Teachers’ Role in Chemistry Metacognition

Abstract

Teachers’ role in chemistry metacognition describes what metacognition and chemistry metacognition are, their importance in chemistry education and how they can be taught or improved in science or chemistry learners that might be finding the subject difficult or demanding. This chapter educates science and chemistry teachers with the requisite metacognition and chemistry metacognition skills, knowledge and attitudes using chemistry relevant prior knowledge. The science and chemistry teachers in this chapter are also educated through a selected difficult chemistry topic on how to utilize the acquired metacognition and chemistry metacognition skills, knowledge and attitudes in the classroom. The metacognition and chemistry metacognition skills, knowledge and attitudes are utilized through modeling and scaffolding by the science and chemistry teachers for the learners to observe and learn metacognition and chemistry metacognition in practice. Replace the entirety of this text with your abstract.

1. Introduction

Chemistry as a science subject is perceived as a very difficult or challenging subject in terms of learning and teaching by both learners and teachers [1]. This perception of chemistry being a very difficult or challenging subject has led to many science learners performing poorly and losing interest in the subject [2, 3]. Therefore, there is need to attract more learners to study chemistry and improve the performance in this subject that is perceived as very difficult. Chemistry metacognition can improve the performance of learners and attract more learners to chemistry education.

2. Metacognition

Metacognition is part of self-regulation in the learning process with cognition and motivation [4]. Cognition are the processes involved mentally in understanding, knowing, and learning. Metacognition is the changes in learning behavior by which learners themselves go through when they plan, monitor and evaluate mentally during the learning process [5]. Motivation is the willingness by learners to actively engage in metacognitive and cognitive skills [4].

Metacognition is an individuals’ skill to utilize prior knowledge to plan a tactic for an upcoming learning task, take required steps to problem solve, reflect on results and evaluate results as well as modifying the approach when it is necessary to do so [5].

Metacognition is the ingenious intentional control of cognitive and affective outcomes of thinking and insight aimed at the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitude during the learning process [6]. Metacognition is when a person can monitor their own understanding and awareness of their cognitive processes as well as having the ability to control them [7]. Metacognition is recognizing the value of prior knowledge with an accurate assessment of the demands of a challenging learning activity or goal and what understanding, and skills are needed as well as the intelligence required to make the right deduction on how to use one’s elaborate and systematic knowledge in a specific situation reliably and efficiently [8]. Chemistry metacognition is the recognition of the value of chemistry prior knowledge with an accurate assessment of the demands of a chemistry challenging learning activity and what understanding, and skills are needed as well as the intelligence required to make the right deduction on how to use one’s elaborate and systematic relevant prior chemistry knowledge in a specific situation reliably and efficiently.

Metacognition knowledge consists of what a person knows, about their cognitive processing power, about several approaches that are useful in learning and solving a problem as well as the requirements to effectively accomplish the learning task [9]. The definition of metacognition and its components depend on the researchers’ context and theoretical tradition such as educational psychology, cognitive science, cognitive behavioral, cognitive developmental, socio-cultural, and social learning, asserts [10]. The socio-cultural theoretical definition and context of metacognition is employed in this chapter. Socio-cultural theory focuses on the impact of culture (beliefs, attitudes etc.) on teaching and learning as well as how peers and adults influence the learning (development) of an individual, making human learning largely a social process [11].

The several different definitions of metacognition have the following in common; knowledge of one’s knowledge, the monitoring and regulation of one’s knowledge consciously as well as the cognitive and affective states of being [11, 12]. John H. Flavell’s model and Anne Brown’s model are the most common models of metacognition [13]. These are theoretically distinct but compatible theories of metacognition, presenting a problem in terms of the agreed metacognition terminology and metacognitive processes. There are two major components of metacognition which are further divided into other subcomponents. Metacognitive knowledge (cognitive knowledge) and metacognitive regulation (cognitive regulation) make up metacognition [14, 15, 16].

There are three aspects of knowledge which comprise metacognition, there is procedural knowledge and conditional knowledge which are closely related as well as declarative knowledge, which refers to knowing in terms of knowledge, strategies and skills which are important for completing a learning task successfully under different conditions [13, 17]. This is knowledge about the task at hand in terms of prior knowledge, which is useful in the given scenario. Declarative knowledge is divided into person, task and strategies (actions) variables [18]. Person variables involve recognition of one’s strengths and weaknesses in the learning process, including information processing. Task variables refer to what an individual knows or might find out in terms of the nature and mental (intellectual) requirements (demands) to accomplish the learning task [19].

Strategy variables refer to the plans in ones’ mind which can be applied flexibly to positively accomplish the learning task [20]. Procedural knowledge is the knowledge of how to put into use procedures such as learning strategies or actions using declarative knowledge to achieve goals and conditional knowledge as knowledge about why and when to make use of various skills, procedures and strategies or cognitive actions [17]. One has knowledge about when and why to make use of declarative and procedural knowledge. Metacognitive knowledge can be changed through adding, removing or revising metacognitive experiences and metacognitive knowledge can be inaccurate, fail in terms of being activated, or may fail to have much or any influence [17].

Metacognitive control/regulation of cognition or executive control are sequences of activities that assist learners to control their own learning or thinking [21]. Metacognitive control is having three components or skills which are planning, monitoring and evaluation [22]. Planning includes the choosing of befitting strategies and provisions that are effective in terms of performance or goal attainment [21]. Monitoring is the judgment of the progress of one’s current thinking and task performance. Evaluation refers to assessing or examining the completed task or goal which can demand more planning, monitoring and evaluating depending on the outcome [22].

Planning, monitoring and evaluation as self-regulating processes in most learning situations are not explicit or conscious, as they are automated to a large extent and might develop with reflection being unconscious as well as not having a language for communication between teachers/instructors and learners in this area [23]. Metacognition can be taught to any individual irrespective of age, grade (level) or subject specialization [24, 25, 26]. Adult learners usually have more knowledge of cognition and are better able to describe it in a coherent fashion way when compared to adolescents and children [22].

The learners’ knowledge of cognition is explicit and develops late in terms of age [22]. Metacognitive skills and their use without assistance develop over time and the experiences of the learner out of the classroom should be taken into consideration because they are significant in the development of metacognitive skills [27]. Knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition are related to each other as an improvement in declarative knowledge of cognition makes regulation of cognition easier [28].

3. Benefits of metacognition in chemistry education

Metacognition has a positive impact in general on learner outcomes in terms of thinking and learning, particularly for learners with disabilities [29, 30, 31]. Independent learning leads to self-monitoring of the progress in terms of learning. When learners can monitor the progress they are making, they take control their own learning in the and out of the classroom [5].

Abilities of metacognition assist learners to transfer acquired knowledge, skills and affective states to another context or learning task. Learners with inadequate access to educational resources benefit from metacognition as educational outcomes improve [32]. An increase of metacognition leads to increased motivation states [33]. Metacognitive regulation increases academic performance in various ways such as the application of attentional resources in a better way, application of existing strategies in a better way and a higher awareness of breakdowns in comprehension [28]. Learning is improved significantly when an understanding of how and when to apply the metacognitive skills by learners is achieved [4].

Metacognitive learners have achievement levels that are high and also compensates for those learners who might have cognitive limitations [6]. Independent learning ability of learners is increased as leaners become in control of their own learning in and outside the school through being able to plan, monitor and evaluate their own progress during the learning process [5]. The metacognitive ability of a learner to identify learning strategies that work and those which do not work as well as the ability to identify ones’ ones’ failures and successes increases the learners’ resilience and perseverance [34]. There is no need of specialized teaching and learning equipment in metacognitive teaching making it cost-effective as metacognition trained teachers are required only. Metacognition assist learners in transferring knowledge (metacognitive strategies) across other contexts and tasks in different subjects. Learners of all age groups can effectively learn metacognitive skills and benefit from them.

Lack of relevant prior knowledge or low academic ability might be compensated for by metacognitive knowledge [28]. Resilience is improved by metacognition as learners can identify their own successes and failures, strategies that best work for them or which failed them thereby increasing the learners’ perseverance in improving in their work [5]. Metacognition is important to learning that is successful as it allows learners to determine their weaknesses which can be corrected through the construction of new cognitive skills, resulting in learners better managing their cognitive skills [28]. There is social and emotional growth by learners as they get aware of their mental states which allows learners to think of how to be confident, respected, and happy. Metacognition also allows learners to understand other learners or individuals’ perspectives better [5].

4. Prior knowledge in chemistry learning

One of the major contributors to learning challenges in chemistry is the learners’ prior knowledge (pre-learning conceptions) [35]. Prior knowledge is the foundation on which new knowledge is built on by learners during learning [35]. According to the constructivist learning theory, each learner comes to the classroom possessing a unique experience (prior knowledge, skills and attitudes) [36]. The ability to learn is affected by the learners’ background and prior knowledge. Learners construct their own meanings based on prior knowledge when it comes to chemistry explanations from the teacher or textbook and observations from chemistry experiments (chemistry theory and practical) [36]. Relevant prior knowledge gives learners the relevant context for the learning and integration of metacognitive knowledge, skills and attitudes [37]. Metacognition is the capability to apply relevant prior knowledge to plan, monitor and evaluate ones’ mental processes during a learning process [9].

5. Modeling as a teaching strategy

Modeling is a very efficient way of teaching and learning any new knowledge, skill and attitude [38, 39]. In human beings from the age of childhood to the age of adulthood, modeling has a very important part in acquiring and developing cognitive and metacognitive skills, interpersonal skills, fine motor skills and later in life professional skills [38]. Observation is the primary process through which cognitive and metacognitive skills, interpersonal skills, fine motor skills and later in life professional skills are acquired. The acquisition and development of motor skills by children happen through observing the interactions of their parents, peers and siblings with their environments (worlds) [38, 39].

Parents, siblings and peers are the children’s models whom they observe in terms of learning from the simplest form of knowledge, skill and attitude to the complex [40, 41]. The knowledge, skills and attitudes that are learnt and repeated by the learner depends ultimately on the reinforcement provided and the level of the learner to repeat what was observed. The learning of cognitive skills that are simple such as reading or basic arithmetic skills to problem solving and critical thinking which are more complex are facilitated through thought process verbalization by models when they perform such activities [40, 41]. The models’ thoughts become observable, and can potentially be modeled, by conspicuous verbal characterization of the actions of the model.

Modeling both actions and thoughts has a lot of features that are helpful in the terms of contribution to the effectiveness of producing improvements in cognitive skills that are lasting [38]. Attention is gained and held through non-verbal modeling which is normally quite challenging to sustain through talking on its own. This also gives a didactic semantic environment inside which the verbalized rules are embedded [38, 41]. Cognitive abstractions are given meaning by behavioral referents. Furthermore, verbalized rules and approaches can be performed again in different forms as and when they are needed in imparting cognitive skills without the observers’ interest being taxed by applying dissimilar exemplars [41].

Additionally, increased, and varied application of modeling deepens an understanding of the generative rules. According to the social cognitive learning theory, the acquisition of self-regulatory and metacognitive skills as well as competence develop first through observational learning which is also called social interaction [42]. There is advocacy for the development of self-regulatory competence by learners, in which learners are given a lot of opportunities to practice the different types of strategies that are associated with self-regulated learning so that they fully develop and become proficient in these set of skills [42]. Proficiency in these metacognitive and self-regulatory skills becomes easy when guidance, social reinforcement and feedback are provided during practice by models [42].

6. Metacognitive modeling

The modeling of metacognition exhibit how one should think during lessons which focuses on deciphering data and information, analyzing and conclusion drawing on what was learned [38, 40]. Metacognitive modeling is very useful especially in a science class where teachers make use of multiple steps in problem-solving. In metacognitive modeling, teachers verbalize metacognition through their own thought processes whilst they are solving the problem on the overhead, board any learning media being used [38, 40]. In the thinking-out-loud approach, the focus of the teachers’ talk is to plan and articulate explicitly the thought processes associated with metacognitive learning. Metacognitive modeling can be done also when learners read the chemistry text whilst the teacher is asking questions that are rhetorical or comments about what is to anticipated in the chemistry text or subtopic that is coming [38, 40].

7. Modeling scaffolding technique

Teachers should consider the learners’ position in the teaching and learning process when applying modeling as a technique of scaffolding [38, 39, 40]. First the teachers model the chemistry task for learners and then learners begin the task assigned and work through the chemistry task at a pace of their own [39, 40]. The teacher gives learners more demanding tasks which they can now do on their after learning from the less demanding chemistry tasks. The teacher models the chemistry task several times so as to create an environment that is supportive to learners who might have language challenges or learning disabilities [38].

8. Teachers’ metacognitive knowledge and skills as a learner

The teacher must be able to motivate them-self and be aware of their strengths and weaknesses as a self-regulating learner [39]. This enables the teacher to motivate them-self when it comes to learning as a metacognitive learner [43]. The metacognitive learner must be fully engaged in learning metacognitively to improve their learning. Teaching learners how to learn metacognitively needs a teacher who is aware of the types of metacognitive learners which are tacit, aware, strategic, and reflective metacognitive learners [44, 45]. Learners who are not aware of their metacognitive knowledge and never think of any learning strategies are called tacit learners. Learners who are aware of some kind of metacognitive knowledge that they do such as generating ideas and finding evidence are called aware learners. However, thinking is not necessarily deliberate or planned [43].

Strategic learners can; do problem-solving, do organized thinking, classify, group, make decision, and seek evidence. They know learning strategies which apply the that assist them in learning [44]. Reflective learners reflect on learning during the learning process whilst taking into consideration of the success or failures of the learning strategy that is being uses as well as revising them the learning strategy when appropriate [45, 46, 47, 48].

Developing learners’ metacognitive knowledge, that is knowledge by learners of themselves in terms of a learner, the strategies to use in dealing with tasks is a very effective method of improving learning outcomes. Teachers must support learners to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning.

9. The teaching of metacognition strategies

Precise, clear, and readily observable teaching on the metacognitive strategies of planning, monitoring and evaluation is done to improve learners’ metacognitive learning through a chemistry concept such as concentration. A number of steps that start by the activating relevant prior knowledge of the learner so as to begin the lesson from the known (simple knowledge) (prior knowledge) to the unknown (complex knowledge) new concept [6, 49]. This leads to independent practice by learners as they monitor their progress in the set goals on the topic concentration which leads to evaluation where learners reflect on their learning of the topic [4].

10. Metacognitive modeling by the teacher

Effective metacognitive skills teaching is done through modeling as the expert learner (teacher) shows the thought processes [4, 9]. Modeling by the teacher is a cornerstone of effective teaching. The metacognitive thinking processes are verbalized by the teacher who is the expert learner in terms of metacognitive learning [4]. A question on the topic concentration is presented to the learners to solve: What is the concentration in mol dm⁻³ of a solution made from 7.31 g sodium chloride in 250 cm³ of distilled water? The teacher models metacognitive thinking by thinking out loudly (verbalization) in the three phases of metacognitive learning (planning phase, monitoring phase and evaluation phase). This done through the expert metacognitive learner asking himself/herself questions loudly for the learners to observe metacognitive thinking processes [9].

10.1 Planning phase

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: What is it that l am expected to learn? [4, 9].

Definition of concentration. Convert a given mass into mol and a given volume into dm³. Calculate concentration.

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: What is the relevant prior knowledge that can assist me with this learning task? [4, 9]. At home, we add various amount of table salt to soup, the saltiness changes, increasing with the amount of salt added. When we add teaspoons of sugar into tea/coffee the sweetness depends on the number of teaspoons added per fixed volume of tea. Also dried fruits such as mango or sweet reeds or sugar cane are sweeter than fresh mango, sweet reeds/sugar.

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: What is it that l should do first? [4, 9]. From my relevant prior knowledge of sugar dissolving in tea/coffee and the changes of sweetness from dried and fresh mango/sweet reeds/sugarcane, l know that concentration is the mass of a substance per unit volume. That means l have an idea from my relevant prior knowledge and know what concentration is though l did not know the chemistry technical term “concentration”?

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: What direction should I be thinking? [4, 9]. The mass and volume are given but not in the required units, so l should first convert the given mass and volume into the required units before doing anything.

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: How long should take to complete this? [4, 9]. The thinking, definition and calculation should take me 6 minutes at most.

10.2 Monitoring phase

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: In terms of the learning task, what is my progress? [4, 9].

I am doing well at the moment as it clear what l should do next.

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: Am I in the right direction? [4, 9] Yes, l am in the right direction as the conversion of the given mass and volume into mol and dm³ units will give me the appropriate units in mol dm⁻³.

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: How should I go on from here? [4, 9]. I should know the relative atomic masses of Na and Cl for me to convert the mass of NaCl into mol. I should also know how to convert of cm³ into dm³.

$$\begin{array}{l}\text{Molar mass}\left(\text{NaCl}\right)=23\text{g}/mol+35.5\text{g}/mol=58.5\text{g}/mol\\ \text{Number of}mol\text{of NaCl in}7.31\text{g}\text{of NaCl}=\frac{7.31\text{g}}{58.5\text{g}/mol}=0.125mol\\ \text{Volume of}250c{m}^3\text{in}d{m}^3=\frac{250d{m}^3}{1000}=0.25d{m}^3\end{array}$$

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: What is the important information l should remember?

$$\text{The concentration of the NaCl solution is}=\frac{0.125mol}{0.25d{m}^3}=0.5mol/d{m}^3$$

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: Must I do things in a different direction? [4, 9]. No, I think l am in the right direction so far.

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: Must I do some adjustment to my pace due to some minor challenges? [4, 9]. Yes, l need to slow down a bit to make sure l do not end up having serious.

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: What should if I am not understanding what l am doing? [4, 9]. I have to go back to my relevant prior knowledge that will assist me with coming up with the definition of concentration from which l can proceed.

10.3 Evaluation phase

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: How did I perform? [4, 9]. I think l did well.

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: What is it that l learned? [4, 9]. I learned how to arrive at the definition of concentration and how to use the definition to calculate the concentration of a solution without having to cram a formula demonstrating a deep understanding of the concept of concentration of solutions.

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: Where the results l got the expected results? [4, 9].

Yes, l got the expected results as l proved it by working backwards.

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: What is it that should have been done in different way by me? [4, 9]. I could have used the formula:

$$\text{C}=\frac{\text{n}}{\text{V}}$$

where C—concentration, n—number of moles and V—the volume to calculate the contraction of the NaCl solution, however changes of getting a deeper understanding are very slim as it is just substitution mechanically into the formula to calculate the concentration.

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: Is it possible for me to use this type of thinking in other situations or problems as well as in other subjects? [4, 9]. Yes, this type of thing can be used in other situations or problems as well as in other subjects.

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: Might there be something I do not understand, any knowledge gaps in my understanding? [4, 9]. As far as the definition of concentration and calculation of concentration task is concerned, there is no knowledge gap. The only knowledge gap could be on the calculation a of a new concentration after adding a certain amount of distilled water (dilution) the 0.5 mol/dm³ NaCl solution.

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: Is there any need for me to fill the gap in knowledge by going back from the beginning to the end of the definition and calculation of concentration task? Yes, l needed to back to the original task, and use my understanding of the definition and calculation of concentration and which l got from my relevant prior knowledge to come up with some sort of equation. This is because the number of moles of NaCl remains constant in the original solution and the diluted solution.

Teacher as expert metacognitive learner verbalizing thinking process: How can l use this type of thinking in other learning situations or problems as well as subjects? This type of thinking can be used in other learning situations or problems as well as subjects by first identifying the relevant prior knowledge to use in that new learning situation or problem as well as subjects [4, 9].

As the teacher model’s metacognition through verbalization of metacognitive thinking by asking these types of questions, there is an increase in the metacognitive knowledge, skills, and attitudes of learners. It happens by moving those learners who were tacit and aware learners to learners who are strategic and reflective. This gives learners the metacognitive tools they require to manage and benefit a lot from their learning. In turn, this will have a huge impact on the success and achievement beyond the school-based learning environment.

Worked examples are type of scaffold-ed tasks which enable learners to develop their cognitive and metacognitive skills by avoiding having a lot of demands on learners’ mental resources.

11. Appropriate metacognitive challenge level

Setting the appropriate metacognitive challenge levels for learners enables learners to progress and develop the knowledge of themselves as learners (metacognitive knowledge, tasks, and strategies). The metacognitive challenge level motivates learners in accepting doing the required chemistry learning task. Learners should be motivated for them to accept a chemistry challenge. The chemistry tasks given to learners should not be above the level of the learners’ cognitive level especially when they are expected to use the new learning strategies [4, 9].

12. Metacognitive development and promotion

Metacognitive skills in the teaching and learning environment can be developed through dialog in the classroom, explicit teaching and modeling. Cognitive and metacognitive strategies knowledge and understanding can be acquired through learner-teacher or learner-to-learner talk. Purposeful dialog is required, with teachers supporting and guiding the conversation to make sure it builds on relevant prior knowledge, and it will be challenging.

13. Encourage independent learning

For learners to develop independent skills of learning, explicit support by teachers is required. Scaffolding is used to design a practice that is guided, with support being withdrawn gradually as learners get more proficient. This enables learners to develop strategies and skills before they the learners can practice the learning strategies and skills independently. For learners to accurately judge how they are learning effectively, they require effective feedback on time and learning strategies [4, 9]

14. Teacher metacognitive support by school

Metacognitive professional development courses and resources of high quality as well as a conducive environment must be provided by the school to ensure all teachers have an opportunity to learn metacognitive knowledge, skills, and attitudes as expert learners. This will make it easy for teachers to teach and model metacognitive self-regulated learning to learners. Metacognitive knowledge, skills and attitudes are well learned when there is support and time given to teachers by senior leaders for consistent implementation of metacognitive teaching and learning approaches [4]. The metacognitive self-regulated learning skills of learners can be assessed by a variety of ways which include scaffolding, think aloud and observations. Teachers must build metacognitive teaching as part of their normal teaching activities and not take metacognitive teaching and learning as extra duties or activities [9].

15. Research questions

1. What is the effect of the teachers’ chemistry metacognitive modeling on leaners’ chemistry metacognitive learning?

2. How does the teachers’ chemistry metacognitive modeling impact learners’ chemistry academic performance?

16. Methods

The social constructivist learning theory guided this embedded mixed methods research designed study over 8 weeks. This research design includes the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data within an approach that is primary qualitative that leads an integration of the results and conclusions from these data into a whole that is cohesive [50, 51]. From a population of 150 leaners, 29 learners were purposively sampled for the research who consisted of 14 females and 15 males. Focus groups and document analysis were used to collect the data. The Metacognition Awareness Inventory (MAI) by Scraw and Dennison [22] was adapted for use in this study.

17. Results

Comparing the metacognition awareness mean scores of the learners from focus group mean scores before and after the teachers’ chemistry metacognition modeling intervention, there was a significant improvement in the metacognition awareness of the learners after the metacognition modeling intervention. Figure 1 shows a comparison of the metacognition awareness mean scores before and after teachers’ chemistry metacognitive modeling.

Figure 1.

Metacognition awareness mean score before and after teacher metacognitive modeling intervention. From “The influence of indigenous knowledge on chemistry metacognition” [52].

There was a positive change in mean scores in chemistry assignments and chemistry test scores of the learners after the metacognition modeling intervention. These outcomes imply an positive impact on metacognitive learning by learners as a result of metacognitive modeling by the teacher as well as academic improvement by the learners after the metacognition modeling intervention by the teacher. Figure 2 shows the learner mean chemistry assignments and tests before and after the intervention.

Figure 2.

Comparison of assignment 2 and chemistry test 2 and 3 post-intervention. From “The influence of indigenous knowledge on chemistry metacognition” [52].

18. Discussion

The findings suggest that the teachers’ chemistry metacognitive modeling improved learners’ chemistry metacognitive learning. This correlates with the findings of a previous study which showed that modeling enhances metacognitive development in learners through the sharing of common thinking strategies that are visible which assists learners to be aware more of their own thinking [47]. These findings are also correlates with a study in which the metacognitive modeling technique were found to be very effective in teaching learners metacognitive learning skills [48]. The findings of this study also suggests that teacher metacognitive modeling improve the academic performance of learners. There is a correlation with these findings with a study which showed that modeling of cognitive and metacognitive skills improves the academic performance of learners [53].

19. Conclusion

This study examined the effect of the teachers’ chemistry metacognitive modeling on learners’ metacognitive learning and learners’ academic performance. From these findings, the following conclusions can be drawn teachers’ chemistry modeling improves learners’ chemistry metacognitive learning and learners’ chemistry academic performance.

20. Recommendations

It is recommended that chemistry teachers be capacitated with metacognition knowledge skills and attitudes including metacognitive modeling skills for application in everyday chemistry teaching to empower learners with metacognitive skills and improved academic performance in chemistry by learners.

21. Summary

This chapter discussed one of the major challenges of learning chemistry and a way of dealing with this major challenge in chemistry education. The definition, importance, and application of chemistry metacognition by teachers were explained in order to improve chemistry learning outcomes and motivation of learners in chemistry education.