Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the facilitating effect of AI-generated content (AIGC)–assisted science exploration autonomous games on children’s metacognitive development, to propose a metacognitive cycle design, and to verify its effectiveness through experimental methods. METHODS: The study was conducted with 60 five-year-old children in a public kindergarten in Hunan Province, China. The experimental group received a science exploration autonomous game with AIGC assistance and a metacognitive cycle design intervention, while the control group played regular autonomous games only. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to measure and analyze changes in children’s metacognitive levels. RESULTS: The metacognitive ability of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05). The science exploration autonomous game was shown to be an effective vehicle for metacognitive development, and the AIGC intervention optimized the experiences of both the pre-game guiding phase and the post-game reflective phase. CONCLUSION: The metacognitive cycle design provides an actionable, technology-enabled pathway for the preschool field by constructing a closed-loop mechanism that strengthens children’s ability to plan, monitor, regulate, and reflect.
Keywords
Metacognitive cycle design; Science exploration autonomous game; Artificial intelligence-generated content; Preschool education
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.619
Citation
Yi, L.,and Xu, Y.(2025) Metacognitive Cycle Design Based on AIGC and Science Exploration Autonomous Games, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.619
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 12 - Design Education
Metacognitive Cycle Design Based on AIGC and Science Exploration Autonomous Games
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the facilitating effect of AI-generated content (AIGC)–assisted science exploration autonomous games on children’s metacognitive development, to propose a metacognitive cycle design, and to verify its effectiveness through experimental methods. METHODS: The study was conducted with 60 five-year-old children in a public kindergarten in Hunan Province, China. The experimental group received a science exploration autonomous game with AIGC assistance and a metacognitive cycle design intervention, while the control group played regular autonomous games only. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to measure and analyze changes in children’s metacognitive levels. RESULTS: The metacognitive ability of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05). The science exploration autonomous game was shown to be an effective vehicle for metacognitive development, and the AIGC intervention optimized the experiences of both the pre-game guiding phase and the post-game reflective phase. CONCLUSION: The metacognitive cycle design provides an actionable, technology-enabled pathway for the preschool field by constructing a closed-loop mechanism that strengthens children’s ability to plan, monitor, regulate, and reflect.