Metacognition in 3-6 Years Old:Evidence from a Kindergarten in Hong Kong

Metacognition in 3-6 Years Old:Evidence from a Kindergarten in Hong Kong

The study explores metacognition in young children of 3-6 years old. It presents finding from a study exploring the development of self-regulatory and metacognitive abilities in young children. The study takes the form of a descriptive, interpretative investigation using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. It involved 60 children in a local kindergarten in Hong Kong to participate in three different activities. Children participated in the activities were either done without any helped or with some forms of support. The first two activities were conducted two times, children needed to finish the task on their own the first time and with help the second time. For the third activity, the children were divided into a control and an experimental group while the control group needed to finish the task on their own and support was provided to the experimental group. In the first two activities quantitative data was collected according to the correct amount of items children were able to remember and in the third activity, a score was given to each child based on their metacognitive ability using the rubrics from Project Spectrum as reference. Qualitative data was collected in all three activities based on their behavioural performance in each activity that was video-taped. The findings showed children in age 3-6 years old have a certain sense of metacognition and the older the children the more traits of metacognitive ability can be seen during the tasks. Furthermore, in a meaningful task with different external factors provided, children were able to perform better.