The Benefits of Active Help-Seeking During Learning: The Role of Metacognitive Development

• In Event: Scaffolding the Development of Successful Learning Across Early and Middle Childhood

Abstract

Introduction and Hypothesis: Determining when to ask for help is a critical self-regulation skill used to maximize learning (Nelson Le-Gall, 1981). Asking for help when feeling uncertain can fill important gaps in knowledge, while asking for help when one already knows the answer may be a waste of time or resources. In the current study, we investigated how children’s active choice to seek help benefits long-term learning compared to conditions where help was not available. Previous research suggests that the ability to use self-reflections about knowledge (i.e., metacognition) to guide decision-making improves throughout childhood (Metcalfe & Finn, 2013). Thus, we predicted that metacognition would relate to learning benefits achieved through help-seeking and improve with age.

Study population and Methods: We collected data from 68 primarily Caucasian 8- to-13-year-old children (Mage=10.83; SDage=1.61; Nfemales=36) during a pre-registered virtual study (https://osf.io/mb8ug). During the study phase, children encoded 36 animal facts across three categories (animals’ eyes, eating, or movement). Children then completed the help phase, which consisted of a practice test during which children indicated their confidence and recalled the animal fact. Critically, the help phase included Help-Available trials (i.e., children could ask for help in the form of the answer or category hint), No Help-Available trials (i.e., children had to answer on their own), and Restudy trials (i.e., children were shown the animal fact again). Approximately 24 hours later children completed a final test in the absence of any help (See Figure 1).


Results: During the help phase, older children sought a greater proportion of help in the form of hints versus answers (M=.69) compared to younger children (M=.50), p=.03. Furthermore, older children had higher confidence when electing not to seek help versus seeking help (Mhelp not sought=2.72, Mhelp sought=1.35) compared to younger children (Mhelp not sought=2.49, Mhelp sought=1.37), p=.008. Thus, older children were more likely to seek help that is instrumental for their learning and more effective at using metacognition to guide their decision to seek help.
During the final test phase, accuracy was higher during Help Available (M=68%) and No Help Available (M=66%) trials compared to Restudy trials (M=58%), ps>.02. These results suggest that strategies which promote memory retrieval lead to better learning than restudying information. Additionally, we investigated whether individual differences in learning benefits achieved from earlier help-seeking correlated with metacognitive ability. We found that older children who had better metacognitive ability (i.e., greater difference in confidence when seeking help vs. not seeking help during the help phase) were also more likely to experience gains in final test accuracy from earlier help-seeking (i.e., greater difference between Help Available vs. No Help Available final test accuracy), r=.53, p=.001. Importantly, this relation was not present in younger children, r=-.06, p=.70 (See Figure 2).

Overall, these results suggest developmental differences in children’s help-seeking behaviors and the role of metacognition in guiding long-term learning benefits achieved through seeking help.

Authors

• Michelle Shields

• Diana Selmeczy, University of Colorado Colorado Springs
  Presenting Author