BSED Major in Social Studies 2

A Study on the Metacognitive Awareness of Secondary School Students

Universal Journal of Educational Research, 4(1): 165-172, 2016

DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2016.040121

A Study on the Metacognitive Awareness of Secondary School Students
Sajna Jaleel and Premachandran. P
School of Pedagogical Sciences, M.G. University, India

Copyright © 2016 by the authors. All rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

Metacognition refers to "thinking about one's own thinking." There are two aspects of metacognition: (1) reflection-thinking about what we know, and (2) self-regulation-managing how we approach learning. Together, these processes form an important aspect of learning and development. Developing metacognitive abilities goes beyond becoming reflective learners; it also involves acquiring specific learning strategies. Various terms associated with metacognition include metacognitive beliefs, metacognitive awareness, metacognitive experiences, metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive skills, executive skills, higher-order skills, metacomponents, and metamemory.

Metacognitive awareness is the ability to understand how one thinks. It enables students to be more mindful of what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how the skills they are learning can be applied in different situations. The investigators in this study aimed to analyze the metacognitive awareness of secondary school students using a standardized awareness inventory. The study also sought to determine if there were significant differences between subgroups based on gender, locality, and type of school management regarding metacognitive awareness. Appropriate statistical techniques were employed for data collection and analysis.

Keywords: Metacognitive Awareness, Metacognitive Awareness Scale, Secondary School Students

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1. Introduction

Metacognition is often referred to as "thinking about thinking." It is a regulatory system that helps individuals understand and control their cognitive performance. Metacognition enables people to take charge of their learning processes. The phrase "going meta" is sometimes used to describe the process of stepping back to observe one's actions, as if being an audience of one's own intellectual performance.

"Metacognition was originally defined as the knowledge about and regulation of one's own cognitive activities during the learning process" [Flavell, 1979; Brown, 1978]. It involves awareness of learning, evaluating learning needs, generating strategies to meet these needs, and implementing those strategies [Hacker, 2009].

Metacognition is typically divided into two interrelated components: metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation. Metacognitive knowledge refers to awareness of one's thinking, while metacognitive regulation refers to the ability to manage one's thinking processes. These components together inform learning theory.

Flavell [1979] described three types of metacognitive knowledge:

1. Awareness of knowledge - Understanding what one knows, does not know, and wants to know. This may also include awareness of others' knowledge.

2. Awareness of thinking - Understanding cognitive tasks and the requirements to complete them.

3. Awareness of thinking strategies - Understanding approaches to direct learning.

Questions such as "How do I study best?" or "What tools help me learn?" engage metacognitive knowledge. This knowledge allows students to assess their abilities and reflect on specific learning processes. Metacognitive regulation includes setting goals, solving problems, organizing ideas, and evaluating what is known and not known. It also involves teaching others and making thinking processes visible.