Mind mapping as a meta-learning strategy: Stimulating pre-adolescents' text-learning strategies and performance?

This study examined the effectiveness of two instructional approaches of mind mapping used as a meta learning strategy to stimulate fifth- and sixth-graders' text-learning strategies and recall performance. Thirty-five fifth- and sixth-grade teachers and 644 students from 17 different elementary schools participated. A randomized quasi-experimental repeated measures design was set up with two experimental conditions and one control condition. Students in the experimental conditions received a 10-week teacher delivered instructional treatment, working with either researcher-provided or student-generated mind maps. Multilevel piecewise growth analysis was used to examine the evolution in students' cognitive and metacognitive text-learning strategies, and free recall performance. Results show the greatest gains from pre- to posttest and sustained effects from pdst- to retention test in observable cognitive text learning strategy use for students in the condition with researcher-provided mind maps. These findings have direct implications for both research and practice. Challenges and facilitating factors for school based intervention research are discussed. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.