Metacognition is often referred to as the process of thinking about and reflecting on one’s thoughts. Educationally, the earliest reference to metacognition is one by Flavell (1979) who describes Metacognition as ‘The processes of learning how to learn’. Nevertheless, scholars such as Livingstone (1997) suggests that the principles behind metacognition are not that simple. In support of Livingstone, Fox and Riconscente (2008) have suggested that although Metacognition is an established concept in Educational environments, it is not well understood or particularly well developed. Many scholars agree that metacognitive development requires students to engage in self-regulation, reflective thinking and goal-setting, as well as having a high level of self-awareness (Downing, 2009; Weinstein et al, 2000). These ideas appear to run parallel to Vygotsky’s ‘ Zone of Proximal Development’ (Vygotsky, 1978: p. 86); that refers to the gap between a learner’s level of development and that of the learner’s potential development when provided with instructional support. Thus , providing educational support for learners in terms of social interaction, whether that is in the verbal or written form, can be seen as a valuable contribution towards metacognitive development. Metacognition uses a series of building blocks of good teaching practices to enable students to develop strategies for learning, revision, self-regulation and exam technique. Many studies suggest in In learning contexts, strong metacognition leads to retention, academic success, and deep learning. Twenty-first century universities expect that recent college graduates have strong metacognitive skills so that they can excel in critical thinking, complex problem-solving, judgment and decision making, and active listening (Trilling & Fadel, 2009; Siadaty, Gašević, Jovanović, Pata, Milikić, Holocher-Ertl, Jeremić, Ali, Giljanović, & Hatala, 2012). Thus, metacognitive awareness, practice, and development are a necessity for learners to be effective and efficient in the workplace, education, and, generally speaking, everyday life.
Metacognitive skills can be taught. (J. Borkowski et al., 1987; Bransford et al., 1986; R. Garner, 1990; Hascher & Oser, 1995)However, Metacognitive skills learned in one context are not automatically transferred to another (Ericsson, Chase, & Faloon, 1980), therefore while adult learners may bring some metacognitive skills from life experiences they may not be fully developed in an educational sense. Furthermore,research suggests that Metacognitive skills are learned and applied more effectively in supported active learning contexts than in direct instruction contexts.Therefore teaching metacognitive skills may be more beneficial during formative assessment,rather than summative.
Metacognition involves awareness of how they learn, an evaluation of their learning needs, generating strategies to meet these needs and then implementing the strategies. (Hacker, 2009)
When student are able to evaluate their learning, they can become aware of potential problems, including errors in the way they process information, mistakes the methods used to study, and in how to achieve their objectives. Errors in information processing, include missing important points or the inability to separate relevant from irrelevant information. Errors in the methods used can,involve failing to select the right sub-skills to apply or failing to divide a task into subparts. For example, some students will attempt to spend twelve continuous hours revising the day before a timed assessment. Errors in objective achievement may include misrepresenting the task and not understanding the criteria to apply. Problems with cognitive load include being unable to handle the number of sub-skills necessary to do a task, or not having enough automatic, internalized subskills. >> suggests A good way to discover what kind of errors students are making in their thinking processes is to have them unpack their thinking by explaining, step by step, how they are approaching a given task. This not only allows the instructor to diagnose possible errors, it provides them with an opportunity to describe their thinking processes, which, by itself, develops their metacognitive abilities
However, metacognition and its usefulness in these contexts are often not directly or intentionally explored with adult learners ( those who are beyond traditional undergraduate college age) in educational settings or in informal or workplace learning environments. Furthermore, while pedagogical practices and learning have been developed to support learners’ metacognitive development, most research has focused on schoolchildren and developmental scenarios. Very few studies have examined returning adult learners in postsecondary settings or workplace settings, where they need continued support in developing and transferring these knowledge and skills for success (Veenman,Van Hout-Wolters, & Afflerbach, 2006).
Further, studies that have looked at adult learners have done so very broadly and have found that changes in metacognitive awareness continue into adulthood. Research is needed on how to better support adult learners metacognitive awareness (Justice & Dornan, 2001)
It is also important for instructional designers and educators to better understand adult learners’ metacognitive needs because adults are a significant portion of the college student population seventy five percent of students taking F.E. courses are aged 24 or older (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010). Additionally, the frontal lobe of the adult brain, which controls self-regulating and metacognitive skills related to judgment, critical thinking, and decision making, does not fully develop until the mid-20s (Powell, 2006), so the goal of understanding and supporting the metacognitive skills of adult learners in particular makes sense. Instructional design principles have been developed for broad-scale learning design, but, again, most research and resources have gone toward designing learning experiences for children and teenagers, not adult learners. Furthermore, we know that more and more adults are learning and training in online environments (i.e. e-learning);, the average age of an online learner is 33 years old (Kolowich, 2012).
However, we do not know much about their metacognitive practices or strategies while learning or training online or how to support them in these environments. A 2013 Sloan study of online education growth reports that “over 6.7 million students were taking at least one online. Contributing to the retention and discipline issue is the fact that adults, while strong in metacognitive awareness, often lack the metacognitive regulation skills, such as time management, planning, and strategising for learning, that are needed to succeed in online learning environments (Artino & Stephens, 2009; Michinov, Brunot, Le Bohec, Juhel, & Delaval, 2011).
When it comes to adult learners specifically, research indicates that adults whose metacognitive skills are well developed are: better problem-solvers, decision makers, and critical thinkers 19 ▫ more able and more motivated to learn ▫ more likely to be able to regulate their emotions (even in difficult situations), handle complexity, and cope with conflict” (Dawson, 2008). One study showed that nurses and electronics technicians considered excellent at their jobs were found to have greater metacognitive awareness and strategy use than workers who were average performers (Baker, 1989; Hadwin, Wozney, Pontin, 2005). Furthermore, studies that have looked at adult learners’ metacognition have found that changes in metacognitive awareness continue into adulthood, especially with regard to metacognitive regulation, and they are correlated with achievement and GPA (Young & Fry, 2008;
Since adults are switching careers and engaging in continuing education and workplace training at an increasing rate, they will require support in transferring their metacognitive skills to new domains (Glaser & Chi, 1988; Gick & Holyoak, 1980; PEW, 2006). Even though highly-skilled professionals may excel in their discipline, many of them avoid failure and proceed to repeat discipline-specific strategies that have worked in the past; they defend these tried and true strategies even when they do not work. Professionals’ lack of reflection on their learning, knowledge, and strategies, aka their metacognition, affects their growth and progress as learners, which affects the organization, which, in the end, affects the success of the organization in the marketplace (Argyris, 1991).
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