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Immediate and delayed effects of meta-cognitive instruction on regulation of cognition and mathematics achievement

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Abstract

The present study addressed two research questions: (a) the extent to which students who were exposed to meta-cognitive instruction are able to implement meta-cognitive processes in a delayed, stressful situation, in our case—being examined on the matriculation exam; and (b) whether students preparing themselves for the matriculation exam in mathematics, attain a higher level of mathematics achievement and meta-cognitive awareness (knowledge about cognition and regulation of cognition) as a result of being exposed to meta-cognitive instruction. Participants were 61 Israeli high school students who studied mathematics for four-point credit on the matriculation exam (middle level). About half of the students (N = 31) were assigned to meta-cognitive instruction, called IMPROVE, and the others (N = 30) studied with no explicit meta-cognitive guidance (control group). Analyses included both quantitative and qualitative methods. The later was based on students’ interviews, conducted about a couple of months after the end of the intervention, immediately after students completed the matriculation exam in mathematics. Results indicated that IMPROVE students outperformed their counterparts on mathematics achievement and regulation of cognition, but not on knowledge about cognition. Furthermore, during the matriculation exam, IMPROVE students executed different kinds of cognitive regulation processes than the control students. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 52900, Israel

    Zemira R. Mevarech & Chagit Amrany

Authors
  1. Zemira R. Mevarech
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  2. Chagit Amrany
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Correspondence to Chagit Amrany.

Appendix

Appendix

Examples of a pre-test item:

  1. 1.

    A person deposits 45,000 NIS in a saving program giving a yearly interest of 8%. After 1 year, the person took out from the saving account 2,000 NIS and the rest remained in the same saving program for the same interest. How much money did the person save 2 years after the first deposit?

  2. 2.

    Radioactive material loses every month 1/5 of its weight. The radioactive material weighs today 625 g. How much will it weigh after 1 month?

Example of a post-test item

  1. 1.

    A farmer grows fish in pools. The amount of fish grows every month by 14%. At a certain date, there were 12.3 tons fish in the pools. The fish continues to grow for 6 months and then 10 tons of it was sold. The remaining fish continues to grow for six more months and then all fish was sold. How much fish was sold the next time?

  2. 2.

    Sea Weeds are multiplied by algorithmically. In the first measurement, there were 6*104 kg weeds. After 5 years, there were 4*106 kg weeds. How much weeds will be in the lake 9 years after the first measurement?

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Mevarech, Z.R., Amrany, C. Immediate and delayed effects of meta-cognitive instruction on regulation of cognition and mathematics achievement. Metacognition Learning 3, 147–157 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-008-9023-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-008-9023-3

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