Abstract
Metacognition, a construct with strong empirical and theoretical foundations, is integral to successful learning. Research on metacognition has provided convincing evidence supporting its importance in the instruction and learning processes. In this article, research on several aspects of metacognition are briefly reviewed and analyzed, examples of metacognitive strategies are provided, and implications for instructional design are described.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrews, D. H., & Goodson, L. A. (1980). A comparative analysis of models of instructional design.Journal of Instructional Development, 3, 2–16.
Anzai, Y., & Simon, H. A. (1979). The theory of learning by doing.Psychological Review, 86, 124–140.
Baker, L. (1985). How do we know when we don't understand? Standards for evaluating text comprehension. In D. L. Forrest-Pressley, G. E. MacKinnon, & T. Garry Waller (Eds.),Metacognition, cognition, and human performance (Vol. I, pp. 155–200). New York: Academic Press.
Beal, C., Garrod, A., & Bonitatibus, G. (1990). Fostering children's revision skills through training in comprehension monitoring.Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 275–280.
Berry, D. C. (1983). Metacognitive experience and transfer of logical reasoning.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 35, 39–49.
Black, M. M., & Rollins, H. J., Jr. (1982). The effects of instructional variables on young children's organization and free recall.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 33, 1–19.
Borkowski, J. C., Peck, V. A., Reid, M. K., & Kurtz, B. E. (1983). Impulsivity and strategy transfers: Metamemory as mediator.Child Development, 54, 459–473.
Brown, A. L. (1975). The development of memory: Knowing, knowing about knowing, and knowing how to know. In H. W. Reese (Ed.),Advances in child development and behavior (Vol. 10, pp. 104–152). New York: Academic Press.
Brown, A. L. (1982). Inducing strategic learning from texts by means of informed, self-control training.Topics in Learning and Learning Disabilities, 7(2), 1–17.
Brown, A. L., Bransford, J. D., Ferrara, R. A., & Campione, J. C. (1983). Learning, remembering and understanding. In P. H. Mussen (Ed.),Handbook of psychology (Vol. III, pp. 77–166). New York: Wiley.
Brown, A. L., Campione, J. C., & Barclay, C. R. (1979). Training self-checking routines for estimating test readiness: Generalization from list learning to prose recall.Child Development, 50, 501–512.
Brown, A. L., Campione, J. C., & Day, J. D. (1981). Learning to learn: On training students to learn from texts.Educational Researcher, 10, 14–21.
Brown, A. L., Day, J. D., & Jones, R. S. (1983). The development of plans for summarizing texts.Child Development, 54, 968–979.
Brown, A. L., & Palincsar, A. S. (1982).Inducing strategic learning from texts by means of informed, self-control training (Technical Report No. 262, pp. 1–48.) Champaign, IL: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Bruner, J. S. (1957). Going beyond the information given. In H. Gruber, et al. (Eds.),Contemporary approach to cognition (pp. 151–156). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Butterfield, C. E., & Nelson, G. D. (1989). Theory and practice of teaching for transfer.Educational Technology Research and Development, 37, 5–38.
Cavanaugh, J. C., & Borkowski, J. C. (1979). The metamemory-memory "connection": Effects of strategy training and maintenance.The Journal of General Psychology, 101, 161–174.
Chi, M. T. H. (1987). Representing knowledge and meta-knowledge: Implications for interpreting metamemory research. In R. H. Kluwe & F. E. Weinert (Eds.),Metacognition, motivation, and understanding (pp. 239–66). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Clark, R. (1984). Research on student thought processes during computer-based instruction.Journal of Instructional Development, 7(3), 2–5.
Dansereau, D. F. (1985). Learning strategies research. In J. W. Segal, S. F. Chipman, & R. Glaser (Eds.),Thinking and learning skills (Vol. I, pp. 209–39). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Dansereau, D. F., Collins, K. W., McDonald, B. A., Holley, C. D., Garland, J., Dickhoff, G., & Evans, S. H. (1979). Development and evaluation of a learning strategy training program.Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 64–73.
Derry, S. J., & Murphy, D. A. (1986). Designing systems that train learning ability: From theory to practice.Review of Educational Research, 56, 1–39.
Dewitz, P., Carr, E. M., & Patberg, J. P. (1987). Effects of inference training on comprehension and comprehension monitoring.Reading Research Quarterly, 22, 99–119.
Di Vesta, F. J. (1989). Application of cognitive psychology to education. In Wittrock, M. C., & Farley, F. (Eds.),The future of educational psychology (pp. 37–73). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Di Vesta, F. J., & Rieber, L. P. (1987). Characteristics of cognitive engineering: The next generation of instructional systems.Educational Communication and Technology Journal, 35, 213–230.
Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of psychological inquiry.American Psychologist, 34, 906–911.
Flavell, J. H. (1981). Cognitive monitoring. In W. P. Dickson (Ed.),Children's oral communication skills (pp. 35–60). New York: Academic Press.
Flavell, J. H. (1985).Cognitive development (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Flavell, J. H., & Wellman, H. W. (1977). Metamemory. In R. V. Kail & J. W. Hagen (Eds.),Perspectives on the development of memory and cognition (pp. 3–33). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P., Jacobsen, D. R., & Bullock, T. L. (1990).Tools for learning: A guide to teaching study skills. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Garhart, P. M. (1989).The effectiveness of training strategies on comprehension monitoring estimates during computer-based instruction. Unpublished dissertation, Pennsylvania State University.
Garhart, C., & Hannafin, M. J. (1986). The accuracy of comprehension monitoring computer-based instruction.Journal of Computer-Based Instruction, 13, 88–93.
Garner, R., & Alexander, P. (1989). Metacognition: Answered and unanswered questions.Educational Psychologist, 24, 143–158.
Garner, R., & Resi, R. (1981). Monitoring and resolving comprehension obstacles: An investigation of spontaneous text look backs among upper-grade good and poor comprehenders.Reading Research Quarterly, 16, 569–582.
Gordon, C. J., & Braun, C. (1985). Metacognitive process: Reading and writing narrative discover. In D. L. Forrest-Pressley, G. E. MacKinnon, & T. G. Waller (Eds.),Metacognition, cognition and human performance (Vol. II, pp. 1–72). New York: Academic Press.
Gustafson, K. L. (1991).Survey of ID Models (2nd ed.). ERIC document, Syracuse, NY.
Hannafin, M. J. (1984). Guidelines for using locus of instructional control in the design of computer-assisted instruction.Journal of Instructional Development, 7(3), 6–10.
Hannafin, M. J., & Rieber, L. P. (1989). Psychological foundations of instructional design for emerging computer-based instructional technologies: Part 1.Educational Technology Research and Development, 37, 91–101.
Markman, E. M. (1979). Realizing that you don't understand: Elementary school children's awareness of inconsistencies.Child Development, 50, 643–655.
Markman, E. M., & Gorin, L. (1981). Children's ability to adjust their standards for evaluating comprehension.Journal of Educational Psychology, 73, 32–325.
Miller, G. E. (1985). The effects of general and specific self-instruction training on children's comprehension monitoring performances during reading.Reading Research Quarterly, 20, 616–628.
O'Sullivan, J., & Pressley, M. (1984). The completeness of instruction and strategy transfer.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 38, 275–288.
Palincsar, A. S., & Brown, A. L. (1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension fostering and comprehension monitoring activities.Cognition and Instruction, 1, 117–175.
Paris, S. G., & Myers, M. (1981). Comprehension monitoring, memory, and study strategies of good and poor readers.Journal of Reading Behavior, 13, 5–22.
Paris, S. G., Newman, R. S., & McVey, K. A. (1982). Learning the functional significance of mnemonic actions: A microgenetic study of strategy acquisition.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 34, 490–509.
Patterson, C. J., & Kister, M. C. (1981). The development of listener skills for referential communication. In P. Dickson (Ed.),Children's oral communication skills (pp. 143–166). New York: Academic Press.
Piaget, J. (1976).The grasp of consciousness: Action and concept in the young child. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Pressley, M., Borkowski, J. G., & O'Sullivan, J. T. (1984). Memory strategy instruction is made of this: Metamemory and durable strategy use.Educational Psychologist, 19, 94–107.
Pressley, M., Borkowski, J. G., & O'Sullivan J. T. (1985). Children's metamemory and the teaching of memory strategies. In D. L. Forrest-Pressley, G. E. MacKinnon, & T. G. Waller (Eds.),Metacognition, cognition, and human performance (Vol. I, pp. 111–149). New York: Academic Press.
Rao, N., & Moely, B. E. (1989). Producing memory strategy maintenance and generalization by explicit or implicit training of memory knowledge.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 48, 335–352.
Reeve, R. A., & Brown, A. L. (1984).Metacognition reconsidered: Implications for intervention research (Technical Report No. 328). Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Salomon, G., & Perkins, D. (1989). Rocky roads to transfer: Rethinking mechanisms of a neglected phenomenon.Educational Psychologist, 24, 111–142.
Schmitt, M. C., & Newby, T. J. (1986). Metacognition: Relevance to instructional design.Journal of Instructional Development, 9(4), 29–33.
Schneider, W. (1985). Developmental trends in the metamemory-memory behavior relationship: An integrative review. In D. L. Forrest-Pressley, G. E. MacKinnon, & T. G. Waller (Eds.),Metacognition, cognition, and human performance (Vol. I, pp. 57–105). New York: Academic Press.
Schnell, T. R., & Rocchio, D. (1975). A comparison of underlining strategies for improving reading comprehension and retention. In G. McNinch & W. D. Miller (Eds.),Reading: Convention and inquiry (p. 179). Clemson, SC: National Reading Conference.
Singer, R. N., & Suwanthanda, S. (1986). The generalizability effectiveness of a learning strategy on achievement in related closed motor skills.Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 57, 205–214.
Wagoner, S. A. (1983). Comprehension monitoring: What it is and what we know about it.Reading Research Quarterly, 18, 328–346.
Wellman, H. M. (1983). Metamemory revisited. In M. T. H. Chi (Ed.),Trends in memory development research: Contributions to human development (Vol. 9, pp. 31–51). Basel: Karger.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Osman, M.E., Hannafin, M.J. Metacognition research and theory: Analysis and implications for instructional design. ETR&D 40, 83–99 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02297053
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02297053