How do you think you got on?

Metacognition, the ability to think about one’s own thinking, is increasingly being recognised as an important factor in successful learning. In particular, students need to be able to monitor their knowledge, understanding and thought processes while engaging in tasks, and measuring this ability is important to researchers. In this study, Morgan Hawker and colleagues at Colorado State University, US, investigated the accuracy of students’ exam score postdictions (as opposed to predictions) over time as a means of measuring their metacognitive assessment skills.

David Read summarises and reviews the study.