CLASS 2.0: THE IMPACT OF ONLINE METACOGNITIVE TOOLS IN A 2YC EARTH SCIENCE CURRICULUM

Students’ understanding of metacognition has emerged as an effective method for them to better regulate learning and understand how learning happens. As part of the NSF-funded project, "CLASS 2.0: Applying a Digital Tool to Support Self-regulated Learning Strategies in Introductory Geoscience Courses,” the author investigated the impact of CLASS 2.0, an online quiz tool that measures student confidence in quiz answers and provides immediate feedback to students on their mastery of course learning objectives. The data in this presentation were collected in introductory Earth Science courses at Mount San Antonio College (Mt. SAC), a 2-year college (2YC) in southern California. Mt. SAC is a federally designated HSI and AANAPISI institution with an enrollment of over 29,000 students, 75% of whom receive financial aid. Data so far were collected from over 390 students enrolled in 16-week semesters or accelerated 6-week intersessions in a variety of learning modalities: in-person, remote blended, and online asynchronous. Student participation in the study included a metacognition survey administered at the beginning of the course, Earth Science content knowledge surveys administered at the beginning and end of the course, and a suite of 15 CLASS 2.0 quizzes linked to course learning objectives. During the 2021-2022 academic year metacognition surveys and pre- and post-term Earth science content knowledge survey data were collected to create baseline data. Beginning Fall 2022, CLASS 2.0 quiz data have also been collected in addition to metacognition and content knowledge surveys. Each quiz includes a pre- and post-quiz predictor of success and a slide bar for each question where students gauge confidence in their answers. After submitting a quiz, students can view their score, calibration data (the difference between their predicted performance and actual performance), and their level of bias (overconfidence vs. underconfidence). This presentation will report on the results of this study to date, what strategies have been most effective, and describe the four phases of student engagement with quizzes and curriculum design: 1) baseline phase, 2) introduction of CLASS 2.0 quizzes to the courses, 3) impact of students designing their own quizzes, and 4) introduction of metacognition as a course topic this Fall.