Metacognitive Research Articles

The power of metacognitive strategies to enhance critical thinking in online learning

The aim of this study is to verify whether the use of a digital tool, designed to promote the use of metacognitive strategies in self-regulated learning, increases the level of critical thinking during the learning process in trainee teachers in official online master's degrees. The Critical Thinking Questionnaire (CPC 2) was used to assess different dimensions of critical thinking in a sample of 225 students from an online university's master's degree in educational technology. The results showed significant improvements in all dimensions (substantive and dialogic) and associated basic skills (reading, writing, and speaking) for those who used the tool for the promotion of metacognitive strategies. Therefore, it is suggested to work on specific strategies to develop critical thinking as a basis for improving their self-regulated learning.

Examining metacognitive strategy use in L1 and L2 task-situated writing: effects, transferability, and cross-language facilitation

Despite the widely recognized importance of metacognition in language learning, relatively few empirical studies have investigated the role of metacognitive strategies with a cross-linguistic perspective. Drawing on the mixed-method design combining questionnaire and interview data, this study systematically investigated the effects, the transfer potential, and the cross-language facilitation of metacognitive strategies between L1 and L2 contexts. Structural equation modelling (SEM) and multigroup analysis results revealed that metacognitive strategies afforded a more prominent predictive role in English (L2) writing than in Chinese (L1) writing; such strategy use transferred between the two writing contexts, which kept invariant between lower- and higher- L2 proficiency groups and between English and non-English major groups; and there was a cross-language facilitation effect of L1 writing metacognitive strategies on L2 writing performance via the mediation of L2 writing metacognitive strategies. Complementary to the quantitative results, the qualitative interview data was analyzed to provide deep insights into the participating students’ metacognitive strategy use in the two task-situated writing. Findings are extensively discussed to offer theoretical and pedagogical implications in this domain.

Collaborative listening using multimedia through metacognitive instruction: a case study with less-skilled and more-skilled EFL learners

Multimedia is vastly used as authentic and available input in second and foreign-language contexts. To deal with the difficulties and complexities of comprehending these authentic materials, collaborative learning through metacognitive instruction helps develop learners' listening comprehension. The present study has mainly explored the role of using multimedia input through metacognitive instruction of a group of 20 upper-intermediate EFL learners divided into five groups (each including two less-skilled and two more-skilled learners). They received eight weeks of metacognitive instruction in listening at an English language learning institute. Evidence gathered from observation, learners' logs, and semi-structured interviews shows that collaboration, interaction, and the use of metacognitive strategies help learners improve overall listening comprehension. Moreover, the learners had positive attitudes towards utilizing multimedia input, which provided them with some kinesics and prosodic hints to understand the listening content. The findings and pedagogical implications for language learners and teachers are discussed further.

The impact of an online hybrid reading intervention on the reading comprehension and strategy use of Iranian English for specific purposes students in relation to an evaluated researcher-made ESP textbook

Research suggests that English for Specific Purposes (ESP) students in English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) contexts have difficulties understanding the passages in technical English textbooks of various fields of study including computer software engineering. Few experimental studies to date have investigated the effect of an online hybrid reading intervention on the reading comprehension performance of these students. To fill this gap, the present experimental study sought to assist these students with comprehending the passages of an ESP textbook entitled ''Technical English for Computer Software Engineers'', developed for computer software engineering students of a non-profit university in Babol, Iran. In doing so, an 8-session online hybrid reading intervention featuring cognitive and metacognitive strategies was administered to an experimental group (n = 30) of ESP students, while the control group (n = 30) followed the conventional approach to teaching the reading skill. To track the participants' reading comprehension, International English Language Testing System (IELTS) reading tests were used before and after the intervention. Results showed that the treatment led to a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of the reading comprehension and strategy use. In addition, the teachers' and students' perceptions with regard to the whole textbook were reported. Findings bear pedagogical significance for all the stakeholders.

English Vocabulary Learning Strategies between High-achievers and Low-achievers

This study intends to compare the vocabulary learning strategies between high-achievers and low-achievers in junior high schools, and thus to explore effective vocabulary learning strategies to provide suggestions for English vocabulary teaching and learning practice. It is found out that high-achievers apply English vocabulary learning strategies more frequently than low-achieving students do. More specifically, in terms of meta-cognitive strategies, low-achievers use more pre-planning strategies, while high-achievers apply more selective attention strategies. For cognitive strategies, both high-achievers and low-achievers tend to use repetition strategies. Achievers are better at categorizing what they have learnt than low-achievers. For affective strategies, low-achievers apply reference books strategies most frequently and neither type of students uses authentic material strategies very often. Students’ beliefs, habits and attitudes towards vocabulary learning affect the application of strategies to some extent. High-achievers are better at utilizing the environment and even creating opportunities for English communication than underachievers. In addition, high-achievers have stronger learning motivation and they are also better at setting and achieving goals than low-achievers.

The mediating effect of metacognitive strategies on the relationship between reading motivation and reading achievement in multilingual and english-dominant students

The mediating effect of metacognitive strategies on the relationship between reading motivation and reading achievement in multilingual and english-dominant students

Metacognitive Strategies in Higher Vocational English Vocabulary Teaching

Metacognitive Strategies in Higher Vocational English Vocabulary Teaching

THE USE OF META-COGNITIVE SELF-ASSESSMENT STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS AMONG STUDENTS

The role of meta-cognition is significant in teaching and learning process, such as the reading, writing development, problem solving, social cognition, self-control, attention, communication & in the development of personality. Thus, merely awareness about the learning procedure would not assurance of good instruction, on other hand, lacking it, teaching is just a trial and error as well as monotonous practice and most of the teachers can be destructive to their learners. This research conducted to explore the metacognitive self-assessment strategy effect on Writing Skills of 7th grade students in context of Pakistan in public school of Punjab. The experimental design was adopted in this study which involves two groups (experimental and control groups) pretest and posttest design. The sample consisted of 60 students of a public girls' high school. Writing Skills test was developed by researcher for data collection, mean, standard deviation and independent t-test were applied for data analysis. Results indicated that those students given the treatment attained higher scores compared to control. So, it is suggested that teachers should use metacognitive self-assessment strategy for teaching of writing skills in classroom.

EFL students’ strategies and obstacles in pronunciation self-regulated learning through TikTok: insights from Indonesian universities

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is crucial for mastering English pronunciation, specifically for an autonomous learning environment, including TikTok application. The present study aims to explore students’ experiences while practicing English pronunciation using TikTok as self-regulated learning. This study was designed with a qualitative case study approach. The researcher used reflection sheets and semi-structured interviews to garner data. Data were analyzed employing an interactive model. The selected participants in this research were university EFL students who learned pronunciation via TikTok. The research findings reported that the students used metacognitive strategy for independent planning, knowledge, and problem-solving for learning difficulties. Motivational strategy was also pivotal in learning pronunciation and maintaining motivation. Likewise, behavioral strategy was carried out for practicing process and shaping a conducive environment to learning activities. Nonetheless, several obstacles were encountered by the students, including lack of immediate feedback, unstructured content, low motivation, and distractions during learning. Low motivation and distraction were considered the main obstacles, which made pronunciation one of the most difficult language components in the context of SRL. This study provides practical implications for how TikTok application benefits students’ pronunciation skills, especially in self-regulated learning.

Applied English Listening Strategy on Vocational High School Students of Accounting Department

This research came with the problem of the type and level of the metacognitive, cognitive, and socio-affective listening strategy used by the eleventh-grade students at SMK Negeri 1 Baubau during the listening comprehension session of the English subject. These strategies were important for developing language skills and understanding in various contexts. They could be consciously taught and practiced to improve listening comprehension and communication skills. This research aimed to determine the type and level of metacognitive, cognitive, and socio-affective listening strategy used by the eleventh-grade students at SMK Negeri 1 Baubau during the listening comprehension session of English subject. This research applied a descriptive method to reveal the findings related to the listening strategies. Sixty-seven eleventh-grade students of SMP Negeri 1 Baubau were involved as the research sample. The result found that the students applied three types of listening strategies: metacognitive, cognitive, and socio-affective strategy, in which the metacognitive and the socio-affective were more highly used than the cognitive strategy. Furthermore, those three types of listening strategies obtained high levels of utilization. Accordingly, it was concluded that the students frequently used all strategies in learning English listening comprehension. Summarily, it was expected that by the high use of listening strategy, they were able to be contained in the instruction activity of listening comprehension to promote the students’ learning comprehension achievement.

PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF DEVELOPING SKILLS AND ABILITIES OF INDEPENDENT WORK OF FUTURE HISTORY TEACHERS

An important task of the educational process in a higher institution of pedagogical education is the purposeful formation of the readiness of students ‒ future teachers for professional self-education as a comprehensive characteristic of their personality, which includes the needs and motives of self-education, professionally significant qualities, as well as necessary knowledge, skills and abilities. A student’s ability to self-education is developed in the process of learning. Self-education skills require purposefulness, systematicity, consistency, and self-motivation of the subject of education. One of the factors contributing to the development of this ability can be research and creative tasks for independent performance in the content of methodological disciplines.The article reveals various types of independent work aimed at the formation of self-educational competence of higher education students, the ability to learn throughout life. Examples of practical tasks from the course “Theory and teaching methods of civic education” are given, which form cognitive and operational- procedural components of the independent activity of higher education students. In the course of the study, the technical conditions for the performance of the tasks, their procedural characteristics, and examples of the implementation of metacognitive strategies in the formation of the subject-methodical competence of future history teachers are given. It was found that independent work allows students to build their educational and professional trajectory and is an area of mutual responsibility of subjects of the educational process.

EFL Students Develop Cognitive and Metacognitive Self-Regulated Writing Strategies Using Automated Feedback: A Case Study

This study investigated the impacts of automated feedback on EFL students’ development of cognitive and metacognitive self-regulated writing strategies, using ProWritingAid online tool. Data were collected from students enrolled in level one writing course at the College of Languages and Translation, Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The results indicated significant impacts of automated feedback on students' self-regulated writing strategies, reflected in an overall mean score of (3.75 ± 0.69).Findings after using automated feedback showed participants’ development of cognitive strategies, including language usage (e.g., grammar, spelling, punctuation), which reached 73%. The cognitive strategies of writing revision, encompassing revise cohesiveness and connection among sentences, reached 70%. Participants’ development of metacognitive strategies, including idea planning and goal-oriented monitoring and evaluation, reached 75% and 77%, respectively. The results also indicated significant impacts of automated feedback on motivational and social strategies, with scores of 87% and 80%, respectively. Comparing participants’ written assignment scores before and after using automated feedback, the results showed a 62% improvement in performance among low-proficient students. One implication of the study is that, with the aid of automated feedback, EFL students have the abilities to autonomously improve their writing skills. The adoption of a self-regulated approach, within the utilization of automated feedback, significantly influences students' performance. These findings suggest that integrating automated feedback into the EFL curriculum and instruction can foster students' self-reliance and proficiency in writing.

The Effect of Metacognitive Strategy Instruction on Listening Comprehension Performance, A Case Study of English – Majored Freshmen at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University, Viet Nam

The research was carried out with 50 university freshmen at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University (BVU) to find out how metacognitive strategy instruction motivates them to improve their listening comprehension. The researchers executed a qualitative action research method during twelve weeks, using a combination of the teachers and students’ diaries. Then semi-structured interviews in Vietnamese were purposefully administered to the participants and 1 observer by using individual-administered survey procedure. The findings in this paper indicate that metacognitive strategy instruction enhances learners’ listening comprehension performance and should be implemented in English communicative classes.

Exploring the development of ‘understanding’ in high-level youth soccer players

ABSTRACT Background Developing understanding, and tactical understanding in particular, is an important goal for coaches in high-level youth sport. Deeper understanding can be associated with metacognition, which in soccer, is suggestive of players who can outwit the opponent by strategising. Although attractive, however, the construct is difficult to operationalise and hence, is seen as a challenging area, albeit a crucial one. Purposes This study tested how one team of under 13–14 academy players’ depth of understanding changed using a mixed methods approach with data collection over 18-months. Methods Players’ (n = 10) experienced a metacognitive coaching method, Digital Video Game Design (DVGD) throughout the study duration. Testing occurred on four occasions using Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA) to elicit how player thinking when playing evolved, combined with a Game Understanding (GU) comparative rating scale. In parallel, players’ coaches (n = 3) completed quantitative measurement of GU. Quantitative data analysis employed a repeated measures ANOVA whilst. Qualitative analysis of ACTA interviews used a deductive framework focussed on metacognitive skills and strategy. Findings Players’ depth of understanding significantly improved during and post exposure to the metacognitive coaching method. Post the initial intervention, understanding showed further improvements at a steady but not significant rate. Qualitative findings indicated that players’ metacognition became more sophisticated, with a particular improvement in strategising based on team mates and opponent’s capabilities. The most dominant metacognitive skills were planning and problem setting, whilst information gathering was least deployed. Conclusions Results show that young players are capable of rapidly developing metacognitive skills and strategy. Sports should upskill their coach education workforce to enhance their understanding of metacognition and its role within GU.

The case for metacognition support in a flipped STEM course

The metacognitive strategies of planning, monitoring, and evaluating can be promoted through systematic reflection to drive self-directed, lifelong learning. This article reports on a three-year study on systematic written reflection within an undergraduate Fluid Mechanics course to promote planning, monitoring, and evaluation. Students were prompted weekly to reflect on their in-class problem-solving, classroom and exam preparation, performance, behaviors, and learning in a flipped classroom at a large southeastern U.S. university. In addition, they received intentional instruction on how to plan, monitor, and evaluate their problem-solving during class. To enable a comparative assessment, a flipped classroom without these interventions was also implemented as a non-experimental cohort. The cohorts were compared using a final exam, concept inventory, and the Metacognitive Activities Inventory (MCAI). The MCAI indicated a significantly higher positive change (pre- to post-course) in self-regulatory behavior for the experimental cohort ( p = 0.037). The weekly reflections were studied using an inductive content analysis to assess students’ self-regulatory behaviors. They were also used to investigate statistical associations between reflection content and course outcomes. This revealed that academic self-discipline via planning, monitoring one's work, or being careful and diligent may be as aligned with course performance in STEM as is practice with the problem-solving itself. The effects for the final exam in the experimental cohort were positive overall as well as statistically or practically significant for various demographic strata. These results provided evidence for the potential enhancement of course performance with metacognition support. A positive shift in students’ perspectives regarding the value of the reflection questions was observed throughout the study. Therefore, as an implementation guide for other educators, the reflection questions and any changes made in posing them to students are discussed chronologically. Overall, the study points to the desirability of providing metacognition support in a STEM course.

Pathways to digital reading literacy among secondary school students: A multilevel analysis using data from 31 economies

In our technology-driven society, digital reading literacy has emerged as a valuable skill as people increasingly read on digital devices rather than from print sources. Using an internationally representative sample (N = 211,899) across 31 economies, this study employed the opportunity-propensity framework to comprehensively investigate the role and relative contribution of opportunity, propensity, and antecedent factors in adolescent students' digital reading literacy. Hierarchical linear modeling and dominance analysis were performed. The results showed that although all three groups of factors contributed to adolescents' digital reading performance, the relative contribution of these factors differed. Propensity factors made the greatest contribution to digital reading performance, most notably metacognitive reading strategies and reading self-concept. While opportunity and antecedent factors such as schools’ support in ICT resources and socioeconomic background also played a role, their contributions were relatively limited. These findings have significant implications for advancing current theories of digital reading and for guiding digital reading instruction in secondary education.

Toward Autonomy: Metacognitive Learning for Enhanced AI Performance

Large Language Models (LLMs) lack robust metacognitive learning abilities and depend on human-provided algorithms and prompts for learning and output generation. Metacognition involves processes that monitor and enhance cognition. Learning how to learn - metacognitive learning - is crucial for adapting and optimizing learning strategies over time. Although LLMs possess limited metacognitive abilities, they cannot autonomously refine or optimize these strategies. Humans possess innate mechanisms for metacognitive learning that enable at least two unique abilities: discerning which metacognitive strategies are best and automatizing learning strategies. These processes have been effectively modeled in the ACT-R cognitive architecture, providing insights on a path toward greater learning autonomy in AI. Incorporating human-like metacognitive learning abilities into AI could potentially lead to the development of more autonomous and versatile learning mechanisms, as well as improved problem-solving capabilities and performance across diverse tasks.

Метакогнитивные читательские стратегии: анализ данных самоотчета и глазодвигательного поведения российских школьников

<p>The paper presents the results of a study aimed to investigate the correlations between oculomotor reading behavior and self-report data of Russian high school students on their practice of using metacognitive strategies. It was found that high school students tended to use problem-solving reading strategies, while seldom using supportive reading strategies. Differences in the use of metacognitive strategies were found between schools that emphasized differently the development of reading competence in middle school. The findings suggested that there were differences in oculomotor measures across groups with varying levels of metacognitive strategy use. The paper outlines possible directions for further research on this topic.</p>

Exploring The Relationship Between Social Networking Engagement, Metacognitive Strategies, And Psychological Well-Being Among College Students During Transition Periods

Exploring The Relationship Between Social Networking Engagement, Metacognitive Strategies, And Psychological Well-Being Among College Students During Transition Periods

The Interplay of Cognitive Load, Learners’ Resources and Self-regulation

Self-regulated learning depends on task difficulty and on learners’ resources and cognitive load, as described by an inverted U-shaped relationship in Seufert’s (2018) model: for easy tasks, resources are high and load is low, so there is no need to regulate, whereas for difficult tasks, load is too high and resources are too low to regulate. Only at moderate task difficulty do learners regulate, as resources and load are in equilibrium. The purpose of this study is to validate this model, i.e., the inverted U-shaped relationship between task difficulty and self-regulatory activities, as well as learner resources and cognitive load as mediators. In the within-subject study, 67 participants reported their cognitive and metacognitive strategy use for four exams of varying difficulty. For each exam task difficulty, cognitive load, and available resources (such as prior knowledge, interest, etc.) were assessed. Multilevel analysis revealed an inverted U-shaped relationship between task difficulty and the use of cognitive strategies. For metacognitive strategies, only a linear relationship was found. Increasing cognitive load mediated these relationship patterns. For learner resources we found a competitive mediation, indicating that further mediators could be relevant. In future investigations a broader range of task difficulty should be examined.