Peer feedback content and sender's competence level in academic writing revision tasks: Are they critical for feedback perceptions and efficiency?

Peer-feedback content is a core component of peer assessment, but the impact of various contents of feedback is hardly studied. Participants in the study were 89 graduate students who were assigned to four experimental and a control group. Experimental groups received a scenario with concise general (CGF) or elaborated specific (ESF) feedback by a high or low competent peer. ESF by a high competent peer was perceived as more adequate, but led to more negative affect. Students in CGF groups outperformed ESF groups during treatment. Groups with a low competent peer outperformed groups with a high competent peer during the posttest. Feedback perceptions and performance were uncorrelated.     

Investigating changes in self-evaluation of technical competences in the serious game Serena Supergreen: Findings,challenges and lessons learned

Metacognition and Learning - Self-evaluation of one’s competences is considered a core factor in various domains of human functioning, including learning and instruction, as well as academic...     

Higher Education Supported by New Technologies at the Technical University of Dresden—Problems and Initiatives

This article summarizes the technical efforts and scientific experience that have been recognized as essential for the introduction of multimedia technologies for innovative teaching and learning at the Technical University of Dresden. Beginning with conventional standards, the most important media types are discussed. Important criteria for the development of multimedia tools are investigated. Finally, the first results of a pilot project of teleteaching are reported. This article emphasizes that new didactic and psychological studies are of the same level of importance for learning success as is technological development. Therefore, the strategy envisaged does not aim at developing the virtual university in its purest form but at the enrichment of the contemporary university by innovative elements that preserve the living contact between teachers and students.     

Introduction to the special Issue “applied metacognition: real-world applications beyond learning”

Metacognition and Learning - Research in the area of metacognition is on the rise. Translating and applying the fruits of basic scientific results to various end-users and real-world scenarios is...     

Regulation During Cooperative and Collaborative Learning: A Theory-Based Review of Terms and Concepts

This article reviews the terms and concepts that have been used for describing regulation of learning during cooperative and collaborative learning and suggests differentiating them on the basis of which parts of a regulatory feedback loop model are being shared. During cooperative and collaborative learning, not only self-regulation but also the regulation of the group process is important. This regulation might occur on both an individual level and a social level. Several modes of regulation have been identified, but the terms used for them vary tremendously—including social regulation, socially shared regulation, coregulation, and other-regulation. This article seeks to clarify the diverse terminology. To this end, we use a theoretical framework based on Winne and Hadwin's (1998) model of self-regulated learning to analyze how the different terms are used in the literature. We make and exemplify suggestions for a consistent usage of terms.     

Self-evaluation accuracy and satisfaction with performance: Are there affective costs or benefits of positive self-evaluation bias?

This paper examines how self-evaluation biases may influence satisfaction with performance. A review of theoretical positions suggests there are two views, both of which are supported by studies involving laboratory tasks. The first view predicts affective costs, and the second affective benefits of positive self-evaluation bias. We test the opposing predictions with the data of a study in which fifth-graders’ self-evaluation, performance, and satisfaction with performance were measured before and after a four-week arithmetic training program. Our findings support the benefit view, that is, students with a negative self-evaluation bias rated their satisfaction with performance significantly less than those with positive bias, even though both performed comparably.     

Computer‐based scaffolding to facilitate students' development of expertise in academic writing

Research on expert performance suggests that deliberate practice provides optimal opportunities for expertise development. This study examined whether the provision of computer‐based scaffolding (CBS) guiding deliberate practice facilitates students' development of writing expertise. A CBS environment escribo was designed to externally support expert writing activities, generate feedback and offer opportunities to practise corrected performance in academic writing. There were two testing times. First, the effects of practising writing with escribo were compared with the effects of a practice‐only situation without support. Second, a post‐test comprised composing an essay discussing an academic position without scaffolding. Results revealed that the escribo group at both testing times wrote essays of better comprehensibility than students in the practice‐only group. Furthermore, at both testing times the escribo group expended significantly more time on prewriting. These findings suggest that CBS guiding deliberate practice may be a promising means to facilitate the development of writing expertise.     

Effects of keyword tasks and biasing titles on metacognitive monitoring and recall

Metacognition and Learning - This investigation examines the effects of keyword tasks (Immediate vs. Delayed) on metacognitive monitoring, study regulation, and recall in multi-step learning tasks,...