Metacognition and dyslexia:towards an increased understanding of the cognitive knowledge and self-regulation practices of students with dyslexia in higher education

Abstract

This thesis examines the metacognitive and self-regulatory practices of students with dyslexia in higher education. It focuses on the understanding that these students have of their learning, the strategies they use and factors that determine how and why strategies are used. The study further examines the planning, organisation, management and evaluation of their learning. From an insider-researcher perspective, the data collection is derived from 16 semistructured interviews and a self-administered inventory, situated within an independent UK university. The participants were enrolled on the full time or part time route of the same training programme at the host university. A mixed methods approach was considered to lend itself to providing qualitative in-depth lived experience data and perceptions based on a 52 statement inventory of knowledge and regulation of cognition. The study findings suggest metacognition and self-regulation practices of these dyslexic students in higher education to be inefficient rather than deficient. Importantly, it notes the timeliness and impact of training input and learning support intervention on such findings.