Children’s Use of Metacognition in Solving Everyday Problems - An Initial Study from an Asian Context

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jasmine

This study examines how metacognition relates to students’ everyday problem solving, with attention to whether regulation of cognition and knowledge of cognition are linked to everyday solution success. Data from 254 fifth graders show evidence for two major metacognitive components. Findings further indicate that at higher decision-making levels, participants distinguish how knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition are used, supporting differentiated metacognitive employment during problem solving.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Metacognition and Problem Solving

Literature Review

Metacognition

Metacognitive Awareness Inventory

Children’s Use of Metacognition in Solving Everyday Problems: An Initial Study from an Asian Context Chwee Beng Lee Timothy Teo Nanyang Technological University, Singapore David Bergin University of Missouri-Columbia, USA Abstract The aim of this study is to understand the relationship between metacognition and students’ everyday problem solving. Specifically, we were interested to find out whether regulation of cognition and knowledge of cognition are related to everyday problem solving and whether students who perform better in the decision-making problem will better differentiate the various components of metacognition. Two hundred and fiftyfour fifth grade students completed a survey. We found evidence to suggest the existence of two major components of metacognition. Our results also suggest that at a higher level of decision-making, knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition were differentiated in their use by participants. Introduction Metacognition is an important dimension of problem solving (Gardner, 1991; Karmiloff-Smith, 1992) because it includes problem-relevant awareness of one’s thinking, monitoring of cognitive processes, regulation of cognitive processes, and application of heuristics (Hennessey, 1999, 2003) . Problem solving is considered asthe most essential cognitive activity in everyday and professional contexts (Jonassen, 2000) and recent studies show that the ability to solve everyday problems predicts performance on the job (Cianciolo et al. , 2006; Sternberg, 2005) . Everyday problems, which are often characterized as ill-structured, are emergent, their solutions are unpredictable, and they require multiple criteria for evaluating solutions (Jonassen, The Australian Educational Researcher, Volume 36, Number 3, December 2009 •89 CHWEE BENG LEE, TIMOTHY TEO & DAVID BERGIN 2000) . Although Hong, Jonassen, and McGee (2003) found that metacognition is called for when solving ill-structured problems, research on the role of metacognition in solving ill-structured problems is scarce. Most research on understanding metacognition focuses on classroom settings (Everson & Tobias, 1998; Schraw & Dennison, 1994; Sperling, Howard, Miller, & Murphy, 2002 ) and little is known about the influence and impact of metacognition on children’s problem solving ability in everyday settings. Some researchers have argued that everyday problem solving requires more complex cognitive processes than solving well-structured problems, which are mostly textbook problems. For instance, Johnson-Laird (1982) argued that everyday reasoning involves implicit inferences that depend upon general knowledge and generally go beyond the strictly necessary conclusion. A similar position was also made by Wason and Johnson-Laird (1972) that pure reasoning (also known as formal reasoning, well-structured problem solving) is a subset of practical reasoning (also known as everyday reasoning, everyday problem solving) because pure reasoning is only concerned with truth-functional issues. In contrast, practical reasoning includes both truth-functional and causal issues. This is congruent with a recent study conducted by Lin (2001) who suggested that metacognition served as a mechanism for teachers’ problem solving in the everyday setting. Along the same vein, Hewitt, Pedretti, Bencze, Vailiancourt, and Yoon (2003) reported that preservice teachers reflected more deeply about their decision-making processes when they were asked to make choices about instructional situations compared to when they just analyzed somebody else’s teaching. Solving well-structured problems requires metacognition, and solving everyday problems more so. We are especially keen to focus on elementary school children’s metacognition because studies in this area are limited (Sperling, Howard, Miller, & Murphy, 2002; Stipek, Feiler, Daniels, & Milburn, 1995) There is great potential in unraveling the relationship between metacognition and children’s

FAQs

What does the study investigate about metacognition and everyday problem solving?

The study examines the relationship between metacognition and students’ everyday problem solving, including whether regulation of cognition and knowledge of cognition are related to everyday problem solving outcomes.

How many participants completed the survey in this study?

A total of 254 fifth grade students completed a survey used for the study’s analysis.

What two components of metacognition does the study find evidence for?

The results suggest the existence of two major components of metacognition: knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jasmine