Dawn Rickey and Angelica M. Stacy. Journal of Chemical Education (2000), 77(7),915 DOI:10.1021/ed077p915 


Pace University

Although metacognition can simply be interpreted as thinking about one’s own thinking, it is actually a complex construct that plays a central role in theories of conceptual change. In a 1988 review, R.T. White identified 4 facets of metacognition: (1) propositional knowledge about cognition ( knowledge of the factors that affect ability to memorize something), (2) awareness of one’s own thoughts (monitoring one’s own understanding during a lecture), (3) ability to regulate thinking (deciding what path to take while attempting to solve a difficult problem), and (4) readiness to apply the ability to regulate thinking. Metacognition is important for developing and understanding of ideas; and awareness and control of thinking have been shown to have a significant impact on problem-solving success. 

The Importance of Metacognition in Learning 

The Role of Metacognition in Learning Chemistry 

Whether students’ knowledge is coherent or fragmented and context-bound, a keen awareness of their own conceptions should allow students to recognize when their ideas are not productive or cannot be reconciled with data or ideas presented by others. Students with high levels of metacognitive activity are therefore more likely to refine naive ideas in the face of contradictory experimental results. 

Metacognition in Chemistry Education

There was a question of, should teachers be responsible for developing students metacognitive skills? The simple answer is yes. Teachers will need to include instruction on the use of relevant thinking strategies in their courses. Teaching general “critical thinking” skills aside from context knowledge is not sufficient to allow students to transfer those skills to new situations. Instead, general thinking strategies, concept maps, conceptests, Predict-Observe-Explain (POE) Taks, and The Model-Observe-Reflect-Explain (MORE) Thinking Frame, should be implemented to encourage metacognition. 

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