Development of metacognitive skills during transition to new educational standards

Adoption of new educational standards requires a change of priorities in education, and, therefore, there is a need to find new ways of teaching. The author discusses correlations between development of regulatory learning skills, which contribute to the development of a student as a subject of self-directed learning, and enhancement of student’s metacognitive skills. These correlations are fully revealed in the process of tasks’ definition and problem solving. The author clarifies the concepts of a “learning task” and of an algorithm for its formulation and solution. Based on this algorithm, the author identifies steps of learning and provides a brief description of every step. This algorithm was tested in the process of teaching mathematics aimed at development of oral skills necessary to do two-digit numbers’ addition and subtraction by second grade students. The experiment showed that a process of teaching mental calculations based on the development of metacognitive skills is effective and produces qualitative changes in mental calculation skills’ acquisition.