Bringing First Year Engineering Students To Reflect On Their Learning Strategies Via A Learning Journal And An End Of Semester Essay In The Context Of A Problem Based And Project Based Learning Curriculum

This paper reports on a qualitative appraisal of the ability of first-year engineering students to engage in a metacognitive process about their learning strategies. At the beginning of the semester, texts on learning strategies, reading, concept mapping, emotional competencies, change and stress were distributed to each student and discussed in the classroom. We emphasized the importance for students not only to monitor their performance during the semester but also to look back on their learning strategies and, if necessary, to improve them. To that end, we asked students to periodically write in a personal learning journal their thoughts about their learning strategies. As an incentive, we told them that, as one of their final exams, they would have to write a 7 to 10-page essay about their learning strategies. They were also informed that they would be graded according to their ability to analyse their strategies, whether these strategies were optimal or not. Results of a preliminary analysis of these essays confirm that it is possible to bring first-year engineeering students to reflect on their learning strategies.