Research On The Effects Of Metacognitive Strategies On Higher-order Thinking Skills In Reading Domain Of Middle School Students

Contemporary educational scholars believe that higher-order thinking is an important ability for students to successfully complete complex tasks and solve poorly constructed problems,and is also an advanced complex ability necessary for learners to face the new era of increasing change.The development of higher-order thinking skills has gradually become a focus and a hot topic in the development of thinking skills in primary and secondary schools.Reading is an important way for individual learners to acquire knowledge and information,and it is fundamental and important to develop students’ higher-order thinking skills in the area of reading.At the basic education level,school education,as an important place for students’ learning and development,plays an important role in the cultivation and development of students’ higher-order thinking skills in reading.Therefore,optimising the learning ability of students in basic education,especially the development level of metacognitive strategies of junior secondary school students,is the first task to improve the development of students’ higher order thinking skills in reading.Based on a review of the research background,this study intends to delve into three major aspects: What is the level of development of middle school students’ higher-order thinking in the area of reading? What is the impact of the elements of metacognitive strategies on the higher-order thinking skills in reading for junior high school students? Are there other mediating variables that influence metacognitive strategies on higher-order thinking skills? What can be done to develop students’ higher-order thinking skills in the area of reading in the classroom?This study uses data from the 2018 survey of the Programme for International Student Assessment(also known as PISA),which focused on the area of reading.The study reports that metacognitive strategies have a broader impact on the higher-order thinking skills of students in the 15-year-old age group(middle school students).The effects of three metacognitive strategies,comprehension memory strategy,overview summary strategy,and credibility assessment strategy,on the subjects’ higher-order thinking skills were measured and analysed.The metacognitive strategies and higher-order thinking skills were further analysed by selecting the student classroom participation variable as a mediating variable.The study found that: secondary school students in China have an average level of higher-order thinking ability in reading;the level of metacognitive strategy use is the main factor influencing higher-order thinking ability in reading;the level of metacognitive strategy reflects students’ interest in reading and reading behaviour to a certain extent;and students’ classroom participation has multiple effects on students’ higher-order thinking ability in reading.The study suggests: firstly,based on the perspective of metacognitive strategies,cultivating self-regulation ability and self-correction ability to promote the development of students’ higher-order thinking ability in reading;secondly,in the classroom teaching,teachers build an efficient classroom with problem-driven as the core to enhance students’ classroom participation and cultivate students’ higher-order thinking;finally,starting from the progression of thinking in the reading domain,deepening reading comprehension and advocating higher-order reading.