Dennis, Jayne L;
Somerville, Matthew P;
(2023)
Supporting thinking about thinking: examining the metacognition theory-practice gap in higher education.
Higher Education
, 86
pp. 99-117.
10.1007/s10734-022-00904-x.
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Abstract
Metacognition is the knowledge and regulation of one’s cognition and has been associated with academic performance across all levels of education, including higher education (HE). Previously, a gap has been reported between extensive metacognition research and elaboration of theory versus minimal inclusion of metacognition in teaching practice in primary and secondary education. The present study investigated whether this theory-practice gap extends to HE. Furthermore, we took a novel approach to evaluating academics’ broad and implicit inclusion of metacognitive supportive practices (MSPs) in their teaching practice. A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to evaluate awareness of metacognition and inclusion of 16 MSPs in undergraduate teaching among 72 academics in scientific disciplines at a UK research-intensive university. We found that a minority of academics (27/72, 37.5%) were familiar with metacognition and, of those who were, they typically emphasised knowledge of cognition, rather than regulation of cognition. Nonetheless, all respondents incorporated at least two MSPs in their teaching, although typically in a limited fashion, emphasising knowledge and understanding of discipline content rather than cognitive regulation. Compared to academics without a teaching qualification, respondents holding or working towards a teaching qualification used significantly more MSPs, earlier in their career, and used significantly more MSPs aligned with regulation of cognition. This study demonstrates that the metacognition theory-practice gap extends to HE and highlights the scope for staff development programmes to better support students’ metacognitive development relevant for their studies and post-graduation careers.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Supporting thinking about thinking: examining the metacognition theory-practice gap in higher education |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10734-022-00904-x |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-022-00904-x |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Metacognition, Metacognitive supportive practices, Teaching strategies, Teaching qualification, Higher education |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10153021 |
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