METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS AND SKILL AMONGST STUDENTS STUDYING COMPUTER PROGRAMMING
Duan van der Westhuizen, Jacqui Chetty · Unisa Institutional Repository (University of South Africa) · 2013
Metacognition refers to the development and application of learning strategies and the ability to plan, control and monitor learning.Research indicates that students' metacognitive awareness and skills can influence their academic success.This study determined the extent to which students learning a computer programming module were meta-cognitively aware.The Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) developed by Schraw and Dennison (1994) was used.The MAI correlates closely to academic success and can therefore assist in identifying those students that require further academic assistance and support.The preliminary results indicate that students overestimate their academic abilities.Additionally, a metacognitive strategy intervention was developed to improve students' metacognitive skills.The intervention was classroom oriented, where explicit teaching of metacognition strategies and metacognition regulation was deliberated with students.The intervention also included an adaptation of the classroom environment to encourage "thinking about thinking".The outcomes and implications of the intervention are seen as future research.