Unraveling the reciprocal effects and micro-development of metacognitive monitoring strategies and monitoring judgments: A micro-genetic diary study

Abstract

For successful learning, monitoring one's learning behavior and outcomes is essential. While both the use of monitoring strategies and monitoring judgment accuracy are regarded as indicators for metacognitive monitoring, their joint contribution to metacognitive monitoring and their interrelationship is unclear. The current study investigated how monitoring strategies and monitoring judgments (spontaneous as well as prompted judgments) change micro-genetically and influence each other reciprocally during an exam preparation phase. In this diary study, N = 273 higher education students completed knowledge tests and surveys on five consecutive days. Results indicated interindividual differences in dependence of prior performance and gender for the accuracy of prompted judgments but not for monitoring strategies or spontaneous judgments. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models revealed that higher quality monitoring strategies led to the spontaneous formation of monitoring judgments, while the quality of monitoring strategies and prompted judgment accuracy did not influence each other significantly.

Educational relevance and implications statement

This study showed that students metacognitively monitor their learning in an intense exam preparation phase via monitoring strategies as well as spontaneous judgments, regardless of prior performance or gender. As their spontaneous judgments were influenced by the quality of their reported monitoring strategies, the training of monitoring strategies seems an ideal starting point to foster metacognitive monitoring in students.