Metacognitive Skills: Situation Analysis

Situation Analysis

The primary objective of educational institutions is students’ learning, and learning requires using such processes as planning, application of knowledge, monitoring, regulation and reflection (Azevedo, 2009). Aristotle pointed out that the mind uses a different power above and beyond seeing and hearing, thus, laid the foundations for thinking about metacognition (Sandi-Ureña, 2008).
Metacognitive skills appear to be highly independent. By means of thorough task orientation, a metacognitively skilled student is likely to focus on relevant information given in the task assignment, necessary for building an adequate task representation. A detailed action plan can be designed. Such an elaborate action plan, containing goals

Its purpose is to guide instructors in incorporating activities and discussions that will help learners understand how they learn, their strengths and their needs, and to better understand the learning process. Metacognition is the process of thinking about thinking. It is the process of developing self-awareness and the ability to self-assess. It is contemplation about one’s education and learning -- past, present, and future. Since adults are largely self-determining, helping them develop metacognitive skills is an essential element in any program intended to increase their autonomy. The metacognitive skills are presented as a list without reference to level of language skills. Like technology skills, learners’ metacognitive abilities are rarely aligned exactly with their language skills levels. The ability to understand and analyze one’s own learning is especially influenced by educational background and previous experience. The area of metacognition presents a special challenge to instructors at the lowest levels, where learners have higher-order thinking skills in place but lack the communication skills to relay them. It may also be difficult to convey some of the more abstract or complex ideas like goals, strengths, and learning styles without translation. Instructors at the lowest levels often use visual representations of simplified concepts and translation (Brown, 1978; Flavell, 1976, 1979; Glaser, 1990;

Therefore, metacognition is the higher intellectual ability of an individual to plan, reflect upon, monitor, understand and control his/her learning. It is a process that involves one’s awareness and regulation or control of him/herself (as a learner), the learning style and study habit as well as several other activities involved in his/her own learning so as to attain the set goals (Owo & Ikwut, 2015). Aptitude tests are used for making educational and occupational decisions and for selection and placement in schools, colleges, government, business and industry (Gage & Berliner, 1988; Stuit, 1950; Weber, 1991). Aptitude tests are norm-referenced and do provide information for student counseling and