Metacognition, or "knowledge and regulation of one's own cognitive system," has proven to be an effective tool to help students learn. By showing students how to evaluate and then reevaluate their study strategies and overall learning, metacognition can improve performance in college and encourage successful, life-long learning. Metacognition exercises have been developed in several fields, including chemistry.<br/>Several tools to encourage and hone metacognition in students have been devised. One of these implements is called an exam wrapper. This activity is administered following a substantial summative assessment, such as a mid- term exam. It can probe what study strategies were used and how successful the student judges these approaches, encourage planning for future exams, and, perhaps most powerfully, be used throughout a semester to allow for continual recalibration of effort.<br/>Exam wrappers have been used in general chemistry, but have not yet been reported for deployment in organic chemistry. Although organic chemistry is taken by fewer students than general, or "first-year," chemistry, it is a gateway course for students working toward a career as a professional scientist or healthcare professional. As such, increasing retention, graduation, and subsequent graduate- and professional-school admission and enrollment of this student population would bolster its potential impact on society and foster the growth of an educated citizenry. Therefore, a controlled study of exam wrappers as a learning tool in organic chemistry courses is an important next step in the study of metacognition in STEM.<br/>This study aims to reveal whether exam wrappers increase learning and criticial thinking skills in organic chemistry courses at UVU. Our primary hypothesis is that exam wrappers as metacognitive tools will increase content learning and critical thinking by a statistically significant amount. To this end, an exam wrapper questionnaire was given to one class following each midterm exam. Data from each wrapper was compared with content and critical thinking exams taken early and late in the semester. A control group will be taught the same course by the same instructor, but will not receive the exam wrapper. Therein, students will receive the same content and critical thinking assessments throughout, but will not be given exam wrappers or be taught about metacognition.

The Metacognitive Exam Tool to Help You Learn (METHYL) project for sophomore organic chemistry

256th National Meeting (2018)

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