Enhancing Metacognitive Practices in Science Education Students Using the Intelligencies for Nation Building

Abstract

This study investigated how to enhance metacognitive practices in science education students using the intelligencies for nation building. The study adopted the survey design.180 undergraduate students were randomly sampled from the faculty of Education, Imo state university, Owerri. Seventeen item rating scale was used for data collection. The instrument was structured on a four point scale of Most Often (MO), Often (O), Rarely Often (RO) and Never (N). Three experts from Measurement and Evaluation (2) and one from Science Education scrutinized the instrument to ensure validity. The Cronbach Alpha Reliability Co-efficient was used to determine the reliability of the instrument and it yielded a reliability index of 0.78. The mean and standard deviation was used for answering the research questions. Any mean score below 2.50 was not upheld while a mean of 2.50 and above was accepted. Findings from the study show the following: the use of Linguistic intelligence to enhance metacognitive practices show that the learners are yet to use such strategy often since 13 out of the 14 items that elicited responses were below the cut-off mean while the use of Kinesthetic intelligence to enhance metacognitive practices show that the learners often use such strategy often since 2 out of the 3 items that elicited responses were above the cut-off mean. It was recommended that teachers provide Questions for students to ask themselves as they plan, monitor, and evaluate their thinking within four learning contexts—in class, assignments, quizzes/exams, and the course as a whole. Also prompts for integrating metacognition into discussions of pairs during clicker activities, assignments, and quiz or exam preparation should be encouraged.