METACOGNITIVE TRAINING FOR STUDENTS PREPARING TO BE KINDERGARTEN AND PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS
Abstract
Metacognition is generally defined as “thinking about thinking†and represents a major factor in academic performance. Metacognition, through its two dimensions, knowledge about cognition and regulation of cognition, reflects what people know about cognition in general and about their own cognitive processes, in particular, as well as how they use this knowledge to adjust their informational processes and behaviour to specific situations. These dimensions are crucial for any teacher, not only for their own job performance, but also for developing metacognitive strategies in their students. This is why we think that students who are training to become teachers should attend a programme for developing their metacognition. We designed and implemented such a programme, embedded with the fundamental knowledge of the subject matter taught, for the first year students attending compulsory classes of Developmental Psychology. The programme aimed at raising their metacognitive awareness level and at raising knowledge about metacognitive teaching and learning strategies. The results indicate the possibility of teaching and learning the metacognitive skills when integrated in the content to be taught and used continuously during a university semester.
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