Abstracts - Earli

E 429 August 2007 14:30 - 16:30Room: -1.64SymposiumMetacognition and mathematics: challenges and potentialsChair: Annemie Desoete, Ghent University & Arteveldehogeschool, BelgiumOrganiser: Annemie Desoete, Ghent University & Arteveldehogeschool, BelgiumDiscussant: Henk Vos, University Twente, NetherlandsProficient students are assumed to select appropriate strategies and adjust behavior to changingtask demands, making use of the awareness of previously knowledge and selecting appropriatestudy behavior. Metacognition was found to be instrumental in challenging tasks in mathematics,not overtaxing the capacity and skills of children and in relatively new strategies that are beingacquired.This symposium focuses on the challenges and potentials of metacognition inmathematics. In a first presentation Marja Vauras analyses developmental interactions of wordproblem solving, metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive experiences in elementary schoolstudents as a function of gender, taks difficulty and mathematical proficiency. In the nextpresentation Veenman elaborates on the role of metacognitive skills in different types of learningtasks in the domain of mathematics in secondary school students. In addition Tempelaar analysesthe role of self-perceived metacognitive knowledge, skills, and attitudes, in learning mathematicsat a high-school level. Finally Mei-Shiu Chiu investigates in grade 5-7 students the levels of metacognitiveknowledge in achieving deep approaches to mathematics learning:Developmental interactions of word problem solving, metacognitive knowledge and metacognitiveexperiences in elementary school students as a function of gender, task difficulty and mathematicalproficiencyMarja Vauras, University of Turku, FinlandRiitta Kinnunen, University of Turku, FinlandTiina Annevirta, University of Turku, Finland, FinlandAnu Kajamies, University of Turku, FinlandTuike Iiskala, University of Turku, FinlandWithin a longitudinal design, we examined the associations between mathematical problemsolving (MPS), metacognitive knowledge (MCK) and metacognitive experiences (ME) ofelementary school students as a function of gender, task difficulty and mathematical proficiency.Although the notion of ME was introduced by Flavell in 1979, empirical studies are recent andstill rare. Metacognitive experiences are feelings, estimates, and thoughts about cognition duringthe task, and contribute to students’ self-regulation of learning. ME differ from MCK, that is,declarative knowledge regarding goals, persons, tasks, and strategies, as well as frommetacognitive skills. In this presentation, we (1) offer some new evidence on interactions betweenME and task performance, and (2) present results on developmental associations between MCK,ME and math problem solving. The participants were 10-year old, 4th grade students (n = 436),following the mainstream curriculum, and they we tested on math problem solving andmetacognition at three time points over a one year period. A year later, we collected same datafrom a comparable cohort, and this cohort is used to validate outcomes. In sum, our overallfindings suggest a relatively accurate calibration of judgments already at young age, and indicatecontext-dependent nature of ME compared to more stable MCK. Gender effects showed over-– 258 –