Metacognitive training and AI-based Socratic scaffolding in pre-service teachers' reflective practice: a dual-study experimental design.
- 1Normal College, Changzhou Institute of Technology, Changzhou, China.
- 2Department of Public Education, Anhui Finance & Trade Vocational College, Hefei, China.
- 3College of Preschool Education, Shanghai Normal University Tianhua College, Shanghai, China.
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.
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BibTeX
@article{zhang2026metacognitive,
title = {{Metacognitive training and AI-based Socratic scaffolding in pre-service teachers' reflective practice: a dual-study experimental design.}},
author = {Wen Li Zhang and Sijie Sun and Lifan Hu and Li Liu and Wenwuyu Gao and Shuangqi Li},
journal = {Frontiers in psychology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1960962},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948052},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Metacognitive training and AI-based Socratic scaffolding in pre-service teachers' reflective practice: a dual-study experimental design.
AU - Wen Li Zhang
AU - Sijie Sun
AU - Lifan Hu
AU - Li Liu
AU - Wenwuyu Gao
AU - Shuangqi Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
JO - Frontiers in psychology
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1960962
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948052
AB - 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.
SN - 1664-1078
ER -