Metacognitive strategies that enhance critical thinking

Abstract

The need to cultivate students' use of metacognitive strategies in critical thinking has been emphasized in the related literature. The present study aimed at examining the role of metacognitive strategies in critical thinking. Ten university students with comparable cognitive ability, thinking disposition and academic achievement but with different levels of critical thinking performance participated in the study (five in the high-performing group and five in the low-performing group). They were tested on six thinking tasks using thinkaloud procedures. Results showed that good critical thinkers engaged in more metacognitive activities, especially high-level planning and high-level evaluating strategies. The importance of metacognitive knowledge as a supporting factor for effective metacognitive regulation was also revealed. The contribution of metacognitive strategies to critical thinking and implications for instructional practice are discussed.A critical thinker is one who applies appropriate skills and strategies to achieve a desirable outcome (Halpern 1998). Critical thinking demands strategic use of cognitive skills that best suit a particular situation, as well as an active control of one's own thinking processes for well-justified conclusions. Psychologists and educators strive to understand what differentiates those who think critically and those who fail to do so; however, it has not been an easy task due to the complexity of human thinking processes. As a result, tests of critical thinking usually measure the end-results of thinking processes, i.e., the quality of Metacognition Learning (2010) 5:251-267

Improving Critical Thinking and Metacognition Ability Using Vee Diagram through Problem-Based Learning of Human Respiratory System

“…The result of Pearson test indicates that there are strong correlation between the critical thinking and metacognition in experimental class ( r = 0652 ) and medium correlation in control class ( r = 0.516 ). These results are consistent with research conducted by [17] which shows that student with good critical thinking also has good metacognition ability. This is supported by the opinion [18] that students who have good metacognitive development will be better insolving problems, making decisions and critical thinking.…”

Comprehension of Multiple Documents With Conflicting Information: A Two-Step Model of Validation

“…Several types of interventions have been proposed to increase readers' comprehension of conflicting information in multiple texts. One promising approach is to enhance readers' metacognitive knowledge about the processing of conflicting information, which can increase the monitoring and regulation of relevant cognitive processes in a functional way (Ku & Ho, 2010;Maier & Richter, 2014;Stadtler & Bromme, 2007). One approach that we have followed in our own research investigating cognitive processes involved in routine versus strategic validation is to create an awareness of potential biases resulting from these processes and to teach strategies that can be used to control the outcomes of these processes (Maier & Richter, 2014, 2016b.…”

Enfoques intraindividual e interindividual en programas de pensamiento crítico

“…Otros programas en esta misma perspectiva son el método de pensamiento verbalizado (Think Aloud) en donde los estudiantes deben decir en voz alta (verbalización), aquellas ideas y razones que surgen del proceso de aprendizaje, y muestran los procesos cognitivos evocados en la tarea que realizan, lo que les permite hacer conscientes sus procesos cognitivos y motivacionales (Ku & Ho, 2010).…”