Impact of collaborative STEAM learning on the development of metacognitive skills in students

This study was conducted to understand how collaborative learning within a STEAM framework had influenced the development of metacognitive skills among primary and secondary students, considering the persistent challenges of cognitive self-regulation in Latin American educational contexts. The general objective was to determine the impact of this interdisciplinary methodology on students’ planning, monitoring, and self-assessment abilities. A mixed-method sequential explanatory design was applied, including pretest and posttest questionnaires administered to 600 students and semi-structured interviews with 100 teachers. The results showed significant improvements in students’ ability to organize study strategies, evaluate their performance, and reflect on the cognitive processes used. Teachers' interviews supported these findings, describing increased autonomy, active participation, and meaningful engagement in collaborative tasks. Overall, the STEAM intervention enabled students to develop greater metacognitive awareness, demonstrating that disciplinary integration and cooperative work constituted effective pathways for enhancing cognitive self-regulation and promoting deeper learning