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Metacognitive Knowledge in Young Children: Development of a New Test Procedure for First Graders

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Methodological Issues of Longitudinal Surveys

Abstract

Declarative metacognition, that is, explicit knowledge about memory, comprehension, and learning processes, has been found within many studies to be related to memory development and strategy use (Schneider, 2015). Given its importance in the educational context, the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) aims at assessing metacognitive knowledge over the life span. Considering metacognitive knowledge in a longitudinal perspective allows for investigating how metacognitive knowledge evolves and how its development is influenced by other competencies. The present chapter describes the development and evaluation of a new test instrument on metacognitive knowledge that is appropriate for first graders. Comparable with tests for other educational stages investigated in the NEPS, the newly constructed instrument consists of several scenarios that refer to different aspects of strategy knowledge. In the process of test development, an item pool of 20 scenarios was established and pretested in a pilot study with 195 first graders in a group setting. Various criteria were taken into account in the selection of items for the final instrument. The 10 scenarios in the final test covered a wide range of difficulties, and the test exhibited good reliability. The selected items showed good item-fit as well as appropriate item characteristic curves and item total correlations. Moreover, differential item functioning analyses have revealed that the final test was fair for the considered subgroups. In summary, the final instrument demonstrates good psychometric properties and thus serves as an important tool to describe metacognitive knowledge and to analyze its relevance within the educational context.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bamberg, Deutschland

    Kathrin Lockl, Kerstin Haberkorn & Sabine Weinert

  2. Nürnberg, Deutschland

    Marion Händel

Authors
  1. Kathrin Lockl
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  2. Marion Händel
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  3. Kerstin Haberkorn
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  4. Sabine Weinert
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Correspondence to Kathrin Lockl .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Political and Social Sciences, European University Institute, Florence, Italy

    Hans-Peter Blossfeld

  2. Direktorium, Leibniz Inst of Edu courses (LIfBi), Bamberg, Germany

    Jutta von Maurice

  3. LIfBi, Bamberg, Germany

    Michael Bayer

  4. SPS, European University Institute, Florence, Italy

    Jan Skopek

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Lockl, K., Händel, M., Haberkorn, K., Weinert, S. (2016). Metacognitive Knowledge in Young Children: Development of a New Test Procedure for First Graders. In: Blossfeld, HP., von Maurice, J., Bayer, M., Skopek, J. (eds) Methodological Issues of Longitudinal Surveys. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-11994-2_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-11994-2_26

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