Helping students in HE succeed through using reflective practice to enhance metacognition and create more realistic predictions

Understanding how students can better manage their expectations has been a topic of interest in pedagogy for some time, yet solutions remain elusive. This paper describes a recent study in which more accurate predictions were made following a 6-week intervention aimed at increasing metacognition. At the outset, participants completed a metacognitive awareness inventory and were asked to predict the submission time and grade for their next assessment. They were instructed on using a structured reflection spreadsheet and asked to reflect weekly for the study period. At the end of the study, the inventory was re-administered and participants predicted the submission time and grade for the next assessment. Although results showed a significant increase in scores on the metacognitive awareness inventory, scores were found not to be a strong predictor of estimation error. Possible reasons for the outcomes and further work are discussed.