify, and enact one another’s strategies for solving problems ( Van De Bogart et al. , 2017 ).…”

Embracing the Unexpected: Using Troubleshooting to Modulate Structured- To Open-Inquiry and Self-Regulated Learning in a First-Year Virtual Lab

“…According to a cognitive model of troubleshooting by Jonnasen and Hung, the process involves constructing a problem space, identifying faulty symptoms, diagnosing faults, generating and verifying solutions, and remembering the experience [10]. Self-regulation, which refers to "self-generated thoughts, feelings and actions that are planned and cyclically adapted to the attainment of personal goals" [11], therefore plays a key role in troubleshooting [12].…”