'Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Cadiz'
Abstract
In this paper a pre-assessment activity of Newtonian mechanics for 17 year-old students is analyzed. In the activity, students need to use Newtonian mechanics to formulate hypothesis, justify predictions and draw conclusions based on the results of an experiment. The analysis of these justifications helps to identify some of the difficulties that the students encountered. The assessment of metacognitive reflection about how theoretical concepts are used is also analyzed. Results show that when students use metacognitive strategies, a deeper understanding of the ideas, as well as a better coherence in between the mental model and the observation, is identified.En este trabajo se analizó una actividad de evaluación inicial, en 1º de bachillerato, en la que los alumnos debían usar el modelo de mecánica newtoniana aprendido en cursos anteriores para lanzar hipótesis, justificar predicciones y argumentar conclusiones en base a los resultados de un trabajo experimental. El análisis de estas justificaciones posibilitó identificar algunas de las dificultades que se han de superar y, por otro lado, se analizaron las valoraciones de las estrategias de enseñanza orientadas a promover en los estudiantes una reflexión de tipo metacognitivo sobre cómo aplican los conceptos. Se ha comprobado que si se promueve en los estudiantes esta reflexión, el nivel de interiorización de las ideas trabajadas es mayor y mejora la coherencia entre el pensamiento y la observación.Palabras clave: Evaluación inicial; transferencia; mecánica; metacognición; autorregulación; educación secundaria.Metacognitive self-regulation as a means to facilitate transference into mechanicsIn this paper a pre-assessment activity of Newtonian mechanics for 17 year-old students is analyzed. In the activity, students need to use Newtonian mechanics to formulate hypothesis, justify predictions and draw conclusions based on the results of an experiment. The analysis of these justifications helps to identify some of the difficulties that the students encountered. The assessment of metacognitive reflection about how theoretical concepts are used is also analyzed. Results show that when students use metacognitive strategies, a deeper understanding of the ideas, as well as a better coherence in between the mental model and the observation, is identified.Keywords: Pre-assessment activity; transfer; mechanics; metacognition; self-regulation; secondary education