Effects of Mobile-based Ethnobiology Instruction on Students’ Metacognitive Skills

The dataset for this study was generated as part of a quasi-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design investigating the effects of Mobile-based Ethnobiology Instruction (MBEI) on students’ metacognitive skills in biology. Data were gathered from 30 Grade 10 students in a public high school in San Gabriel, La Union, during the third quarter of School Year 2020–2021, through synchronous and asynchronous online distance learning. Students completed the Metacognitive Skills Scale (MSS), which measures knowledge of learning strategies, planning, monitoring, and evaluation, before and after the intervention. Additional qualitative data were obtained from weekly reflection journals and structured interviews, providing insights into students’ self-regulation, motivation, collaboration, and technological self-efficacy. The dataset includes anonymized pretest and posttest scores, coded reflection journal entries, and interview transcripts. These data can be interpreted to evaluate both statistical changes in metacognitive skills and the qualitative themes emerging from students’ learning experiences, and may be used by other researchers to explore links between mobile-based instruction, ethnobiology integration, and metacognitive development in secondary education.