Metacognitive regulation: emergence, focus, and function in interprofessional collaborative learning

Abstract

Effective learning depends on metacognitive regulation (MR), especially in interprofessional learning (IPL) contexts, which typically involve collaboration on diverse cases. However, education research and support have devoted insufficient attention to the regulation of group collaborative learning. The present study employed rigorous socio-cognitive content analysis to examine IPL in small mixed groups (N = 7) of undergraduate health professionals (N = 47). A four-week online group discussion period was used to explore the emergence, focus, and function of MR and socially shared metacognitive regulation (SSMR). The results confirm the emergence of MR in every group, ranging from 15 to 25% of sentences produced regarding four themes: task production, case content, interprofessional content, and group collaborative learning. In every group, MR focused more on high-level content processing than on low-level task production. The findings indicate that the primary function of MR is to monitor learning, with little planning or evaluation. While most MR was socially shared, there were clear differences between the groups in this regard. Overall, statistical testing revealed significant differences between the seven groups in terms of the emergence, focus, and function of MR and the extent of SSMR. It can be concluded that consistent high-level collaboration demands explicit educational support to amplify MR emergence, with a greater focus on content integration, planning and evaluation. The study augments the limited existing literature on the role of MR and SSMR in interprofessional collaborative learning; it shows how MR in collaborative learning can enhance instruction in health and social care education contexts.