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"Oh, that makes sense": Social Metacognition in Small-Group Problem Solving
Stephanie M Halmo1, Emily K Bremers2, Sammantha Fuller1
1Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.
CBE Life Sciences Education
|August 23, 2022
Summary
Students
Area of Science:
- Life Science Education
- Cognitive Science
- Biology Classroom Research
Background:
- Metacognition, or awareness of thinking, links to academic success.
- Individual metacognition research is common, but group dynamics are less explored.
- Social metacognition, regulating others' thinking, is crucial for collaborative learning in science.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify metacognitive utterances during small-group problem-solving in biology.
- To determine which utterances correlate with higher-quality group reasoning.
Main Methods:
- Discourse analysis of student transcripts from an upper-division biology course.
- Coding for metacognitive utterances and reasoning quality in small groups.
Main Results:
- Seven types of metacognitive utterances were identified.
- Four categories of metacognitive utterances were linked to enhanced group reasoning.
Conclusions:
- Specific student utterances can foster social metacognition and improve reasoning in biology groups.
- Educators can leverage these findings to promote social metacognition in life science classrooms.
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