Abstract
A metacognitive didactic proposal was implemented with a group of first-year university students, randomly selected from four Biology courses, in order to (1) analyze the possible association between metacognitive practices (PM) of one hour a week with three key questions, and the overcoming of flaws in the learning of protein synthesis; (2) identify and compare cognitive meta-skills implicit in the reflections by the students who did or did not carry out PM, upon review of their answers to the exam questions on protein synthesis; and (3) describe the students’ answers that did or did not carry out PM, when dealing with a metacognitive activity autonomously during exam revision. The results support that the performance of PM during the course would allow students to improve their learning of complex topics, such as protein synthesis, and to value comprehension strategies over memorization or attention.
Keywords:
Biology teaching; Metacognitive practices; Learning diary; Higher education; Didactic proposal