LMS-supported Metacognitive Scaffolding and Digital Competence in Pre-service Teachers

Abstract

Digital competence and metacognitive self-regulation are increasingly treated as core outcomes of teacher education, yet their co-development through routine learning management system (LMS) use remains underexamined. This study evaluated a 15-week Platonus-based intervention at L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Kazakhstan. The intervention integrated metacognitive prompts with professionally relevant digital tasks, connecting learning-to-learn support with digital pedagogy in teacher preparation. A quasi-experimental, non-equivalent groups design involved 249 final-year pre-service teachers: 125 students completed structured LMS activities combining multimedia modules, reflective journals, prediction–feedback quizzes, discussion forums, peer review and digital lesson production, while 124 students received the same course content through conventional instruction with minimal LMS use. Baseline equivalence was assessed, and outcome changes were analysed using 2 × 2 mixed-design analyses of variance; open-ended responses and LMS activity data were used to contextualise the quantitative findings. Metacognitive awareness was measured with the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory, and perceived professional digital competence with a DigCompEdu-informed self-report questionnaire. Mixed-design analyses of variance showed significant Time × Group interactions for metacognitive awareness, F(1, 247) = 98.3, p < .001, partial η² = .285, and perceived digital competence, F(1, 247) = 123.5, p < .001, partial η² = .333. The experimental group gained 11.8 points in metacognitive awareness and 17.8 points in perceived digital competence on 0–100 scales, whereas control-group changes were small. Supplementary open-ended feedback identified immediate formative feedback and peer exchange as the most salient affordances of the LMS activities. The design offers a practical model for teacher-education programmes: structured cycles of prediction, reflection, feedback, peer interaction and digital production can connect self-regulation with pedagogical technology use without requiring a new platform. Within this single institutional context, the findings indicate that an existing LMS can be redesigned as a pedagogical scaffold linking planning, monitoring and evaluation with authentic digital teaching practice; however, the unusually large effects require independent replication before broader conclusions are drawn.