Metacognitive self-knowledge and cognitive skills in project-based learning of high school electronics students

Figures & data

Table 1. Examples of final projects.

Subject Description
Smartphone-controlled robotic arm	The robot is based on an Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller. The robot’s 6-axis arm movement is controlled by an app that is connected to the robot via Bluetooth.
Tank robot	The robot is based on an Arduino Uno microcontroller. The robot uses continuous tracks (treads) instead of wheels, as commonly used on rough, uneven, and loose terrain. The robot is designed to enter dangerous places and rescue people.

Table 2. Example of indirect vs. direct assessment of cognitive skills ability.

Self-report statement	Achievement question
I have an understanding of Ohm’s Law: 1 – Strongly disagree to 5 – Strongly agree	A 12 V battery is connected to a circuit with a resistance of 4 ohms. What is the current flowing through the circuit?

Table 3. Examples of statements from the questionnaire vs. questions from the achievement test.

Self-report questionnaire		Achievement test
As a student in an engineering project team, I understand the project requirements of the proposed product.		What are the project requirements for the proposed product? The system will be resistant to malfunctions that can be expected to occur due to reasonable use, such as communication problems. The system will move a gate that weighs up to 200 kg. The system will enable the user to open and close the gate from a maximum distance of 50 metres. The application will work on Android operating systems.
When I am involved, as a student, in an engineering project that combines software and hardware, I can build the structure chart of the software (graphical representation of the software according to its main operations and functions, including their connections).		What does the structure chart of the software in the proposed system describe (the diagram is shown in the Introduction)? The Car_Gate, Order_Gate, and Con_Gate functions pass values to the Main function and the Open_CloseGate function receives values from the Main function. The Car_Gate, Order_Gate, and Con_Gate functions pass values to the Open_CloseGate function. All functions return values to the Main function. All functions receive values from the Main function.
When I am involved, as a student, in an engineering project that combines software and hardware, I understand the syntax of the software I am developing?		What is the value of ‘a’ after running the following code? a = 11 a = 8 a = 10 a = 9

Table 4. Correlations between questionnaire statements and scores of achievement test questions.

	Cognitive skill	Spearman's correlation coefficient
1	Understanding the project requirements of the proposed product	Weak, positive, and not significant (r = 0.275, p > 0.05)
2	Understanding the block diagram of the proposed product	Weak and positive, and significant (r = 0.164, p < 0.05)
3	Understanding which is the optimal alternative for the proposed product	Weak, positive, and not significant (r = 0.077, p > 0.05)
4	Understanding which sensor cannot be used as an alternative for the proposed product	Weak and positive, and significant (r = 0.165, p < 0.05)
5	Understanding what change should be made in the system when replacing another component	Weak, positive, and not significant (r = 0.010, p > 0.05)
6	Understanding which circuit more correctly describes the connection of digital inputs in the circuit	Weak and positive, and significant (r = 0.163, p < 0.05)
7	Understanding the software requirements of the proposed product (understanding the input and output specifications of the system)	Weak, positive, and not significant (r = 0.046, p > 0.05)
8	Understanding the performance requirements of the software	Weak, positive, and not significant (r = 0.110, p > 0.05)
9	Identifying the type of software required (e.g. Windows programming, computer-embedded system, real-time, app programming)	Weak, negative, and not significant (r = −0.037, p > 0.05)
10	Understanding the range of voltage values entering an Arduino microcontroller from an analog input	Weak, positive, and not significant (r = 0.123, p > 0.05)
11	Understanding the range of digital values entering an Arduino microcontroller from an analog input	Weak and positive, and significant (r = 0.202, p < 0.01)
12	Understanding what the software’s structure chart describes in the proposed system	Weak and positive, and significant (r = 0.199, p < 0.01)
13	Understanding the concept of the software’s implementation for the proposed system's functions	Weak, positive, and not significant (r = 0.042, p > 0.05)
14	Understanding how the flowchart describes the concept of the software’s function	Weak and positive, and significant (r = 0.170, p < 0.05)
15	Understanding which result correctly represents the values of the variable after running the programme	Weak, positive, and not significant (r = 0.036, p > 0.05)
16	Identifying the software syntax error in the programme	Weak and positive, and significant (r = 0.233, p < 0.01)
17	Understanding the software from different perspectives (e.g. different user perspectives)	Weak, positive, and not significant (r = 0.126, p > 0.05)
18	Understanding the software in detail	Weak and negative, and significant (r = −0.162, p < 0.05)

Table 5. Self-report questionnaire and achievement test scores.

Test
	M	SD
Self-report questionnaire	81.32	9.14
Achievement test	46.43	18.32

Table 6. Students’ expression of their cognitive skills.

Skill	Manifestation of students’ cognitive skills
	Final reports	Observations
Requirements analysis	‘The system should be portable.’	‘The majority of projects completed by the students do not meet the criteria stated in the final report.’
Seeing the overall picture	‘The button is connected to an Arduino digital input via a pull-up resistor. When the button is pressed, 0 V is applied to the Arduino input. Otherwise, 5 V is used as input.’	‘Students struggle to describe the big picture of the project and instead focus on the project's components.’
Understanding the interaction and interdependence between components	‘The user selects the number of pharmaceutical pills/capsules using a 3*4 keypad. The system contains an I2C LCD that displays data and messages … .’	‘Students tend to describe the components themselves rather than the relationships between them in the system.’
Describing the relationships between software functions	‘The function Distance measures the robot's distance from nearby objects. The Forward function moves the robot forward. The Right function moves the robot to the right. The Left function moves the robot to the left.’	‘Students struggle to describe relationships between software functions and are content to describe the functions themselves.’
Identifying problems in implementing the solution	‘I asked my instructor to assist me in figuring out a few problems … ’	‘Students have difficulty identifying problems when implementing a system that combines several hardware and software components.’
Solving problems in the implementation stage	‘There were some issues with component connections, but we got assistance from our instructor and the system worked properly.’	‘Students struggle to solve problems when implementing a system that combines multiple hardware and software components.’