QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY

DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Module 2 Metacognition: Thinking About Thinking

Metacognition & Metacognitive Knowledge

Competencies
In this topic, you will discover the nature of metacognition, its components, and how metacognitive
processes work in the classroom. In this topic, , the students are expected to:
 explain metacognition and its components:
 delineate the relationship between metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive processes; and
 identify effective metacognitive teaching strategies to facilitate learning.
Discussion
Introduction

Children must be taught how to think, nor what to think

Margaret Mead

Today, facilitating learning is aimed at assisting learners in acquiring expected competencies. In

addition, the facilitation of learning addresses the expected competencies to help them understand
their learning and thinking. Research findings have shown that metacognitive thinking operates as a
vital skill to other skills like problem-solving, creative thinking, and critical thinking. The good news
is that metacognition can be taught.

Am I
understanding
the message the
author has
written?

I am sure my What do I know

answer is correct about this story?

VISION MISSION
The leading center for academic and technological excellence Develop competent and morally upright professionals and generate
and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future”

 QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Definition of Metacognition
The term metacognition is attributed to Flavell. He described it as "knowledge concerning one's cognitive
processes and products or anything related to them, eg, the learning-relevant properties of information and
data "Furthermore, he referred to it as "the active monitoring and consequent regulation and orchestration of
these processes concerning the cognitive objects or data on which they bear, usually in the service of some
concrete goal or objective" (Flavell, 1976). Simply stated, metacognition is knowledge and cognition about
cognitive phenomena" (Flavell, 1979). The meaning metamorphosed into thinking about thinking, knowing
about knowing." and "cognition about cognition.”
Components of Metacognition
The elements of metacognition are metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation (Flavell, 2004).
These two elements are interrelated the presence of the first one enhances the second element .
Metacognitive knowledge (also called knowledge of cognition) refers to what individuals know about their
cognition or cognition in general" (Schraw. 2002). It involves three kinds of metacognitive awareness , namely:
declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, and conditional knowledge.
Declarative Knowledge Procedural Knowledge Conditional Knowledge
 Knowledge about things  Knowledge on how to do  Knowledge on when and
things why to apply cognitive acts
 Knowledge about one’s  Knowledge o how to execute
 Knowledge on when a
own abilities skills strategy is appropriate
 Knowledge about factors
affecting one’s own
performance
Declarative knowledge or personal knowledge is the learner's knowledge about things. It also refers to the
learner's understanding of own abilities, and the knowledge about oneself as a learner and of the factors that
moderate one's performance. Declarative knowledge, also referred to as conceptual, propositional or descriptive
knowledge, describes things, events, or processes; their attributes; and their relation to each other. It is contrary
to procedural, or implicit Knowledge, which refers to the knowledge of how to perform or operate. This type of
knowledge is not always accurate as the learner's evaluation of his or her capabilities may be unreliable. For
instance, that Manila is the capital of the Philippines and that cases is the plural form of oasis are examples of
declarative knowledge. That learner has limited information as to the semantic rules is also a declarative
knowledge.
Declarative knowledge is also usually explicit knowledge, meaning that you are consciously aware that you
understand the information. For example, you know for a fact that 10/22/1987 is your birthday because you
were born on the 22nd day of October in the year 1987.

Declarative knowledge is further divided into factual and conceptual knowledge.

Factual knowledge – basic facts that a learner must know to be familiar with the subject or problem to be
solved.

 1. Knowledge of terminology
 2. Knowledge of special details and elements

Conceptual knowledge – the interrelationship between the basic elements within a broader structure that

VISION MISSION
The leading center for academic and technological excellence Develop competent and morally upright professionals and generate
and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future”

 QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

allows for joint action.

 1. Knowledge classification and category

 2. Knowledge of principles and generalization
 3. Knowledge of theories, models, and structures

Procedural knowledge or task knowledge involves the knowledge of how to do things and how skills or
competencies are executed. The assessment on the learner's task knowledge includes what knowledge is needed
(content) and the space available to communicate what is known (length). A learner given a problem-solving
task, for instance, knows that prerequisite information and prior skills are necessary to be recalled and readily
executed at the given time to solve the problem. Such knowledge gives confidence in working with the problem.
Procedural Knowledge refers to the knowledge of how to perform a specific skill or task, and is considered
knowledge related to methods, procedures, or operation of equipment. Procedural knowledge is also referred to
as Implicit Knowledge, or know-how.

The classic example of procedural knowledge is riding a bicycle. When someone was teaching you how to ride a
bicycle, no matter what they said, you probably struggled to grasp it until you’d actually done it a few times.
Once you figured it out, it quickly became implicit knowledge. That is, the type of knowledge that is hard to
explain as it is subconsciously stored in your mind; (‘muscle memory’ is another phrase used to describe
implicit knowledge).

Procedural knowledge differs from declarative knowledge, which is thought of as ‘knowledge about’ or the
answers to the what, where, when, or who types of questions, rather than the ‘how.’ Facts, world history, or
rules for mathematical equations are all examples of declarative knowledge.

Conditional knowledge or strategy knowledge refers to the ability to know when and why various
cognitive acts should be applied. It involves using strategies to learn information (knowing how to know) as well
as adapting them to novel contexts (knowing when a strategy is appropriate). This knowledge is evident in a
learner who seeks the help of a school nurse to make a report on the communicable diseases prevalent in the
community as well as this learner's knowledge that the best way to gather the information is to interview a
nurse and to go over the health records of the Municipal Health Office of the town.
Conditional knowledge requires application of critical thinking and problem solving skills that demonstrate
deeper mastery of what to teach and how to teach requiring concrete experiences, reflective observation,
abstract conceptualization and active experimentation.

Metacognitive knowledge is the result of an individual's metacognitive experiences. Flavell (1979)

explained them as experiences that an individual has through which knowledge is attained, or through
regulation occurs." A learner who obtained low scores in knowledge and skills test becomes aware that he or
she has low declarative and procedural knowledge. In contrast, a learner who has always scored highest in both
the content and skills tests has strong confidence in his adequacy of knowledge in the subject.

VISION MISSION
The leading center for academic and technological excellence Develop competent and morally upright professionals and generate
and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future”

 QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Similarly, metacognitive knowledge depends so much on the learner's metamemory, the knowledge of what
memory is, how it works, and how to remember things. Through instruction and individual effort, metamemory
develops over time. For instance, learners who have been taught how to organize information and use rehearsal
strategies have richer metamemory. They can retrieve declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge when
required by the task.
References
Bulusan, Ferdinand, [Link]. 1st Ed 2019. Facilitating Learner-Centered Teaching. Manila: Rex Book Store, Inc.
Harasim, L. (2017) Learning theory & Online Technology. 2nd edition. New York:Routledge
Tan, D.A. & Limjap, A.A. (2018) Filipino student’s use of metcognitive skills in mathematical probem solving: An emergent
model. International Journal of Dev’t and Research, 08(05), 20430-20439. Retrieved from http:[Link]/
[Link]

VISION MISSION
The leading center for academic and technological excellence Develop competent and morally upright professionals and generate
and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future”