Abstract
The study aimed at exposing expressions of metacognitive knowledge and self-regulation among in-service teachers taking an online course, examining the changes they applied in the tasks they developed in the course and characterizing their perceptions regarding the online course design principles. Teachers' blogs were analyzed inductively, based on a metacognition and self-regulation rubric developed in this study, as well as on design principles for online learning environments. The findings indicate increased expressions of knowledge of the task, people, and strategies. However, obstacles regarding time management were mentioned. Teachers' perceptions analysis indicates that learning from and with peers, course organization, and making thinking visible were the most significant principles promoting their learning. It seems that the online course offered the teachers a constructive, supportive learning environment, enabling them to express their metacognition and self-regulation skills, as well as the insights they will consider when designing tasks in the future.
TopIntroduction
Modern technologies and the internet’s rapid development have generated various advantages in the delivery of higher education, enabling the recruitment of more students at lower costs (Castro & Tumibay, 2019; Chen & Carliner, 2020). In the last decade, higher education institutions have expanded the number of online courses, which requires lecturers to become familiar with the design principles on which these courses are based, or develop new design principles according to their course needs. Taking online courses, particularly asynchronous ones, requires students to be responsible and self-directed (Zhu & Bonk, 2022). Hence, the course design is significant. Design principles can help lecturers organize course structure and content, express diverse pedagogies or ones adapted to the specific course and its goals, and encourage the promotion of student learning (Engeness, 2021; Kali et al., 2009). Online courses promoting peer learning and student engagement expose students to self-regulation as well as to social knowledge construction, which can enhance their socially-shared metacognitive regulation (Binali et al., 2021). If teachers wish to relate to the pragmatic aspect of metacognition development and enable its expression among their students, they need to be aware of their own metacognitive knowledge and processes, and have sound pedagogical knowledge in the context of teaching metacognition and high order thinking skills (Eldar & Miedijensky, 2015; Lin et al., 2017; Miedijensky et al., 2021; Zohar & Barzilai, 2013). Unfortunately, research indicates that metacognition is still a vague concept for most teachers (Zohar & Ben-Ari, 2022). This chapter focuses on metacognitive knowledge and self-regulation among in-service teachers taking an online course as part of their M.Ed. program at a College of Education. Its aim is to understand the way learning in an online course is perceived by the teachers, and how self-regulation and metacognitive knowledge are expressed in their task design process during the course. Thus, the research questions are:
Key Terms in this Chapter
Online Learning Environment: An environment of computer platforms and the Internet in which teaching and learning take place which include synchronous and asynchronous courses.
Metacognitive Knowledge: Knowledge that learners have about a certain task, about their selves and others, and about different strategies they can apply.
Reflection: Conscious thinking about actions, thoughts, experiences, performance, and emotions.
Community Of Inquiry: A group of online learners who share knowledge, information, values, support, and a sense of commitment.
Metacognitive Skills: Processes of monitoring and regulating cognition that include planning, monitoring, and assessing processes and their outcomes.
Design Principles: Elements in the learning environment that have a pedagogical rationale.
Self-Regulation: The ability to monitor and control one’s thoughts, performance, emotions, and evaluation processes.