The relation between cognitive and metacognitive strategic processing during a science simulation.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive and metacognitive strategy research in science education.
• Climate change education and simulation-based learning.

Background:

• Limited research exists on the interplay of cognitive and metacognitive strategies during complex science simulations.
• Factors like prior knowledge and interest have not been comprehensively studied alongside strategy use in these contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationships between students' cognitive and metacognitive strategies during a climate simulation.
• To examine how different strategy types (metacognitive, surface-level, deep-level) influence performance.
• To explore the interconnectedness of these strategies in a relevant scientific context.

Main Methods:

• 70 undergraduates from diverse science and education majors participated.
• Participants completed pre-simulation measures of prior knowledge and interest in climate change.
• Students engaged in a 30-minute online climate simulator, employing think-aloud protocols, followed by outcome assessments.

Main Results:

• Initial models predicting performance from strategy frequency/level showed poor fit.
• A strong relationship was found between metacognitive monitoring/control and cognitive strategy use.
• Multidimensional analysis suggested strategy use is better understood by considering combinations of strategies.

Conclusions:

• Dynamic, multidimensional models are needed to capture complex patterns of strategic processing in science learning.
• Further exploration of analytical methods capable of representing these intricate strategy interactions is crucial.