Promoting metacognitive skills through peer scaffolding in a CSCL environment

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Abstract

This paper aims to better understand the development of students’ metacognitive learning processes when participating actively in a CSCL system called KnowCat. To this end, a longitudinal case study was designed, in which 18 university students took part in a 12-month (two semesters) learning project. The students followed an instructional process, using specific features of the KnowCat design to support and improve their interaction processes, especially peer-learning processes. Our research involved both supervising the students’ collaborative learning processes throughout the learning project and focusing our analysis on the qualitative evolution of their interaction processes and of their metacognitive learning processes. The results of the current research suggest that the pedagogical use of the KnowCat system may favour and improve the development of the students’ metacognitive learning processes. In addition, the implications of the design of CSCL networks and related pedagogical issues are discussed.

Keywords

Metacognitive learning Self-regulated learning Peer interaction Peer scaffolding Qualitative research 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This research was partly funded by the Spanish National Plan of R+D, project numbers, SEJ2006-12110, EDU2009-11656, and TIN2008-06596-C02-01; and by the AECID (Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for the Development) project number A/017436/08.

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Copyright information

© International Society of the Learning Sciences, Inc.; Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Pedagogy and PsychologyUniversitat de LleidaLleidaSpain
  2. 2.Department of Computer ScienceUniversidad Autónoma de MadridMadridSpain

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