A student reflecting on their own thinking process during problem-solving is…

Concept

Knowledge can be classified by what a learner knows: factual knowledge covers basic elements, conceptual knowledge covers relationships and structures, procedural knowledge covers methods, and metacognitive knowledge covers cognition itself.

Metacognitive knowledge includes awareness of one’s strategies, tasks, and self as a learner; it supports monitoring and regulating thinking.

Application

Here, the student pauses to examine their own thinking while solving a problem. This is self-monitoring of cognition, so it exemplifies metacognitive knowledge.

Contrast

• Factual knowledge: knowing discrete terms and details.

• Procedural knowledge: knowing how to carry out methods or algorithms.

• Conceptual knowledge: understanding relationships within an organized structure.

• Metacognitive knowledge: knowing about and monitoring one’s own cognition.

Cross-check

If the student were recalling a fact, following a method, or relating concepts, the category would change. Because the action is reflection on one’s own thinking, the result is Metacognitive Knowledge.