Abstract
This paper details a study of upper primary (elementary) students’ thinking as they go about solving a problem, presented in an innovative computer program. Student responses to a metacognitive probe question reveal levels of responses that can be classified because of their shared quality. A thematic analysis was conducted with the initial classifications being based on theoretically derived categories from the metacognitive literature. These classifications were subsequently ordered into a taxonomy of hierarchical progression towards metacognition. Results in this instance indicated that less than 20% of these upper primary students showed they were capable of operating at a metacognitive level.
Highlights
An important goal of education is to develop and promote effective learning
In order to examine how metacognitive thought develops, this study investigates what learners report about their thinking as they go about problem solving
At Level 7 there is evidence of ‘taught’ planning techniques, that is those strategies that appear in the curriculum as appropriate for problem solving (Costa, 1981) e.g. “Memorising the key parts of the problem I think are important”, “First I’ll check is it hard or easy, I would look at the question carefully”
Summary
An important goal of education is to develop and promote effective learning. Research has acknowledged that metacognition is a powerful predictor of learning (Wang, Haertel, & Walberg, 1990; Veenman & Elshout, 1999). More effective learning outcomes are related to a learner’s ability to be metacognitive. 2014, Vol 1, No 2 ability appears essential for learning when learners operate at the boundary of their knowledge” Flavell (1979) identified metacognition as knowledge about variables related to a person, task or strategy. Metacognition involves a learner’s awareness of his or her motives and abilities and the demands of the learning task, along with the degree of control and regulation the learner has over his or her cognitive activities. Later conceptualisations of metacognition (Baker & Brown, 1984) introduced the notion of self-regulation through mechanisms such as checking the outcome, planning, monitoring effectiveness, testing, revising, and evaluation strategies. Metacognitive learners understand, analyse and control cognitive process (Klassen, Krawchuk & Rajani, 2008; Tarricone, 2011), that is, they control the processes of thinking about their thinking
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