{
  "abstract": "This study examined whether metacognitive strategy training strengthens the contribution of an AI-based Socratic reflection system to pre-service teachers' reflective practice. Study 1 used a 2 (metacognitive training: present vs. absent) × 2 (tool condition: AI-based Socratic scaffolding vs. traditional digital tools) randomized between-subjects design (N = 60; n = 15 per cell). Written reflection quality at post-test was analyzed by ANCOVA with pre-test performance as the covariate. The metacognitive-training main effect was significant, F(1, 55) = 33.89, p < 0.001, η ² p = 0.381, as was the tool-condition main effect, F(1, 55) = 9.63, p = 0.003, η ² p = 0.149. More importantly, the metacognition × tool interaction was significant, F(1, 55) = 10.91, p = 0.002, η ² p = 0.165. Under metacognitive training, AI-based Socratic scaffolding produced a significant model-estimated advantage over traditional digital tools (ΔM = 0.56, p < 0.001), whereas the tool difference was not significant without metacognitive training (ΔM = -0.03, p = 0.821). Study 2 examined dialogue logs from the two AI conditions. Participants who received metacognitive training generated a substantially larger proportion of higher-order prompts than participants who received placebo training (44.1% vs. 12.2%), t(28) = 7.14, p < 0.001, d = 2.61. These process data are consistent with the proposed account that metacognitive preparation changes how learners engage with AI, although they do not constitute a formal mediation test. The findings suggest that, within this configured Socratic AI environment, metacognitive preparation is an important condition for realizing higher-quality reflective practice.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Normal College, Changzhou Institute of Technology, Changzhou, China.",
    "Department of Public Education, Anhui Finance & Trade Vocational College, Hefei, China.",
    "College of Preschool Education, Shanghai Normal University Tianhua College, Shanghai, China."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Wen Li Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sijie Sun"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Lifan Hu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Li Liu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Wenwuyu Gao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Shuangqi Li"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/49hw8tg1x5w9z.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1960962",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13710275",
  "id": "49hw8tg1x5w9z",
  "issns": [
    "1664-1078"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948052",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3304|Reflective Practices in Education"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221608442",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13710275?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13710275",
  "pmid": "42948052",
  "published": "2026-10-13",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/49hw8tg1x5w9z.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T00:20:34Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42948052",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948052"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:16Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13710275",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1960962"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [],
  "title": "Metacognitive training and AI-based Socratic scaffolding in pre-service teachers' reflective practice: a dual-study experimental design.",
  "title_text": "Metacognitive training and AI-based Socratic scaffolding in pre-service teachers' reflective practice: a dual-study experimental design.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-31T12:21:16Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/49hw8tg1x5w9z",
  "venue": "Frontiers in psychology",
  "versions": []
}