The quasi-experimental, two-group (treatment and comparison), pretest--posttest study of metacognition, epistemological beliefs, and science content achievement explored the effectiveness of argument-based inquiry (ABI) instruction as opposed to traditional teacher-directed lectures and structured activities. Participants included 60 eight-grade…

Relationships between students' grade-level, epistemic beliefs, metacognition, and science achievement were investigated separately for low and high-achieving schools. A total of 587 students in low achieving schools and 600 students in high achieving schools from fifth, sixth, and eighth grades constituted the study sample. Exploratory and…

Agreement has become widespread that students' peer-to-peer argumentation should play a central role in science classrooms. Coordinating evidence with claims lies at the heart of a skilled argument. Yet evidence takes numerous forms that pose different interpretational challenges. Might cognitive limitations on the part of the individual student…

This qualitative study explores lower secondary school students' experiences with components of a universal school-based social and emotional learning (SEL) intervention in relation to coping with academic stress. The intervention aimed at promoting the following five social and emotional competencies (SEC): relationship skills, emotional…

This study investigated the effects of metaconceptually-enhanced, simulation-based inquiry learning on eighth grade students' conceptual change in science and their development of science epistemic beliefs. Two experimental groups studied the topics of motion and force using the same computer simulations but with different simulation guides: one…

This study examines the contribution of epistemological beliefs to middle school students' reported use of self-regulated learning strategies. One hundred and sixty 8th and 9th graders from three public middle schools participated in the study. Gender was about equally represented in the sample (89 girls, 71 boys). During the group examination…

This study examined epistemic metacognition as a reflective activity about knowledge and knowing in the context of online information searching on the Web, and whether it was related to prior knowledge on the topic, study approach, and domain-specific beliefs about science. In addition, we investigated whether Internet-based learning was…

The research questions addressed in this study were: what types of epistemological beliefs do elementary students have; what types of metacognition do elementary students have; and what are the relationships among students' perceived characteristics of constructivist learning environment, metacognition, and epistemological beliefs. A total of 626…

This study reported an investigation of eighth graders' (14-year-olds) web searching strategies and outcomes, and then analyzed their correlations with students' web experiences, epistemological beliefs, and the nature of searching tasks. Eighty-seven eighth graders were asked to fill out a questionnaire for probing epistemological beliefs (from…