Abstract

Metacognition can support undergraduates in challenging science courses by helping them to monitor their understanding of concepts, evaluate their approaches for learning, and change their plans for studying as needed. Fostering metacognitive development can help students succeed in science, yet there is limited understanding of how students develop metacognition in college. We conducted one of the first longitudinal studies to investigate how, when, and why life science students use metacognition throughout their undergraduate career. We used yearly semi-structured interviews to capture students’ use of metacognition across four years of college. By conducting longitudinal qualitative data analysis, we outline a framework of metacognitive change that details the stages that are evident for each metacognitive skill. We synthesize our findings into milestones students reach as their metacognition develops. For example, students initially use planning and evaluating separately and reach a milestone when they first connect these skills by using their evaluations to inform their study plans. Later, some, but not all, students reach the milestone of integrating all three skills by connecting monitoring to their planning and evaluating. We use our results to build theory on metacognitive development, and we offer suggestions for instructors who aim to foster their students’ metacognition.