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Pre-service student teachers (PSSTs) should improve their metacognition in order to support their long-term development in their future complex teaching and learning lives. Although previous studies have explored the role of metacognition in learners' learning effectiveness, the interrelationships pattern of metacognition elements in the process of metacognition and the metacognition characteristics of different genders and learning performance groups still remain unclear. This study clarified the intrinsic structure of metacognition, and gender and learning performance differences among PSSTs in an online learning community. We collected 33 PSSTs' self-reported reflection data on six learning topics. A total of 1,188 reflection paragraphs were coded and 2,335 metacognitive utterances were presented based on the metacognition model. Subsequently, this study identified metacognitive components among different groups of PSSTs by comparing epistemic networks of self-reported reflections via epistemic network analysis. Results show that metacognitive components of PSSTs in an online learning community were mainly metacognitive experiences (36.32%) and actions (or strategies) (28.01%). Female PSSTs used metacognitive knowledge (21.4%) and goals (or tasks) (15.8%) more frequently, and the relationship between their metacognitive knowledge and goals (or tasks) was closer compared with male PSSTs. Specifically, the ENA results showed that the associations between metacognitive knowledge and goals (or tasks) (connection coefficient: 0.24) of females were stronger than those of males. In addition, the high learning performance group used metacognitive knowledge (18.7%) and goals (or tasks) (15.9%) more frequently, and they also had a closer connection between metacognitive knowledge and goals (or tasks) compared with the high learning performance group. Specifically, the ENA results showed that compared with the low learning performance PSSTs, high learning performance PSSTs' metacognitive knowledge and goals (or tasks) had a higher connection coefficient (0.32). The findings provide broad and important implications for analyzing metacognition of PSSTs in the network environment, and provide new evidence for metacognition differences between different groups (gender and learning performance).

Pair programming (PP) can help improve students' computational thinking (CT), but the trajectory of CT skills and the differences between high-scoring and low-scoring students in PP are unknown and need further exploration. In this study, a total of 32 fifth graders worked on Scratch tasks in 16 pairs. The group discourse of three learning topics (comprising 9 projects) was collected. After the audio files were transcribed, 1,303 conversations were obtained. They were analyzed via Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) Webkit, which can reveal the trajectory of students' CT development via analyzing codes of discourse related to CT in PP. Three Scratch learning topics were assessed based on the Dr. Scratch platform to acquire the level of students' CT and to determine the low- and high-scoring groups. Results indicated that CT concepts and CT practices were always closely related in PP and CT practices, and CT perspectives could be gradually and closely related after a long period of CT training. A significant difference between the two groups' CT structures was found. The high-scoring group had more fragments of CT practice and connecting of CT perspectives, while the low-scoring group showed more fragments of CT concepts and expressing of CT perspectives. This research provides insights into cultivating primary school students' CT using Scratch in the context of PP. The findings can provide suggestions for instructors to design instructional interventions to facilitate students' CT skills via PP learning. Instructors can improve CT skills by guiding students to constantly ask questions, and specifying the role swap between driver and navigator in PP. Besides, instructors could give more consideration to the development of CT perspectives, and especially the ability to question.