An investigation of the effect of the metacognitive inquiry-supported self-regulated learning method on fourth-grade students' problem-solving and problem-posing skills

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the self-regulated learning method supported by metacognitive questioning on the problem-solving and problem-posing skills of 4th-grade primary school students. The study was conducted with 16 students attending a public primary school affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in the Ümraniye district of Istanbul during the 2024–2025 academic year. An embedded mixed-methods design was used in the research. Quantitative data were obtained from problem-solving pre- and post-tests and problem-posing pre- and post-tests, while qualitative data were collected from worksheets used during the implementation process and researcher observation notes. The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was used for the quantitative data analysis. The results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in the students' problem-solving performance, whereas there was a significant but negative difference in their problem-posing performance. The analysis of the qualitative data revealed that students particularly experienced difficulties in following instructions and failed to deepen their thinking processes, which was consistent with the negative quantitative findings. In conclusion, the metacognitive questioning-supported self-regulated learning method did not lead to a significant improvement in problem-solving skills within this group of students and resulted in a negative change in favor of the post-test in their problem-posing skills.