University Essay: Metacognition, Thinking About Thinking

This essay provides an extended definition of metacognition, exploring the concept of 'thinking about thinking' and its implications for cognitive processes. The essay begins with a general background of metacognition, establishing its origins and significance. The core of the essay is a detailed examination of metacognition, drawing upon three research materials: Penny Bailey's article, Jennifer A. Livingston's overview, and Michael E. Martinez's work. Each section delves into the author's perspective on metacognition, highlighting key ideas such as self-awareness, learning strategies, and the ability to monitor and control one's thought processes. The essay synthesizes these perspectives to offer a comprehensive understanding of metacognition, emphasizing its role in improving thinking, learning, and decision-making. It concludes by reiterating the value of metacognition in enhancing cognitive abilities and promoting effective learning strategies, particularly in educational settings. The essay also touches upon the practical applications of metacognition in everyday life, such as making informed decisions and fostering self-control.

RUNNING HEAD: METACOGNITION
METACOGNITION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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General history/background:
The term ‘Metacognition’ was first coined by Flavell, in the year 1976. Flavell used
‘Metacognition’, in the fields of educational as well as cognitive psychology. The thesis
statement for this essay is that, ‘Metacognition’ can be considered as the rethinking about the
procedure of thinking which gave birth to the capability of controlling thinking process and helps
students in their college courses. In order to support the thesis statement this study attempts to
throw lights on the ideas of ‘metacognition’ established in three different research materials. The
umbrella idea about the process of ‘metacognition’ is that, ‘metacognition’ refers to the
knowledge as well as the controlling power a person possesses about his or her own cognitive
process and it suggests some strategies using which a person can control thinking process as well
as intercultural interaction.
Extended definition of Metacognition:
According to Flavell, ‘metacognition’ can be considered as the power or knowledge
acquired by a person to know or control his or her cognitive process. In fact, ‘metacognition’
implies the capability of a person to apply various strategies that can control as well as transform
the procedure of thinking of a person. Psychologists also believe that, the strategies suggested by
‘metacognition’ are organizing the thought process, monitoring the thinking procedures and also
adapting the effective methods to ponder over a matter. According to the point of view of several
Psychologists, ‘metacognition’, does not only help people exercise self-control, it also assist
students in learning, and helps adults in making and evaluating important decisions in life.

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Analysis of research materials:
According to the research article, “Metacognition — I Know (or Don't Know) that I
Know” by Penny Bailey, ‘metacognition’ can be considered as the process adopted by a person
to reflect upon his or her own thinking. Further this study represents the opinions of several
researchers like, Dr Steve Fleming, in the New York University regarding metacognition. The
final section of this study argues that, ‘metacognition’ is an effective instrument to analyze
feelings judgments as well as the validity of one’s own thoughts and decisions. This article also
argues that ‘metacognism’ assists the adults in realizing responsibilities in life. As per this article
‘metacognism’ helps adults to make decisions, exercise self-awareness and self-control (Bailey,
2012).
According to the research article, “Metacognition: An overview” by Jennifer A.
Livingston, ‘metacognition can be defined as the power of human beings to reflect as well as
evaluate the cognitive experience they have. According to this article, educational psychologists
consider ‘metacognition’ one of the most effective psychological tools that helps in the thinking
as well as learning abilities of children, young adults. Utilizing the monitoring strategies of
‘metacognition’ students can conduct effective monitoring of what they have learnt. Again,
metacognition also enables a student to learn languages. In other words, college students can
become capable of evaluating their power to comprehend as well as gain knowledge about
different languages with the help of ‘metacognition’ (Livingston, 1997).
According to the research article, “What is metacognition?” by by Michael E. Martinez,
‘metacognition’ has pedagogical implications and the prac6ice of ‘metacognition’ among kids
can develop high quality of thinking among children as well as social interaction Again, In the
fields of education ‘metacognition’ enables college students to design their own framework for

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learning through the application of organizing strategies. With the help of the monitoring
strategies of ‘metacognition’ college students become capable to monitor their learning activities
effectively. Again metacognition also assist in the learning of several languages. In fact college
students can monitor as well as evaluate their capability to comprehend and learn different
languages by applying the strategies of ‘metacognition’(Martinez, 2006).
Thus, in the conclusion, it can be said that, ‘Metacognition’can be considered as the
rethinking about the procedure of thinking, which gave birth to the capability of controlling
thinking process and helps students in their college courses. In the fields of education
‘metacognition’ enables college students to design their own framework for learning through the
application of organizing strategies. Using the monitoring strategies of ‘metacognition’ college
students become capable to monitor their learning activities effectively. Again metacognition
also assist in the learning of several languages. In fact, college students can monitor as well as
evaluate their capability to comprehend and learn different languages by applying the strategies
of ‘metacognition’. Again, ‘metacognition’ also assists the adults in realizing responsibilities in
life, making decisions, fostering self-awareness and self-control.

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References
Bailey, P. (2012). Metacognition — I Know (or Don't Know) that I Know. Retrieved 20 July
2019, from http://www.brainfacts.org/archives/2012/metacognition.
Livingston, J. A. (1997). Metacognition: An overview. Jennifer A. Livingston.
Martinez, M. E. (2006). What is metacognition?. Phi delta kappan, 87(9), 696-699.

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Bibliography:
Forrest-Pressley, D. L., & Waller, T. G. (2013). Cognition, metacognition, and reading (Vol.
18). Springer Science & Business Media.
Schwarz, N. (2015). Metacognition.
Thompson, V. A., & Johnson, S. C. (2014). Conflict, metacognition, and analytic
thinking. Thinking & Reasoning, 20(2), 215-244.

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