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A domain-specific account of self-regulated learning: the cognitive and metacognitive activities involved in learning through historical inquiry

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Abstract

Educational researchers have recently begun to conceptualize theoretical constructs and mechanisms of metacognitive activities in terms of the features that are specific to particular academic domains and subject matter. In this paper, we propose a framework of domain-specific metacognition in relation to learning through historical inquiry. The framework postulates that students’ comprehension of historical events is mediated by a state of coherence in understanding the causes that explain why an event occurred. Comprehension breaks down when the causes that explain the occurrence of historical events are unknown, uncertain, or unreported. In order to reinstate coherence in understanding, students engage in cognitive and metacognitive activities in accordance with disciplinary-based practices. Drawing on the existing empirical evidence, we discuss how the study of self-regulatory processes contributes to our understanding of the challenges faced by students while learning about complex historical topics as well as the skills that are required to gain knowledge while investigating the past.

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Notes

  1. The Acadian Deportation refers to the expulsion of the French inhabitants of Nova Scotia from their homeland in 1755. The learners in this example were investigating the causes and contributing factors of this event by explaining why Governor Lawrence gave the order to begin the deportation.

  2. A coding scheme that defines each construct of the CMHI model of SRL is available upon request from the authors of this manuscript. The coding scheme was built by synthesizing existing models in the field of historical reasoning (Carretero et al. 1997; Nokes et al. 2007; van Drie and van Boxtel 2008) and SRL (Winne 2001, 2005; Winne and Hadwin 1998, 2008, 2010).

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  1. Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Education Building, 3700 McTavish St., Montreal, QC, H3A 1Y2, Canada

    Eric G. Poitras & Susanne P. Lajoie

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  1. Eric G. Poitras
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Poitras, E.G., Lajoie, S.P. A domain-specific account of self-regulated learning: the cognitive and metacognitive activities involved in learning through historical inquiry. Metacognition Learning 8, 213–234 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-013-9104-9

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