A Comparative Study on the Effectiveness of Metacognitive and Problem Solving Training on the Awareness of Teaching – Learning Strategies of High School Gifted Male Students in Ardabil

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of metacognition and problem solving training on teaching-learning strategies awareness of gifted high school male students of 10th grade in Ardabil. This research is a quasi-experimental research, with a pre-test/ post-test design. 127 gifted high school male students of Ardabil were participated in the study as the statistical population in 2017-18 academic year. Sixty of these students were selected through simple random sampling. Before starting the training programs, three groups were tested by the Weinstein Teaching-Learning Strategies Questionnaire first developed by Weinstein and Schultz (1987). Metacognitive training program was taught for the first experimental group, and problem solving skills program was taught for the second experimental group; each training program consisted of eight two-hour sessions and the control group did not receive any kind of training. Pre-test and post-test results were analyzed using MANOVA. The results showed that both metacognitive and problem solving training enhance teaching and learning skills and that metacognitive training is more effective in terms of test strategies, attitudes, focus, and time management. Also, similar effects were achieved in terms of information processing and selection of the main idea, anxiety, motivation, self-examination, study guide in the two groups. In conclusion, metacognitive training was proven to be more effective than problem solving training.