A case study investigating changes in students' approaches to learning when exposed to teaching strategies aimed at promoting metacognitive learning

The purpose of this study was to investigate, through the use of case study approach, changes in students' approaches to learning when exposed to teaching strategies aimed at promoting metacognitive learning.

The case study approach used in this research to address the research question was characterised by three stages: - Identification of the initial learning characteristics of the students.
- Identification of any changes in these learning characteristics following the exposure to teaching strategies aimed at promoting metacognitive learning.
- Monitoring the students’ perceptions of their own learning during this time using a variety of data sources.

Stages one and two were firstly applied to the class as a group, and provided a framework within which the more detailed investigation of the individual case studies were situated.

The use of the Learning Process Questionnaire (LPQ) as a means of identifying the general learning characteristics of the students was successful. The approach to learning identified by the LPQ for an individual student was very often confirmed by the other data sources. A second application of the LPQ did uncover changes in individual student’s approaches to learning, which, through student reflection sheets, semi-structured interviews and teacher reflection, were able to be investigated further.

The results seemed to indicate that in some cases, these changes in approaches were influenced by the teaching strategies used, but the extent to which metacognitive motives and strategies were adopted depended very much on their acceptance of the class and the individual students.

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