The effectiveness of teaching cognitive metacognitive strategies and participatory learning on learned helplessness and problem solving skills of 11th grade students in Meshginshahr

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of teaching metacognitive strategies and participatory learning on reducing learned helplessness and increasing problem solving skills of 11th grade students in Meshginshahr.

The research method was experimental with pre-test design and post-test with control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all second grade male students of the second secondary school in Meshginshahr in the academic year of 1995-96. Among them, 80 male students with learned helplessness scores and low problem-solving skills in physics were selected and randomly assigned to three groups: one control group and two experimental groups. The participants of the experimental group were trained in metacognitive strategies and participatory learning. The Queens and Nelson learned helplessness questionnaire and Cassidy and Lang problem solving were used to collect data. Data were analyzed by multivariate covariance statistical method.

The results showed that the research hypothesis that the effectiveness of teaching metacognitive strategies and participatory learning on reducing helplessness and increasing problem solving skills has been confirmed. Thus, the mean post-test scores of the students in the experimental groups were significantly higher than the students in the control group in the tests related to reducing helplessness and increasing problem-solving skills.

The findings emphasize the effectiveness of teaching metacognitive strategies and participatory learning in reducing learned helplessness and increasing students' problem-solving skills. The research findings are discussed according to theoretical and experimental evidence and some suggestions are provided for this purpose.