College Students: A Metacognitive Analysis

Metacognition is a complex notion that encompasses numerous mental processes in all areas of life. It is often simplistically described as “thinking about thinking.” However, there is no commonly recognized definition of metacognition. In his article “The Power of Reflection”, Stephen Fleming, a well-respected cognitive neuroscientist, agrees with the definition of metacognition given by John Flavell in 1970 as “our ability to evaluate our own thinking” (2). Fleming also accepts Flavell’s proposition that metacognition is “key to educational success”; indeed, the development of metacognitive thinking is vital in learning processes (1). Metacognition is a teachable concept, and has been proven to be crucial in education.

The Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI), established by Schraw and Dennison (1994) was used to measure metacognitive awareness of the participants. It contains 52 items which measures different aspects of metacognition. Items of MAI are in two sets: "Knowledge of Cognition" and "Regulation of Cognition". Seventeen objects of the MAI measure knowledge of cognition, and the remaining thirty five items measure regulation of cognition. The answers are based on true and false scale. The participants are supposed to reply the objects in 30 minutes. Different studies have supported the suitable reliability and validity of the instrumentThe validity of the this instrument has been reviewed and validated by Schraw and Dennison (1994) who performed

In my self-regulated learning survey results, I learned my strong points in the way I learn and the way I prepare myself to learn. I received a high range in most categories. One high area was metacognition. Metacognition is defined as thinking about your thinking, according to DAACS. It involves being aware of your thoughts and controlling how you approach learning. I am aware of my strengths and weaknesses; therefore, I believe this analysis is true. I know how to fully make myself receptive to what I am learning. I tend to like to plan and prepare myself for what is to come. Another strong area was strategy. Strategies are the procedures people use to enhance their learning, according to DAACS. It connects with planning and knowing your

The first two chapters of “What the Best College Students Do” cover several topics. Throughout the chapters, the lives and experiences of different college students are explored. A reoccurring theme in the book is the concept of learning styles. Essentially, the three learning styles are memorization, comprehension, and strategy. According to the author, comprehension is the most effective style of learning. While everyone will possess one of these three learning styles, it is not impossible for someone to adjust to another style. Additionally, the author elaborates on academic ideas such as independence, grades, and outside influences.

Current political discourse promotes the concept that all students when leaving school will have achieved an acceptable level of education in order that these students will survive and prosper in society. Subsequently their life choices and career directions will be determined by their ability to gather and interpret relevant information. To achieve this educators are required to teach the appropriate cognitive and metacognitive skills, so that individuals can extract and understand the information they require from any text, (Rowe, 2005).

Education is an essential indicator of success in the 21st century, students need to be acquiring skills that prepare them for the demands of the real world. Despite the mandating of high-stakes standardized tests, teachers can align their goals with higher order thinking to develop students’ cognition, problem solving abilities, and critical thinking initiatives. Cognitive development is a crucial element of a student’s success, which can be enhanced through metacognitive awareness. Implementation of Bloom’s taxonomy into instructional planning can guide educational practice such that students develop a range of cognitive skills. Essentially, the main goal of education is to prepare students for success in the real

Metacognition refers to becoming aware of one’s own thinking and one’s own reflecting - an awareness of the process itself, which leads to a “mindfulness” about life. The more effort you put into this the more you are likely to get out of it. This is a chance to take some time for yourself - time to ponder questions of importance about yourself, your world, and your future.

Metacognition refers to higher order thinking which involves active control over the cognitive processes engaged in learning. This process of thinking allows for one to learn on one’s own as “the most effective self-learners are self- regulating” (Taylor). Furthermore, numerous studies

Self Regulated Learning is a component of of the Diagnostic Assessment and Achievement of Colleges. The purpose of Self Regulated Learning is to identify your strengths and weaknesses as a learner. Using the report generated from the quiz can help you become a better student by identifying areas that may need work. The report covers meta cognition which is being aware of your thoughts and how you approach learning, strategies which evaluates your procedures used to enhance your learning,and motivation which is your desire to do something.

Within the task-definition stage, students are generating questions and making conscious choices regarding relevant information (Costa 1984, as cited in ALA, 2006). A metacognitive support system allows students to manage complex cognitive tasks and processes. (ALA, 2006)

The final objective in the FYS syllabus is the ability for students to think metacognitively. Metacognition is the ability to think about one’s thinking or the ability to “…plan, monitor, and assess one’s understanding and performance.” (Chick). To see the importance of metacognition, one must first imagine a student who cannot think metacognitively. This means that the student would not be able to determine where they are academically and what fields they excel in and which they do not. They also would have no comprehension of what they need to learn in a subject and what they already know about the subject. For example, this student may overestimate their mathematical abilities and take a Calculus course only to fail each test. This

Metacognition provides students with the opportunity to be more mindful and become aware of what they are learning, why they are learning a particular skill, and how they might apply and transfer those skills in various situations. As a school counselor, I feel as though one of my main goals is to help students develop metacognitive awareness of their own personalities, interests, abilities, values, and learning styles. Through the counseling process, I encourage students to really think about their thoughts, feelings, values, and understandings. I encourage them to express their thoughts and feelings and help students discover the root of their concerns and encourage problem solving and critical thinking in order to effectively and efficiently

The awareness of knowing what learning styles are effective and ineffective, shaping learning styles for particular circumstances, knowing one’s prior knowledge state, and effective strategies for retrieval and thinking in context are essential for students to have when it comes to learning (Ormrod p. 348). For students this could be a complex process, which is shown to be uncommon. When failing to recognize incompetence, as learners, students are unfamiliar with ways to play material into context, lacking the ability to draw on prior knowledge, or even critically question what they have read. This failure to realize their own abilities, can be improved by not only improving metacognitive skills but all building upon skills that gear towards self-regulated learning, which vary from goal setting, self-motivation, self- evaluation, to self-reflection (p. 351). Since poor performers are more likely to be unaware of their lack when it comes to metacognitive skills. Knowing one’s lack of competence can improve even with studying, students can know and identify places of weakness and know where to spend more time when it comes to certain

Fostering the student’s metacognition helped them understand the reading especially with unknown words besides the one uses as part of the vocabulary word. Being able to set the purpose and reminding them of their actions while reading gives them an opportunity to know what they are doing and what they need to focus on their reading. For a next time, first I

Generally Metacognition is defined as “how individual monitor and control their cognitive process” (Young & Fry, 2008). Metacognition refers to being able to reflect upon, understand, and control one’s learning. Previous accounts of metacognition have differentiated between two major components, including knowledge about cog¬nition and regulation of cognition (Brown, 1987; Flavell, 1987; Jacobs & Paris, 1987). Knowledge about cognition includes three sub processes that simplify the reflective aspect of metacognition: declarative knowledge (i.e., knowledge about self and about strategies), procedural knowledge (i.e., knowledge about how to use strategies), and conditional knowledge (i.e., knowledge