Dba Research Notes
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Northumbria Research Link Citation: Blackwood, Tony (2010) Metaknowledge in higher education : self-assessment accuracy and its association with academic achievement. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University. This version was downloaded from Northumbria Research Link: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/2233/ Northumbria University has developed Northumbria Research Link (NRL) to enable users to access the University’s research output. Copyright © and moral rights for items on NRL are retained by the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. Single copies of full items can be reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given, as well as a hyperlink and/or URL to the original metadata page. The content must not be changed in any way. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without formal permission of the copyright holder. The full policy is available online: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/policies.html Metaknowledge in Higher Education: Self-Assessment Accuracy and its Association with Academic Achievement TONY BLACKWOOD Doctor of Business Administration 2010 A Study of Metaknowledge in Higher Education TONY BLACKWOOD A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Northumbria for the degree of Professional Doctorate Research Undertaken in Newcastle Business School January 2010 1 Abstract An appreciation of the extent of one’s knowledge is known as metaknowledge and it has been argued that students’ ability to distinguish between what they know, and what they do not, is an important influence on academic success. However, previous research suggests a general tendency for individuals to display overconfidence in their knowledge, by overestimating how much they know. This study assessed the ability of learners studying business in higher education to appreciate the extent of their own knowledge and investigated the association between this capability and academic achievement. It therefore contributes towards answering broader questions regarding how well individuals are able to assess their own capabilities and what the implications of this are. Quantitative methodology was employed and multiple-choice tests used to investigate how accurately students were able to assess the extent of their knowledge of issues addressed in their study programmes. Analysis of over 12,500 judgements provided by 508 respondents revealed a general tendency for overconfidence and indicated that this was greater for males, older participants and particularly, for Chinese students. Consequently, interventions designed to moderate overconfidence may be particularly valuable for these sub-groups. In terms of its potential implications for learning, the research indicated that better metaknowledge was positively associated with higher levels of academic performance, particularly for those in their first year studying at the university. Consequently, while metacognitive skills, such as accurate self-monitoring, are typically poorly addressed in business schools, the findings from this study suggest that initiatives to improve self monitoring accuracy may be effective in enhancing student learning. Additionally, such interventions have other potential benefits for learners, since metacognitive monitoring skills may also usefully inform lifestyle decisions, as well as improving the chances of success in business and may therefore be particularly beneficial for business students. 2 Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................... 5 List of Tables..................................................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... 9 Declaration ...................................................................................................................... 10 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 11 1.1 General Aims .................................................................................................... 11 1.2 The Significance of Metaknowledge ................................................................ 12 1.3 Implications for Professional Practice .............................................................. 14 1.4 Context of the Study ......................................................................................... 17 1.5 The Author‘s Position and Interest ................................................................... 17 1.6 Issues Addressed to Achieve the Aims of the Research .................................. 18 1.7 The Structure of the Thesis .............................................................................. 19 2. Literature Review .................................................................................................... 21 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 21 2.2 The Meta Concept ............................................................................................ 22 2.3 Metacognition ................................................................................................... 23 2.4 Metaknowledge ................................................................................................ 41 2.5 Conceptual Framework .................................................................................... 43 2.6 Testing for Knowledge Monitoring Accuracy ................................................. 45 2.7 Calibration Studies ........................................................................................... 46 2.8 Overconfidence ................................................................................................ 61 2.9 Reasons for Overconfidence ............................................................................ 79 2.10 Reducing Overconfidence ............................................................................. 86 2.11 Advantages of Overconfidence ..................................................................... 90 3 2.12 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 91 3. Methodology and Research Design ......................................................................... 99 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 99 3.2 The Role of Theory in Research ..................................................................... 100 3.3 Research Foundations ..................................................................................... 102 3.4 Research Design ............................................................................................. 109 3.5 Data Entry and Analysis ................................................................................. 136 3.6 Ethical Issues .................................................................................................. 141 3.7 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 143 4. Findings and Discussion ........................................................................................ 146 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 146 4.2 Participants ..................................................................................................... 146 4.3 Controlling for Task Difficulty ...................................................................... 150 4.4 Investigating Overconfidence ......................................................................... 151 4.5 Discussion and Implications for Professional Practice .................................. 175 5. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................... 185 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 185 5.2 Aims ............................................................................................................... 186 5.3 Method ............................................................................................................ 186 5.4 How the Findings Contribute to the Central Theme ...................................... 187 5.5 Implications for Professional Practice ............................................................ 188 5.6 Limitations of the Study ................................................................................. 195 5.7 Boundaries of the Study and Directions for Future Research ........................ 198 Appendices....................................................................................................................201 List of References......................................................................................................................275 Bibliography..................................................................................................................296 4 List of Figures Figure 1: The