The role of metacognitive skills in learning to solve problems

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First an overview of relevant literature concerning the construct of
metacognition is given. Metacognition is assumed to play an important
role in learning, specifically in the constructivist paradigm. In the
constructivist paradigm, reflection and self-regulation is much more important
than in earlier learning paradigms. Self-regulated learning, for
instance, encompasses metacognitive, motivational and behavioural aspects
of learning (Zimmerman & Martinez-Pons, 1988). Then, several
models of problem solving and the role that metacognition plays in these
models, are discussed. Also the extent to which these models for problem
solving fit in the constructivist paradigm is elaborated upon. The
chapter concludes with a theoretical model that specifies the role of
metacognition in learning and problem solving. It is this theoretical
model that guides the empirical research described in the next chapters
of this thesis.
2.2 The nature of metacognition
Generally speaking, metacognition concerns executive control over
how task completion proceeds. Flavell first coined the term in 1976
and stated:
“Metacognition refers to one’s knowledge concerning one’s own cognitive processes
and products or anything related to them.[...] Metacognition refers,
among other things, to the active monitoring and consequent regulation and
orchestration of these processes in relation to the cognitive objects on which
they bear, usually in the serve of some concrete goal or objective.” (Flavell,
1976, p. 232)
Brown (1978) also acknowledges cognitive and metacognitive processes.
Metacognitive processes are used to decide which cognitive processes are
necessary in order to perform a task.
Metacognition can be seen as a psychological construct. A psychological
construct is a phenomenon that is intangible, it is not directly
measurable. In order to draw conclusions about a construct one needs
to give it an operational definition or description in order to transform
it into measurable variables or units. Two components can be distinguished
in the construct of metacognition: a knowledge and a regulatory
component (Flavell, 1987; Sternberg, 1988; Schraw, 1998; Pintrich,
Wolters & Baxter, 2000). The knowledge component refers to
the knowledge the individual has about his or her own cognition and
about cognition in general. It concerns static knowledge in long-term
memory. In metacognitive knowledge three types of knowledge can be
distinguished (Brown, 1987; Jacobs & Paris, 1987; Schraw & Moshman,
1995; Schraw, 1998; Pintrich, et al., 2000): declarative (knowing what),
procedural (knowing how) and conditional knowledge (knowing when
and why). Declarative metacognitive knowledge concerns factual know-