La bitácora de disenõ, artefacto cognitivo de aprendizaje: Externalización de modelos mentales y metacognición

The logbook, an instrument used in the teaching-learning processes in design, is often used as a project record and not as a means of outsourcing students' mental models and their transformation during a course. In this article of theoretical reflection, we investigate how the design log can be a cognitive learning device to promote metacognition in the formative process. To this end, a historical-cultural cognitive approach is proposed in relation to the concept of metacognition, as a fundamental aspect for deep learning and thus understand the design logbook from the notion of cognitive artifact, which is constructed in the relationships between the agents involved in the classroom. Next, the conceptual framework is established from where the categories and possible variables are formulated to understand the external representations that are presented in the design logbook, from their physical, symbolic and cognitive levels. These external representations, as symbolic elements, are evidence of the subject's mental models and their approach to problem solving from designerly thinking. As a result, a matrix with observable features of metacognitive dimensions and processes is presented.