Education has focused on variables such as learning styles, cognitive strategies, goals, and test anxiety in their relationship to academic performance and learning. The recent focus in the educational psychology literature on learning variables provides hope that these variables can be taught to students to augment learning and academic outcomes. This study examined how metacognition and need for cognition relate to each other and to performance on intellectually stimulating tasks. Metacognition refers to one’s ability to know and regulate cognitive processes. Conceptualized metacognition as “knowledge and cognition about cognitive phenomena". Simply stated, metacognition is thinking about your thinking. Metacognition has been described as the ability to calibrate or monitor one’s performance and chart learning plans based on learning and performance estimates. Good metacognition extends beyond the academic periphery and may be responsible for effective leadership, procuring promotions in the workplace, and achieving similar salient goals in life. Kruger and Dunning successfully demonstrated the extent of individual differences in metacognition. Participants in their study provided estimates of their performance and their peers’ performance before they took tests. Students with poor metacognition provided inflated estimates of their performance relative to their peers and failed to recognize their erroneous responses on test items. Students with good metacognition provided realistic estimates of their performance preceding the test and were able to recognize items they failed to respond to correctly. Metacognition is a strong predictor of academic success and problem- solving ability. Students who are able to effectively discriminate between information they have learned and information they have not learned are more likely to review and learn new information. If students believe they know everything for the test, they will probably end their studying. Premature cessation of studying before learning is completed will most likely result in poor performance. Fortunately, students with poor metacognition are not doomed to poor learning and inadequate performance. A vast body of research has consistently shown that metacognitive training, in addition to task-based training, is effective in improving learning and performance outcomes.

Annals of Educational Research and Reviews  is a world-wide peer-reviewed open-access journal which systematically documents several of key developments and education  taking place in the field of education technology all across the world.

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