We discuss an interventional study carried out in an experimental context in which the adult-child interaction was characterized by metacognitive activities whose goal was to help children to overcome difficulties with the concept of division. The proposed metacognitive activities involved helping the child reach awareness of the procedures used in solving problems, associated with an explanation of the division invariable principles of the division concept. The study consisted of a pre- and post-test taken by 100 lower-class children aged 8 to 11 who were in the 4th grade in public schools in Recife and presented difficulties with division. The children were divided into a control group and an experimental group. The children in the experimental group participated in the aforementioned intervention. The relation between metacognition and learning is illustrated by the presentation and discussion of passages taken from the intervention sessions. The results show that, in the pre-test, the two groups presented no differences, both of them presenting the same level of difficulties. However, after the intervention, participants in the experimental group overcame their initial difficulties, but this was not observed in the participants in the control group.
metacognition; learning; concept of division; children; Elementary School
