2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

College students differ widely in their awareness and use of effective learning strategies, despite strong evidence linking such strategies to academic success. To address these differences in an engineering context, a semester-long metacognitive intervention was embedded in a chemical engineering Fluid Flow course. This intervention consisted of 10 structured written activities implemented over 16 weeks, each designed to promote core metacognitive processes: planning, monitoring, and evaluating. Students completed the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) at the beginning and end of the semester to quantify metacognitive awareness and track change over the semester, completed a reflection on their MAI results and prior semester difficulty, engaged in exam-specific “exam preps” to plan and assess their study approaches, and completed “exam wrappers” to reflect on performance and identify areas for improvement.

This study had two aims: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention in the course, and (2) to examine associations between student engagement, student confidence, and course performance. Primary outcomes included course grades and changes in learning strategy use over time. Qualitative and quantitative findings indicated that sustained engagement in metacognitive activities was associated with improved student learning. Students who completed more activities earned higher course grades and increases in MAI across the semester were associated with stronger final grades. Total study hours were negatively related to exam performance, whereas spending a greater percentage of study time with peers was positively associated with performance, underscoring the importance of study quality over quantity. Student confidence in the course material remained stable across the semester and was not related to exam performance; however, students who perceived their prior semester as harder than expected performed worse on multiple exams and overall.

These preliminary results suggest that structured, embedded metacognitive interventions can support metacognitive growth and are associated with improved academic performance in an undergraduate chemical engineering course, with within-semester increases in metacognitive awareness emerging as a key correlate of success. The approach offers a practical avenue for STEM instructors seeking to integrate metacognitive development into their curricula to better support student success.