Preschool Metacognitive Skill Assessment in Order to Promote Educational Sensitive Response From Mixed-Methods Approach: Complementarity of Data Analysis

Abstract

A child's metacognitive skills contribute significantly to their learning and success. However, very few studies are focused on these skills at early education and most of them are carried out from inappropriate methodological perspectives for the characteristics of the youngest students. To overcome such limitations, it is essential to carry out observational studies that analyze children's metacognitive behaviors in the natural and habitual context of children's learning, as well as appropriate tasks for their level of development. The aim of this study was to analyze the sequential and associative structure of the metacognitive skills used by 5-year-old children throughout the resolution of a playful task (a puzzle). It was interesting to know if there were different hidden structures in the use of metacognitive skills in the children who solved the puzzle and those who did not. From the methodological approach, this work was located in the perspective of mixed methods which is characterized by the integration of qualitative and quantitative elements. This integration was carried out from the “connect” option. The integration involved developing quantitizing, as one of its possibilities. Recent scientific literature has considered systematic observation, in which the QUAL-QUAN-QUAL macro stages take place, as a mixed method itself. Consequently, systematic observation was applied, because it was suitable for our aim. A Nomothetic/Punctual/Multidimensional observational design was used. The playful activity of 44 preschool children solving the puzzle individually was coded. It allowed us to obtain data matrices that respond to the QUAL stage. Regarding the QUAN stage, once the quality of data was controlled, the records were further analyzed by differentiating two groups of participants (those who had solved the puzzle and those who did not) using three quantitative techniques of observational analysis (T-pattern detection, lag sequential analysis, polar coordinate analysis). Finally data was returned to a QUAL stage to interpret the results. The use of these three techniques allowed a detailed and in-depth analysis of the children's activity. Results reveal differences in the metacognitive abilities of the children that solved and didn't solve the puzzle. These results have important implications for educational practice.

Mixed-Methods Analysis of Emotional Quality in Sports Organizations: Facial Expressions of Child Users of Sports Services as Data

“…First, there is an important correspondence between the results of the T-pattern analysis and those of the polar coordinate analysis. The data show considerable congruence between the dyadic relationships detected in the T-pattern analysis and the analysis of polar coordinates, as suggested by the results of previous studies ( Castañer et al, 2017 ; Santoyo et al, 2017 ; Tarragó et al, 2017 ; Escolano-Pérez et al, 2019 ; Portell et al, 2019 ).…”

“…analysis and the analysis of polar coordinates, as suggested by the results of previous studies (Castañer et al, 2017;Santoyo et al, 2017;Tarragó et al, 2017;Escolano-Pérez et al, 2019;Portell et al, 2019). Second, the profiles found in boys and girls have some convergent features and others that suggest gender differences.…”

Improvement of Planning Skills in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder After an Educational Intervention: A Study From a Mixed Methods Approach

“…We are unaware of works in which these data analysis techniques have been used for the evaluation of planning skills in children with ASD. Although the specifics of each of these three observational data analysis techniques (lag sequential analysis, polar coordinate analysis, and T-pattern detection) differ, all of them allow to analyze and increase understanding of the internal structure of observed behavior, as evidenced by the only two works we know that have applied these three techniques together for the analysis of child behavior, and also in school context (Santoyo et al, 2017;Escolano-Pérez et al, 2019). Consequently, the complementary use of these three powerful data analysis techniques would allow a more exhaustive evaluation of the planning skills of children with ASD.…”

“…This technique has been widely used in studies that analyze sports behavior, but its use in studies in the educational field is somewhat sparse (Herrero-Nivela and Pleguezuelos, 2008;Santoyo et al, 2017;García-Fariña et al, 2018;Escolano-Pérez et al, 2019). Especially, scarce are the studies with ASD students in which this data analysis technique has been used (Canal and Rivière, 1993;Rodríguez-Medina et al, 2018).…”

A Mixed Methods Framework for Psychoanalytic Group Therapy: From Qualitative Records to a Quantitative Approach Using T-Pattern, Lag Sequential, and Polar Coordinate Analyses

“…These quantitative techniques are highly appropriate for the analysis of qualitative data collected by direct observation ( Anguera et al, 2017b ) and indirect observation ( Anguera et al, 2018 ) and suitably organized in code matrices within the framework of a mixed methods study ( Anguera et al, in press ). To date, the three techniques have been applied in combination in the fields of education ( Santoyo et al, 2017 ; Escolano-Pérez et al, 2019 ) and sport ( Tarragó et al, 2017 ).…”