Metacognition: implications for instruction in nursing education

Published research efforts devoted to metacognition in post-secondary learners are accumulating and provide a stimulating array of instructional implications and fuel for further inquiry. Faculty in disciplines such as nursing where there is concern about the decline in a number of applicants and the academic ability of entering students may find that the literature on metacognition offers guidance on assisting students to perform at a more optimal level. Like preventative health care, providing instruction on metacognitive skills is a preventative educational practice: the goal being prevention of learning deficits and failure. The purpose of this article is to provide an analysis of the construct of metacognition and describe a specific dimension of metacognition, strategic reading, useful to student nurses.