The impact of learning journals on metacognitive and cognitive processes and learning performance

Abstract

Forty university students in a first-year biology course were randomly assigned to either a learning journal (experimental) or scientific report (control) group. Students in the learning journal group were provided with opportunities to develop a written record of their learning processes during the course. Students in the scientific report group were provided with similar opportunities to write a report on the material they were learning. Both groups gave comparable ratings on a questionnaire asking them to indicate the importance of a range of metacognitive and cognitive strategies. Results showed that the experimental group used more metacognitive strategies and more sophisticated cognitive strategies during a learning task. The journal group also showed more sophisticated conceptions of learning, greater awareness of cognitive strategies and demonstrated the construction of more complex, related and integrated knowledge structures when learning from text. Finally, the journal group performed significantly better on the final exam for the course.