Themen für Masterarbeiten

Beschreibung: In this longitudinal research project, we investigate how adolescents develop metacognitive skills during the first three years of secondary school, a critical developmental period for becoming more self-regulated learners. Specifically, we examine how well students can recognize and correct their errors while working on cognitively demanding tasks.

The study includes two types of metacognitive tasks, along with additional measures of IQ, working memory, school achievement, and indicators of learning and attention difficulties. This provides a rich dataset to explore the development of metacognition and its relation to broader learning processes.

The master thesis will start in the Fall Semester 2025 and continue through the Spring Semester 2026, during the second year of data collection. Students currently in 8th grade across 23 school classes are taking part. As a master student, you will support the data collection in schools and be involved in preparation, coding, and data handling. Your project work (10 ECTS) is directly tied to the thesis topic.

Potential research questions include:
What characterises students who show difficulties with metacognition
Why do some adolescents lag behind their peers in this domain?
Are metacognitive difficulties linked to broader challenges in learning and attention?

You can write your thesis in German or English. Work times for the project phase will be discussed jointly. Some presence during school visits and regular office work (especially in the first semester) is important due to working with protected data.

If you are interested in this thesis topic, please send your application (motivation and CV) to Prof. Dr. Mariëtte van Loon, mariette.vanloon@psychologie.uzh.ch)
Kontakt: Prof. Dr. Mariette van Loon, E-Mail