Comparison of Taiwanese and Canadian Students' Metacognitive Awareness of Science Reading, Text, and Strategies

Abstract

This study used a Chinese-language version of the Index of Science Reading Awareness to explore the science reading metacognition and comprehension of Taiwanese students. Structural equation modelling results confirmed the underlying model comprised three clusters of metacognitive knowledge: beliefs and confidence in science reading, knowledge of structure of science text, and knowledge of science reading strategies. The main contribution of the current research was to provide evidence about the relationship between metacognitive awareness and comprehension of science text. In addition, data comparisons to Canadian (British Columbia) benchmarks from the original development revealed that metacognitive awareness of science reading deteriorated from elementary to middle school in both countries, and there were no significant differences of metacognitive awareness of science reading between Canadian and Taiwanese students. Instructional suggestions for raising students' metacognitive awareness on science reading were discussed.

Keywords:

• Metacognition
• Reading comprehension
• Science education

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Science Council for funding this research (NSC 99-2511-S-005-MY3). We acknowledge and express appreciation to Professor Larry Yore (University of Victoria) and Shari Yore for their mentoring assistance in relation to this article. We also give sincere thanks to constructive suggestions by this article's reviewers.

Notes

1. The Chinese-language version of the ISRA questionnaire refers to the authors.