RQA learning strategy in the biology classroom and its effect on students’ metacognitive awareness

Empowerment of students’ metacognitive awareness cannot be separated from the learning strategies used in the classroom. One of the learning strategies that is believed to be able to empower students’ metacognitive awareness is Reading, Questioning, and Answering (RQA) learning strategy. This research aimed to determine: 1) the percentage of increase in students’ metacognitive awareness, and 2) the effect of RQA learning strategy on students’ metacognitive awareness in the biology department, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Sulawesi Barat. The research design used were quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design. The samples in this research were 86 students who programmed low plant taxonomy course, which was divided into two groups (control and treatment). The instruments used the observing guide and the metacognitive awareness inventory that has been validated and analyzed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The research data were analyzed using independent t-test analysis on SPSS software. The results showed: 1) metacognitive awareness of students, specifically in the regulation of cognition increased, and 2) RQA learning strategy had a significant effect on students’ metacognitive awareness, where students who were taught using the RQA learning strategy had better metacognitive awareness than students who were not prepared with RQA learning strategy.