A Formative Experiment Investigating the Use of Reflective Video Journals to Increase High School Students\u27 Metacognition

This study sought to determine the factors that enhance the effectiveness of reflective video journals to increase the metacognition of adolescent students. To achieve this pedagogical goal, this study followed the six-phase methodology of a formative experiment. Twelve high school students participated in a six- session after-school reflective video journaling program. Diverse data collection methods were used to determine the factors in the educational environment that enhance or inhibit students\u27 metacognition, how the intervention and its implementation were necessarily modified to more effectively achieve the pedagogical goal, the potential impact of feedback and peer response, and any unanticipated positive or negative effects the intervention produced. The research revealed several factors that enhance students\u27 metacognition including highly structured prompts, privacy during production, and a focus on content over production value. Factors detracting from the pedagogical goal include student autonomy, the voluntary nature of this study, and prompts not tied to a content area. Recommendations for classroom practice as well as suggestions for further research are reported