Metacognitive Awareness Scale, Domain Specific (MCAS-DS): Assessing Metacognitive Awareness During Raven's Progressive Matrices

Improving cognitive function in Chinese children with ADHD and/or RD through computerized working memory training

BACKGROUND

Prior research has found that children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and reading difficulties (RD) are at an elevated risk of developing further cognitive deficits and developmental challenges [1]. ADHD and RD are characterized by a deficit in working memory, which negatively affects learning and behavior. The main aims of this study were to design a working memory training app and examine its effectiveness through a 5-week training program in Chinese children with ADHD and/or RD.

METHODS

There were three experimental groups, with 26 participants in the ADHD group, 38 participants in the RD group, and 24 participants in the ADHD + RD group. The typically developing (TD) control group had 32 participants. All participants completed the pretest and posttest assessments on executive function and reading performance.

RESULTS

The findings indicate that the experimental groups improved performance in verbal and visual-spatial working memory as well as Chinese word reading. There was an overall reduction in functional impairment following the training, in contrast to the TD group.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that working memory can be improved through computerized training in children with ADHD and/or RD. The implications of future research in working memory are discussed.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Clinical Trials Identifier: NCT06567444 (retrospectively registered) on 20 August 2024.

Relationship Between Metacognitive Awareness of Undergraduate Students and Students' Academic Performance at Vietnam Military Medical University

Introduction

Metacognition plays an essential role in competency-based medical education. Metacognitive skills consist of knowledge and regulation metacognition. This study was conducted to investigate the metacognition of undergraduate students and its correlation with students' academic performance.

Methods

The metacognitive skills inventory comprised 52 binary-scale items administered to 202 Vietnam Military Medical University medical students. The entire semester and clinical results were used to measure their academic performance.

Results

Medical students' total metacognitive awareness score was high (median 0.8). The median metacognitive knowledge score was significantly lower than the metacognitive regulation score (0.7 vs 0.8, respectively). The participants with a total metacognition score ≥0.8 had significantly higher academic results (full semester exam results of 7.4 and clinical exam of 7.5). The group of participants in the military, having sports habits and usually searching academic documents in English, had a higher proportion of total metacognitive awareness score ≥0.8 than the group without these above characteristics (with the percentages of 53.3%, 59%, and 64.3%, respectively; p < 0.05). The number of books read by participants with a total metacognitive awareness score ≥ 0.8 was significantly higher than those with a total metacognitive awareness score <0.8 (3.5 compared to 2.4 books).

Conclusion

Metacognitive awareness of Vietnam Military Medical University medical students was likely to be high. A high score of metacognitive awareness could predict high academic performance. Being a military student, playing sports, reading books, and searching English documents were predictors of better metacognitive awareness.

Metacognition and learning transfer under uncertainty

OBJECTIVES

This study examined the possible correlation between metacognition and learning experience transfer of nursing students after engaging in an urgent and cognitively demanding clinical situation.

METHODS

This is a one-group post-test- only study design in which participants engaged in an emergency care scenario simulation and completed the Meta-Cognitive Awareness Scale - Domain Specific (MCAS-DS).

RESULTS

Study results revealed that participants' metacognitive awareness is significantly correlated to the learning transfer (p=0.0001) and GPA (p=0.006). There is also a positive correlation between learning transfer and GPA (p=0.04), clinical settings-based training experience (p=0.021) and metacognitive confidence (p=0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

This study may imply that academic achievement can be used as a potential screening tool to identify students requiring metacognitive training. It may also imply that metacognitive abilities can be enhanced indirectly through considering factors that may influence the transfer of learning such as increasing the hours of clinical training.

Developing the Metacognitive Awareness of Grit Scale for a better understanding of learners of English as a foreign language

The prominent impact of metacognition on learners' academic achievement is widely discussed. Learners armed with appropriate metacognitive strategies should witness enhancement in learning performance. Similarly, the concept of grit is also valued as a crucial factor contributing to the improvement of academic achievement. Nevertheless, discussion of the relationship between metacognition and grit or their collective influence on other educational and psychological variables is limited, not to mention that an instrument measuring learners' metacognitive awareness of grit is a desideratum. Hence, by incorporating the constructs of metacognition and grit, the present research developed a measurement scale to address this need, named the Metacognitive Awareness of Grit Scale (MCAGS). The MCAGS consists of four components and initially included 48 items. It was later distributed to 859 participants for the purpose of scale validation. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to evaluate the scale's validity and explore the factor-item relationship. A final model containing 17 items was retained. Implications and future directions were discussed.

Effect of a Nursing Comprehensive Skill Training Course (NCST-C) on Nursing Students' Metacognitive Awareness: A Quasi-experimental Study

PURPOSE

This study explored the effect of a nursing comprehensive skill training course (NCST-C) on the metacognitive awareness of nursing students to provide a scientific foundation for improving metacognitive awareness.

METHODS

This study used a quasi-experimental two-group matched pretest, post-test, and follow-up test. Ninety-six junior nursing students were recruited using convenience sampling and assigned to two groups by drawing lots with odd and even numbers in a nursing school at Huzhou University. The control group received a traditional skill-training course. The intervention group received NCST-C. Nursing students' metacognitive awareness inventory (MAI) was evaluated at the baseline, 16-week, and 20-week follow-up points. A repeated-measures analysis of variance and a simple effect test was used to compare each outcome measure of the two groups three times.

RESULTS

The NCST-C resulted in greater benefits for nursing students' metacognitive awareness as well as various dimensions (knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition) in the intervention group. Combined with a simple effects test, the MAI and dimension scores of those in the intervention group significantly improved at 16 weeks after the baseline (F = 9.78-44.03; all ps < .01). The sustainable effect of NCST-C lasted 1 month after the intervention (F = 14.24-62.36; ps < .01), reaching statistical significance (p < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

The NCST-C effectively developed metacognitive awareness among nursing students. Its design provides a new type of experimental course for improving metacognitive awareness.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

chictr.org.cn: ChiCTR2200057910. First registration date: 1/11/2020.

Development of metacognitive competencies of students in the process of constructing mathematical problems for younger students

The article presents a description of the study of the effectiveness of methodological tools aimed at developing metacognitive competence in future elementary school teachers in the classroom on the methodology of teaching mathematics to younger students.

The aim of the study is to empirically test the effectiveness of a set of methodological techniques used in the classroom on the methodology of teaching mathematics to future elementary school teachers as a means of developing their metacognitive competencies. The hypothesis of the study is the assumption that one of the effective means of developing metacognitive competencies in future elementary school teachers is special classes for compiling original scenarios of verbal mathematical problems for younger students. A professionally developed verbal composition of a mathematical problem sets the vector of mental activity for the younger student. It requires the developer to build a forecast of the child’s mental actions, determine algorithms and levels of difficulty in obtaining the right solution. The study used methods for testing students’ cognitive characteristics (intelligence) and peer review of their “metacognitive knowledge”, “metacognitive skills”, “metacognitive experience” and “metacognitive strategies”. The methodological solutions implemented in the classroom have shown their effectiveness. For the practice of preparing future primary school teachers, it is important that the well-organized development of compositions of textual mathematical problems for younger students is an effective means of developing their metacognitive competencies.