Volume/Issue :

Article type :

Original article

Page No :

7-20

Abstract :

It is common practice to use explanatory images to enhance science texts; however research done with adults suggests that such visual support does not always facilitate accurate judgements of one’s understanding of the process being studied and in some cases even may be associated with reduced metacognitive accuracy. Given that younger students’ self-regulated learning skills are still developing, this mixed-methods exploratory study assessed how the inclusion of an explanatory image below the instructional text was associated with fifth-grade students’ knowledge test performance, judgements of their own understanding and the cues used to make these judgements. The study involved 32 fifth-graders, aged 10-11 years. Students read four of six science texts covering different topics, either without an explonatory image (n= 18) or with one text related image accompanying each text (n= 14). Before completing each knowledge test, students predicted their test scores and related their abilty to explain the concept just read to a friend and draw the topic. They also described the basis for their judgements. No direct association was found between the presence of an explanatory image and students’ actual knowledge test performance. However students in the image condition predicted lower test scores, related their ability to explain the topic less highly, and showed a shift in directional calibration error toward greater underestimation. Some students in the image condition clearly reffered to the explanatory illustration when describing the factors of their judgements. These findings extend the focus from cognitive processes in adults towards how visual instructional materials are associated with younger students’ metacognitive judgements. They also provide a basis for future studies using larger samples.

Keywords :

science education, explonatory images, metacognitive accuracy, calibration of understanding, fifth-grade students

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Cite as :

Raudoniūtė, A. (2026). Aiškinamųjų paveikslų ir metakognityvinio kalibravimosi tikslumo sąsajos gamtamoksliniame ugdyme [Explanatory images and metacognitive calibration accuracy in science education]. Švietimas: politika, vadyba, kokybė / Education Policy, Management and Quality, 17(1), 7–20. https://doi.org/10.48127/spvk-epmq/26.17.07