Students’ metacognitive regulation strategies use during self-assessment and reflection across an engineering course

Technological advancements have influenced how tasks are performed in the workplace, increasing the need for engineers who have life-long learning skills to adapt quickly to rapid change. That is, engineers need to be self-regulated learners who can employ metacognitive regulation strategies (i.e. planning, monitoring, and evaluating) to improve their learning and effectiveness. Reflection activities in engineering courses can assist students in developing their metacognitive abilities. The purpose of the study was to investigate engineering students’ use of the metacognitive regulation strategies in a course in which they had multiple opportunities to self-assess their work and reflect on their learning. Students’ written self-assessments and reflections were analysed to identify the level at which they used these strategies. Clustering techniques were used to identify distinct patterns of use. The results showed students predominantly used these strategies at low-to-medium levels. Additionally, three distinct patterns of use were identified. Implications for practice are provided.