Implementation of enhanced guided notes to promote students' metacognitive self-regulated learning strategies while learning electric circuit concepts

The current study was part of activities in a Work in Progress paper presented at the 41st Frontiers in Education Conference that focused on activity Phase 2. This study evaluated students' metacognition using the Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) framework while learning electric circuit concepts. Two research questions guided this study: (1) Was there any improvement in metacognitive self-regulation skills while learning using the enhanced guided notes (EGN) throughout the semester?, and (2) To what degree were students' monitoring strategies reflected in regulating strategies at the beginning and end of the semester? The subjects for this study were engineering students enrolled in the Fundamental Electronics for Engineers course at Utah State University during the fall 2011. Thirteen sets of EGN were developed and used in the semester. A survey instrument developed using Butler and Cartier's SRL model was used to capture students' metacognitive self-regulated learning strategies. Participants were asked to complete the survey twice; at the beginning and end of semester. Descriptive statistics and mean differences of SRL features were used to analyze survey data. Mean differences were conducted in two ways: (1) comparing mean values of the same SRL items, and (2) comparing the level/quality between SRL features for two themes (i.e., knowledge acquisition and problem solving) at the beginning and end of the semester. The findings suggested that there were improvements in some aspects of monitoring and regulating strategies. Comparison of SRL item mean values revealed that there was increasing awareness on specific SRL items. Students did a good job in monitoring and regulating strategies for knowledge acquisition and problem solving. They successfully improved the quality of SRL feature in knowledge acquisition and maintained the quality level in problem solving. This article will also discuss the potential implications for electric circuit concepts instruction.