The Effect of Grade Level, Achievement, and Type of Task on Metacognitive Awareness in Elementary Mathematics
The Effect of Grade Level, Achievement, and Type of Task on Metacognitive Awareness in Elementary Mathematics
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Date
1985
Authors
Bongiovani, Maryanne Bozarth
Advisor
Torney-Purta, Judith
Citation
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Abstract
Metacognition is an awareness of how one thinks and learns. It
includes an awareness of the strategies used to learn as well as an
awareness of oneself as a learner. The purpose of this study was to
describe children's metacognitive awareness during a classroom type
task. A further purpose was to determine how grade level, achievement,
and type of task influence this awareness.
One hundred sixty-eight fourth, sixth, and eighth grade boys and
girls were classified as high or low math achievers based on their
performance on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, a group
achievement test. These children were then randomly selected to receive either known or unknown math problems. The known math task was
operationally defined as one that was easy; it was a problem that the
children would be able to solve. The unknown task was operationally
defined as one that was difficult, it was a math problem that these
children would find unsolvable. lmmediately following the task, the
children were given feedback about their performance and were then asked
to identify types of thoughts they may have had as they were working on
the problems. The types of thoughts included general and specific
strategies as well as ability and effort self-evaluations.
A 3 x 2 x 2 factorial analysis of variance design was used with
Grade Level (four, six, and eight), Achievement (high and low), and Type
of Task (known and unknown) as the between subjects factors. Findings
showed that a known task elicited positive ability and effort
self-evaluations for success. An unknown task evoked the use of more
specific strategies than a known task. A grade level difference in
metacognitive awareness showed that young children reported more
metacognitive thoughts than older children.