The Perceived Efficacy of Metacognitive Monitoring Among Undergraduate Students in an Introductory Communication Disorders Course

Purpose: This study examines undergraduates' perceptions of the effectiveness of two metacognitive monitoring strategies, active comprehension monitoring (ACM) and audible elaborative rehearsal (AER), for gaining specialized vocabulary and concept (SVC) knowledge in communication sciences and disorders. Method: The participants were 64 junior-level students enrolled in a Survey of Communication Disorders course. The majority were female and from race/ethnic minorities. To investigate their perceptions, students completed anonymous surveys before and after using the ACM and AER strategies during 10 textbook-based homework assignments focused on learning 192 key SVC terms in a flipped instructional format. Participants identified how often and whether they enjoyed using both strategies, their perceptions about strategy effectiveness, and their general level of textbook reading confidence. Results: A majority (62.5%) of students perceived that the ACM strategy helped their SVC learning process but less than half (40.0%) reported a comparable AER benefit. Students who frequently used both strategies were more likely to report the strategies were effective for gaining SVC knowledge. Students' self-reported confidence in their textbook reading abilities did not vary based on time (pre- vs. postsemester) or strategy type (ACM vs. AER). Students also enjoyed using the ACM strategy more than the AER strategy. Conclusions: Students' perceptions suggest that ACM may better support SVC learning in a Survey of Communication Disorders course. However, individual differences in learning preferences and speculative factors (e.g., academic acculturation, self- and familial expectations and characteristics) impacting textbook reading confidence warrant further investigation. Future research should focus on matching metacognitive monitoring strategies with diverse student characteristics and varied course content areas and instructional formats.