Engaging New College Students in Metacognition for Critical Thinking: A Developmental Education Perspective

Teaching students to think critically is one of the major goals of higher education (Bissell & Lemons, 2006; Stein & Haynes, 2011; Weissberg, 2013; Yuretich, 2004). Many educators at the college level recognize this and expect students to demonstrate critical thinking early in their college experience. For some students, a lack of preparation for these expectations poses an immediate and substantial challenge during the transition from high school to college (Cassidy, 2007; Larmar & Lodge, 2014). Further, research calls for the incorporation of teaching metacognition as a tool for engaging in critical thinking (McKinney, 2007; Pelton, 2014), and instructors who do not address this call may be leaving new students in a struggle to adapt to the demands of college. The good news is that developmental education (DE) programs and services are typically in a prime position to introduce new college students to metacognitive knowledge and skills that have been shown to enhance critical thinking and academic success (Ku & Ho, 2010; Mytkowicz, Goss, & Steinberg, 2014; Pelton, 2014; Rezvan, Ahmadi, & Abedi, 2006). Moreover, because they are positioned to serve this immediate need, DE programs should be teaching new college students to use metacognition as a tool to engage in critical thinking.The use of metacognitive strategies to enhance learning is a widely researched topic (Winne & Nesbit, 2010), and much of the research credits John Flavell with beginning the discussion on metacognition (Ku & Ho, 2010; Mytkowicz, Goss, & Steinberg, 2014; Rezvan, Ahmadi, & Abedi, 2006). Flavell provides a broad definition of metacognition as "knowledge and cognition about cognitive phenomenon" (Flavell, 1979; p. 906). An alternative definition of metacognition, provided by researcher Stephen Chew, is "a student's awareness of his or her level of understanding of a topic" (Chew, 2010; pp. 51-52). Through this lens, many researchers illustrate that the use of metacognition can have a positive impact on learning and academic achievement. Some examples of this include work by Rezvan, Ahmadai, and Abedi (2006) which notes that metacognitive training had a positive impact on the academic achievement of conditional students, as well as Mytokowicz, Goss, and Stienberg (2014) who highlight the positive impact training in metacognitive knowledge and regulation had on students with learning disabilities. Other authors take this discussion beyond learning in general and apply it more specifically by writing that metacognition aides critical thinking (Maclellan, & Soden, 2012; Pelton, 2014), and should be discussed openly in higher education to help students succeed (Maclellan, & Soden, 2012). Ku and Ho (2010) even present results of a study that demonstrates that great critical thinkers used more metacognitive strategies than students who thought less critically. It seems to be generally accepted in the literature that metacognition can positively impact critical thinking and academic achievement. This supports the idea that higher education should be explicitly helping students develop metacognitive skills as a means for engaging in critical thinking.While there is a clear connection between metacognitive activity and quality critical thinking, it is not clear that this connection is explicitly addressed in higher education in general, and especially with first-year college students. Cassidy (2007) writes about the need for inexperienced college students to develop the ability to accurately selfassess the quality of thinking in which they have engaged. Maclellen and Soden (2012) note that metacognition has a significant role in developing a type of learning that involves critical thinking, and add that this learning does not necessarily happen unless the development of metacognitive skills is explicitly addressed. Finally, using the term "metacognitive capital" (p. 97), Larmar and Lodge (2014) make the clear distinction that many first-year students enter higher education without the knowledge and regulative assets necessary for academic success. …