Reflection in Learning through a Self-monitoring Device: Design Research on EEG Self-Monitoring during a Study Session

Abstract

The increasing availability of self-monitoring technologies has created opportunities for gaining awareness?about?one’s?own?behavior?and?reflecting?on?it.?In?teaching?and?learning,?there?is?interest?in? ? using?? self-monitoring?technologies,?but?very?few?studies?have?explored?the?possibilities.?In?this?paper,?we? present a design study that investigates a technology (called Feeler) that guides students to follow a specific?learning?script,?monitors?changes?in?their?electroencephalogram?(EEG)?while?studying,?and?later? provides?visualization?of?the?EEG?data.?The?results?are?two-fold:?(1)?the?hardware/software?? prototype?and? (2)?the?conclusions?from?the?proof-of-concept?research?conducted?with?the?prototype?and?six?? participants.? In? the? research,?we? collected? qualitative? data? from? interviews? to? identify? whether? the? prototype? supported?students?to?develop?their?reflective?skills.?The?thematic?analysis?of?the?interviews?showed? that?the?Feeler’s?learning?script?and?visualization?of?the?EEG?data?supported?greater?levels?of?reflection? by?fostering?students’?curiosity,?puzzlement,?and?personal?inquiry.?The?proof-of-concept?research?also? provided insights into several factors, such as the value of personal experience, the challenge of assump- tions,?and?the?contextualization?of?the?data?that?trigger?reflective?thinking.?The?results?validate?the? design?concept?and?the?role?of?the?prototype?in?supporting?awareness?of?and?reflection?about?students’? mental?states?when?they?perform?academic?tasks.