"Supporting Adult Learners' Metacognitive Development with a Sociotechn" by Kathryn Wozniak
Supporting Adult Learners' Metacognitive Development with a Sociotechnical System
Kathryn Wozniak, DePaul UniversityFollow
To better understand adult learners' needs, I conducted a content analysis of adults' learning ePortfolios and surveyed a cross-section of adult learners to determine their metacognitive awareness. Based on those findings and the literature on designing learning technologies for adult learners, I iteratively designed and developed a web-based application with adult learning, social learning, and persuasive design elements. During two sections of an online course, a treatment group used the intervention and a control group did not. Both groups completed a pre-/post-self report of their metacognitive awareness, developed a learning portfolio that was rated by two raters for evidence of metacognition, and participated in interviews.
This research shows that (a) adult learners are adept at planning and monitoring their learning but need more support in managing information and evaluating their learning; (b) a web-based intervention with social-persuasive design elements supports adult learners in metacognitive development; and (c) social and persuasive design elements, when aligned with adult learning principles, support adult learners' narrative identity, which I argue is a key factor in supporting their metacognitive development. This research aims to provide designers, educators, and learners with a better understanding of adult learners needs and offers design principles and guidelines for development of sociotechnical systems that can promote their metacognitive development in e-learning environments.
Wozniak, Kathryn, "Supporting Adult Learners' Metacognitive Development with a Sociotechnical System" (2015). College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations. 12.
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