Enhancing cognitive planning in first-year secondary education students

Abstract

This research uses metaphor and the PASS theory of intelligence to improve planning capacity and executive functions in first-year secondary education students. It analyses the effect of social, family and cultural variables on school performance and planning. It combines 2 methodological designs: A quasi-experimental design, with an experimental group and a control group, of 59 and 57 students, respectively, to gauge improved planning after 12 intervention sessions applying metaphor and following the tenets of the PASS theory. A cross-sectional design is used to analyse the relationship between planning and social, family, cultural, and academic performance variables (N=116). The results reveal significantly improved planning capacity in the experimental group versus the control group after the 12 intervention sessions. Relationships were also found between the father's job and their involvement in their children's studies, and between parental control and student planning. It concludes that cognitive stimulation is effective, and that socioeconomic background of students and their family relationships maintain a statistically significant association with their school performance and their ability to plan.