Developing learning strategies and clinical reasoning using a wiki: a case study

This study focuses on the use of a wiki with college nursing students. The general objective of this longitudinal and mixed longitudinal study with a strong qualitative component was to understand the development of cognitive and metacognitive strategies among eight students (multi-case study) over the first three quarters of training. The study helped identify learning strategies used in knowledge transfer situations and in the context of problem solving using a wiki. The results of two cases are compared. The first case suggests that a certain degree of autonomy in learning regulation (metacognitive strategy) is likely to promote the optimal understanding (monitoring) of different concepts, and thereby positively influence the ability to transfer. The second case illustrates the lack of metacognitive strategies such as monitoring and regulation, which negatively influences decision making in transfer situations. In both cases, gaps were revealed in relation to high-level cognitive strategies, such as discrimination and critical thinking. Finally, the study suggests that a combined use of the wiki and stimulated recall (verbal protocol following the transfer situation) is a promising avenue for future studies and for teaching.