What is metacognition?

Metacognition refers to awareness of ones systematic thinking on the learning process they go
through. Flavell (1979) defines metacognition as a childs knowledge about thinking processes
and learning activities. Moreover, the concept of metacognition includes thinking about the
thinking process, self-awareness, understanding, and memory techniques and learning
characteristics. According to Paris and Jacobs (1984) metacognitive strategies help students
focus their attention, understand the content, connect past knowledge with new information and
to code it in their memories.
Another definition of metacognition is that of Wellman (1985) who defines metacognition
as a "fuzzy concept" that cannot be pinned down or demarcated easily.