Enhancing Mathematical Reasoning in the Classroom: The Effects of Cooperative Learning and Metacognitive Training

2003/01/01 by Bracha Kramarski, Zemira R. Mevarech · 451 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Cognition #Cognitive psychology #Education and Technology Integration #Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods #Mathematics Education and Teaching Techniques #Mathematics education #Meta-analysis #Metacognition #Psychology #Transfer of training

paper · doi:10.3102/00028312040001281

published in American Educational Research Journal 40(1), 281-310 (SAGE Publishing)

openalex publication_date 2003/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of four instructional methods on students’ mathematical reasoning and metacognitive knowledge. The participants were 384 eighth-grade students. The instructional methods were cooperative learning combined with metacognitive training (COOP+META), individualized learning combined with metacognitive training (IND+META), cooperative learning without metacognitive training (COOP), and individualized learning without metacognitive training (IND). Results showed that the COOP+META group significantly outperformed the IND +META group, which in turn significantly outperformed the COOP and IND groups on graph interpretation and various aspects of mathematical explanations. Furthermore, the metacognitive groups (COOP+META and IND +META) outperformed their counterparts (COOP and IND) on graph construction (transfer tasks) and metacognitive knowledge. This article presents theoretical and practical implications of the findings.

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