Children's confidence on mathematical equivalence and fraction problems.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Development
• Mathematics Education
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Metacognition involves self-awareness of one's thinking processes, including confidence in problem-solving.
• Children often hold misconceptions in mathematics, particularly in areas like mathematical equivalence and fraction magnitude.
• Understanding metacognition in children is crucial for addressing learning difficulties in mathematics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess children's metacognitive skills in mathematical equivalence and fraction magnitude.
• To investigate whether metacognitive skills are topic-specific within mathematics.
• To examine the relationship between children's metacognitive skills and executive functions.

Main Methods:

• 80 elementary school children (average age 7.70 years) completed tasks assessing metacognition and confidence in mathematical equivalence and fraction magnitude problems.
• Executive functions, including working memory and inhibitory control, were also assessed.
• Trial-by-trial performance and confidence data were collected.

Main Results:

• Children's metacognitive skills were significantly impaired when they employed incorrect strategies stemming from misconceptions.
• No robust evidence was found for strong associations between metacognitive skills across the two math topics (equivalence and fractions).
• Modest associations were observed between metacognitive skills and executive functions, specifically working memory and inhibitory control.

Conclusions:

• Metacognitive deficits in children's mathematics problem-solving are exacerbated by misconceptions.
• Metacognitive abilities in these specific math domains appear to be largely independent.
• Executive functions play a modest role in supporting children's metacognitive accuracy in mathematics.