Writing and Metacognition: How Italian Students Represent the School Organization and the Assessment Processes

The importance of involving students in writing activities that encourage them to work on metacognitive
processes is shared by educational experts (Albanese et al., 2003; Harris et al., 2010; De Simone et al., 2015).
During the formative process, activities that require students to use judgment and critical thinking skills, as well
as challenging them to reflect on themes close to their daily-life, are those reported to be more effective (Bruning
& Horn, 2000; Boscolo & Gelati, 2007; Smith et al., 2007). The paper presents the results of a writing laboratory
developed with Italian undergraduate students. The students were freshmen at the Department of Education of
the Roma Tre University. The main objective was to work on the metacognitive skills of students, asking them
to clarify their idea of "school organization and assessment processes in Italy", through a written paper. In
addition to argumentative texts, students were asked to identify one or more illustrations to support their own
judgment. The research hypothesis was that ideas that students have about scholastic organization and about
assessment processes could considerably influence the way in which they approach their academic path. The
products of the laboratory were systematically shared and discussed with the students. The result of the
research confirms the importance of working with students on writing skills and on metacognition. These are
shown to be relevant to the students' educational and professional future.