Co-regulation and knowledge construction in an online synchronous problem based learning setting

Learning to monitor and regulate one’s learning in an academic setting is a task that all students must engage in. Learning in “group” situations requires both self- and co-regulation. This research examines a case study of a small group of medical student interactions during an on-line problem based learning activity (PBL) where students learn to co-regulate their performance as they construct their understanding of how best to communicate bad news to patients. This paper introduces an approach for analyzing the group discourse to understand how collective knowledge building facilitates co-regulation. A mixed method analysis was used to analyze the case study data. A qualitative data analysis of verbal interactions was conducted to examine co-regulatory episodes. Collective knowledge building was examined by analyzing the group discourse for indicators of co-regulatory processes. The study follows two quantitative analyses: a frequency count analysis of types of questions asked by facilitators and students; and a sequential pattern mining for patterns of co-occurrences of learners’ discourse and co-regulation.     

Supporting collaboration with technology: does shared cognition lead to co-regulation in medicine?

The theoretical distinctions between metacognition, self-regulation and self-regulated learning are often blurred which makes the definition of co-regulation in group learning situations even more difficult. We have started to explore co-regulation in the context of decision making in simulated emergencies where medical teams work together to manage patient cases. Our earlier work has described the relationship between collaborative decision-making in this context as well as discourse patterns that emerge in a simulated medical emergency (Lu & Lajoie, 2008). This paper examines the interactions that occur during this simulation that reflect the relationship between co-regulation and medical decision-making. There are two collaborative learning conditions, a traditional situation where the instructor facilitates collaboration by using a whiteboard to document the group’s construction of a medical argument (the traditional whiteboard condition, TW). The second condition uses technology to facilitate the collaboration, where individuals use laptops and an interactive whiteboard (IW) where they can interact with the problem list as it is being created. Our assumption was that the IW would facilitate communication beyond the teacher–student, to include student–student both within and between the various subgroups. The IW group could document their medical arguments by using a structured template for constructing, annotating and sharing arguments. We found that participants in the IW condition differed from the TW condition in that they engaged in more adaptive decision-making behavior early on in the intervention. Similar overall levels of metacognitive activity were found in both conditions but the pattern and timing of metacognitive categories varied. Specifically, the IW group engaged in more planning and orienting than the TW group at the outset of the problem. Early engagement and co-regulation occurred in the IW group which led to shared understandings and subsequently to effective patient management in latter sessions (11.5% vs. 3.6% in TW). Technology supported greater metacognitive activity overall (44% vs 29% in the non supported group). Furthermore, technology facilitated greater planning (23% vs. 10%) and orienting (10% vs 1%) early in the medical problem solving activity. We refer to specific indicators in the discourse that help operationalize the concept of co-regulation.     

Antecedents and Consequences of Emotion Regulation in STEM Degree Programs

Innovative Higher Education - There to date exists limited research on how emotion regulation shapes students’ emotional experiences and academic development in higher education. The purpose...     

Statistical reasoning of middle school children engaged in survey inquiry

The case study examined two groups of grade 7 students as they engaged in four inquiry phases: posing a question and collecting, analyzing, and representing data. Previous studies reported analyses of statistical reasoning on a single inquiry phase. Our goal was to identify the modes of statistical reasoning displayed during group discussions in all phases as children designed and conducted their own inquiry. A content analysis of audio and video recorded discussions yielded 10 statistical reasoning modes: six relate to Garfield and Gal’s [Garfield, J., Gal, I. (1999). Teaching and assessing statistical reasoning. In L. V. Stiff, & F. R. Curcio (Eds.), Developing mathematical reasoning in grades K-12. 1999 Yearbook (pp. 207–219). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics] statistical reasoning types involved in the collection, analysis, and representation of data and four modes deal with an aspect of inquiry not exclusively focused upon in the literature on statistical reasoning—i.e., the problem-posing phase. Although students’ reasoning reflected an incomplete understanding of statistics they serve as building blocks for instruction.     

The design of technology-rich learning environments as metacognitive tools in history education

Research has shown that learners do not always engage in appropriate metacognitive and self-regulatory processes while learning complex historical topics. However, little research exists to guide the design of technology-rich learning environments as metacognitive tools in history education. In order to address this issue, we designed a metacognitive tool using a bottom-up approach. Thirty-two undergraduate students read an historical narrative text either with or without the benefit of the metacognitive tool. Results from process and product data suggest that learners using the metacognitive tool had better recall and that the tool helped them (a) notice that particular events in an historical narrative text are unexplained, and (b) generate hypothetical causes to explain the occurrence of such events. We discuss the implications of these findings for the development of the MetaHistoReasoning Tool, a technology-rich learning environment that assist learners in terms of regulating their learning while they accomplish authentic tasks of historical inquiry.     

Cognitive engagement in self-regulated learning: an integrative model

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Integrating the two dominant theories of self-regulated learning (SRL) and cognitive engagement could advance our understanding of what makes students...     

Do expert clinical teachers have a shared understanding of what constitutes a competent reasoning performance in case-based teaching?

To explore the assessment challenge related to case based learning we study how experienced clinical teachers—i.e., those who regularly teach and assess case-based learning—conceptualize the notion of competent reasoning performance for specific teaching cases. Through an in-depth qualitative case study of five expert teachers, we investigate whether they share a common concept of what constitutes a good reasoning performance for a set of three teaching cases. We ask expert teachers to reflect on their problem-solving performances to extract specific expectations regarding the assessment of learners. Using visual representations of their performance, experts inspect and identify whether key elements are considered critical, necessary, and useful for the assessment of learners’ performance. Findings indicate that despite solving cases differently, expert teachers share a common concept regarding the key elements that demonstrate good clinical reasoning for specific cases. These results and methods used to trigger assessment criteria from expert clinical teachers show potential for the development of process measures in the assessment of clinical reasoning.     

Examining the relationship between emotion variability,self-regulated learning,and task performance in an intelligent tutoring system

Educational technology research and development - Prior research has focused extensively on how emotion tendencies (e.g., duration, frequency, intensity, and valence) affect students’...