Two-Year Community: Identifying Differences in Learning Strategies by Demographics and Course Grade in a Community College Context

Abstract

Metacognition and self-regulated learning are skills that contribute to student success, but few studies have examined these topics within a community college context. We addressed this lack of understanding by asking community college biology students to metacognitively reflect on their learning strategies. We took a novel approach in our analysis by investigating how learning strategies potentially differed based on race, age, gender, and final course grade. With some exceptions, we found little evidence to suggest that such differences existed. Notably, we found that learning strategies did not differ between high-achieving and low-achieving students, which contradicts previous studies. We offer several possible explanations for these preliminary results, which include misrepresentation by students in their reflecctions, external and internal barriers to studying, potential flaws in our survey instrument, and students not effectively using learning strategies. We suggest replication of this study with methodological changes to further investigate any potential differences that may exist among these groups of students. Our research is an example of how classroom action research can provide insight into how students learn, which empowers us to make evidence-based changes in our teaching.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matthew R. Fisher

Matthew R. Fisher (matthew.fisher@ oregoncoast.edu) is an instructor in the Department of Biology at Oregon Coast Community College in Newport, Oregon.

Deborah Cole

Deborah Cole is an academic specialist-programming associate at the STEM Education Innovation and Research Institute at IUPUI in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Youngha Oh

Youngha Oh is a PhD candidate in the Department of Research, Evaluation, Measurement, and Statistics at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Sheela Vemu

Sheela Vemu is an assistant professor in the Division of Math and Sciences at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove, Illinois.