When Metacognition Works—And When It Doesn’t: Investigating the CRIME Technique in Middle School Mathematics

Purpose: This research aimed to examine the effect of teaching ratio-proportion and percentages on subjects of 7th-grade students using the CRIME technique, one of the metacognitive teaching methods. Methodology: The case study model, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. Qualitative studies examining the learning process was determined, and the researcher prepared five semi-structured interview items for the interview form. The study group consisted of six students studying in the 7th grade at a public school in a province in the northeast of Turkey. Purposeful sampling method was used to determine the participants of the study. For this purpose, participants were determined from the 24-person student group to which the application was made using the maximum diversity sampling method. The selected students were identified by asking the questions in the interview form. Findings: The result of the study show that the metacognitive CRIME technique increased motivation, problem-solving, course success, and metacognitive skills. The study determined that the metacognitive CRIME technique improved metacognitive monitoring and evaluation skills in high-achieving students. Highlights: At the same time, it did not show any change in the metacognitive skills of students with medium and low levels of success, which is an original result. Unique result of the study is that the metacognitive CRIME technique was effective in the problem-solving skills of medium-achieving students. At the same time, there was no change in the problem-solving skills of low-achieving students.