| The main purpose of the study is to understand the
role of metacognition in mathematical problem solving
among a group of secondary one students in a Singapore
school. The main study involved the construction of
problem solving protocols for a purposive sample of ten
students. The problem solving protocols were analyzed
using a modified version of Foong's (1993) taxonomy of
problem solving and Flavell's (1981) model of cognitive
monitoring. The main findings are :
(1) students solved problems differently. In particular,
three patterns of behaviours were observed among the ten
students in the study using the Flavell's model of
cognitive monitoring
(2) Five types of metacognitive behaviours, stating a
plan of action, clarifying task requirements, reviewing
progress, recognising errors, and detecting new
development, were observed. Assessing task difficulty was
conspicuously absent among the ten students.
(3) Three themes regarding the role of metacognition in
problem solving emerged. First the generation of
metacognitive experiences and the reaction to these
experiences facilitated successful problem solving.
Second, the possession of metacognitive knowledge and the
ability to retrieve them to formulate goals and to guide
actions seem to facilitate success in problem solving.
Third, goals formulated based on having metacognitive
experiences or on metacognitive knowledge seem to produce
success in problem solving.
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