Context & Problem “Biotechnology Laboratory Skills” class preparing students for an internship

in life science research (lecture/lab – 4h total) Bact. transformation, miniprep, gel electrophoresis, selective medium DNA , genes, bacteria, plasmids, transcription/translation, antibiotic

resistance, bacterial transformation 12-25 students/section/semester (2 sections) Community College - Diversity : economic, racial, age, knowledge and skills

Remedial students , some with “learning disabilities” Co-requisite: language class, teaching study skills

Problem: Remedial students in my class have difficulties retaining basic biology

concepts from reading assignments Students have many questions on how and what to study for quizzes Little indication of improvement in study skills over the course of the

semester

Why is it interesting

Students need to be self-regulated learners in order to succeed in their college education and/or in their career as lab assistants

Metacognition is “the ability to know what we know, know what we don’t know, and know how to remediate to what we don’t know”

Metacognition includes the conscious use of learning strategies (knowledge of cognition) and the ability to plan, monitor and modify their cognition (regulation of cognition)– 3 steps to being a self regulated learner.

Metacognitive skills in remedial students have been show to be too “basic” to be successful in college-level classes

Research Question: Does integrating student reflection on study process in the curriculum

improve student performance and metacognition over the semester ?

Research Design

Components of metacognition Knowledge about cognition: integrated in homework

Declarative knowledge: self and strategies Procedural: how to use strategies Conditional knowledge: when and why use strategies

Regulation of cognition: integrated in class reflection activities Planning : what is your study strategy? Implementation of strategies: turn in your study notes Monitoring of comprehension: how well did you understand this

assignment? How well do you think you did on this quiz? Correcting comprehension errors: what did you get wrong? Why did you

not understand? Evaluation of own learning: how well did your study strategy work? How

can you change your study strategy?

Alignment

I will be measuring: Knowledge of Cognition through homework Content Knowledge through quizzes Regulation of Cognition through written reflection

activities

Is there a correlation between reflection, performance, and knowledge of cognition over the course of the semester

This aligns with my question:Does integrating student reflection on study process in the curriculum

improve student performance and metacognition over the semester ?

Details of design

Language class: study skills applied to biology contentMy class: First day of class: self-regulation process (plan, monitor,

modify) At home assignment : reading & questions (apply study

skills). In class:

1. Quiz2. Assess metacognition (what do you not know, what grade you expect)3. Immediate feedback (self-grading with instructor)4. Written reflection activity (monitor) to encourage improvement of

metacognitive skills : 1. what is it you didn’t know, were you correct about what you didn’t know

(monitor)2. what do you need to study, what do you need to change or keep about

your study strategy (modify plan)5. Midterm: Large reflection activity on change in performance and in

study skills overtime