PROTOCOL: Problem solving before instruction (PS-I) to promote learning and motivation in child and adult students.

This is the protocol for a Campbell systematic review. The objectives are as follows: The purpose of this review is to synthesize the evidence about the efficacy of problem solving before instruction (PS-I) to promote learning and motivation in students. Specifically, this review is designed to answer the following questions: To what degree does PS-I affect learning and motivation, relative to alternative learning approaches? To what extent is the efficacy of PS-I associated with the use of different design features within it, including the use of group work, contrasting cases, and metacognitive guidance in the initial problem-solving activity, and the use of explanations that build upon students' solutions in the explicit instruction phase? To what extent is the relative efficacy of PS-I associated with the contextual factors of activities used as control, age of students, duration of the interventions, and learning domain? What is the quality of the existent evidence to evaluate these questions in terms of number of studies included and potential biases derived from publication and methodological restrictions?

Validation of the Shortened Version of the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory in Spanish Uiversity Students.

BACKGROUND: The Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) is used all over the world to identify metacognitive components that are relevant to learning. However, there is not enough evidence confirming its factorial structure or the suitability of its Shortened Version, proposed by various authors. Also, to date, the MAI has not been validated in the Spanish context. METHOD: After adapting the MAI to Spanish, it was administered to 1076 university students from different regions of Spain. Different structures of the MAI Shortened Version, with 19 items, were compared with the structures of the original 52-item MAI. Indexes of validity and reliability were analyzed, considering the factorial structure and relationships to other validated questionnaires. RESULTS: Only the MAI Shortened Version that differentiates between knowledge and regulation of cognition achieved a good fit. These two scales showed good convergent and divergent validity, high criterion validity in relation to academic achievement, high test- retest reliability, and high internal reliability. CONCLUSIONS: results support the traditional differentiation between knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition, but only for the Shortened Version of the MAI. This instrument allows quick evaluations and identification of these components in Spanish contexts with adequate metric properties.

Validation of the Shortened Version of the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory in Spanish University Students / Validación de la Versión Abreviada del Inventario de Conciencia Metacognitiva en Estudiantes Universitarios Españoles

Background: The Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) is used all over the world to identify metacognitive components that are relevant to learning. However, there is not enough evidence confirming its factorial structure or the suitability of its Shortened Version, proposed by various authors. Also, to date, the MAI has not been validated in the Spanish context. Method: After adapting the MAI to Spanish, it was administered to 1076 university students from different regions of Spain. Different structures of the MAI Shortened Version, with 19 items, were compared with the structures of the original 52-item MAI. Indexes of validity and reliability were analyzed, considering the factorial structure and relationships to other validated questionnaires. Results: Only the MAI Shortened Version that differentiates between knowledge and regulation of cognition achieved a good fit. These two scales showed good convergent and divergent validity, high criterion validity in relation to academic achievement, high test- retest reliability, and high internal reliability. Conclusions: results support the traditional differentiation between knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition, but only for the Shortened Version of the MAI. This instrument allows quick evaluations and identification of these components in Spanish contexts with adequate metric properties.(AU)

Antecedentes: El Inventario de Conciencia Metacognitiva (MAI) se utiliza internacionalmente para identificar componentes metacognitivos relevantes para el aprendizaje. Sin embargo, hay escasa evidencia sobre su estructura factorial y la validez de su Versión Reducida, propuesta por diversos autores. Asimismo, hasta el momento, no ha sido validado en el contexto español. Método: Tras adaptar los ítems del MAI al español, se administró a 1076 estudiantes universitarios de diferentes regiones de España. Se compararon varias estructuras de la Versión Reducida del MAI, con 19 ítems, y del MAI original, con 52 ítems. Se analizaron la validez y fiabilidad, considerando las estructuras factoriales y las relaciones con otros cuestionarios ya validados. Resultados: Sólo la Versión Reducida del MAI que diferencia conocimiento y regulación de la cognición alcanzó un ajuste aceptable. Estas dos escalas mostraron buena validez convergente y divergente, alta validez de criterio en relación al rendimiento académico, alta fiabilidad test-retest y alta consistencia interna. Conclusiones: los resultados apoyan la diferenciación tradicional entre conocimiento de la cognición y regulación de la cognición, pero solo con la adaptación al español de la Versión Reducida del MAI. Este instrumento permite evaluaciones cortas y la identificación de estos componentes con propiedades métricas adecuadas en contextos españoles.(AU)

Problem-Solving Before Instruction (PS-I): A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities.

Nowadays, how to encourage students' reflective thinking is one of the main concerns for teachers at various educational levels. Many students have difficulties when facing tasks that involve high levels of reflection, such as on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) courses. Many also have deep-rooted anxiety and demotivation towards such courses. In order to overcome these cognitive and affective challenges, researchers have suggested the use of "Problem-Solving before Instruction" (PS-I) approaches. PS-I consists of giving students the opportunity to generate individual solutions to problems that are later solved in class. These solutions are compared with the canonical solution in the following phase of instruction, together with the presentation of the lesson content. It has been suggested that with this approach students can increase their conceptual understanding, transfer their learning to different tasks and contexts, become more aware of the gaps in their knowledge, and generate a personal construct of previous knowledge that can help maintain their motivation. Despite the advantages, this approach has been criticized, as students might spend a lot of time on aimless trial and error during the initial phase of solution generation or they may even feel frustrated in this process, which might be detrimental to future learning. More importantly, there is little research about how pre-existing student characteristics can help them to benefit (or not) from this approach. The aim of the current study is to present the design and implementation of the PS-I approach applied to statistics learning in undergraduate students, as well as a methodological approach used to evaluate its efficacy considering students' pre-existing differences.