Metacognitive Limitations in Young Learners: Assessing Barriers to Awareness and Problem-Solving in Third-Grade Students

This study explores the metacognitive abilities of students with high working memory capacity in the context of solving mathematical problems. The measuring instruments include two researcher-developed tests, a structured interview, and the Working memory index from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale. The total ۲۶۲ nine-year-old female students from Tehran were randomly selected to participate in the study. From this group, ۳۱ highly proficient students with strong working memory were selected. Data analysis indicated that the students rarely engaged in conscious retrieval of prior knowledge during problem-solving. Approximately ۶۱% of participants showed no evidence of strategic effort when encountering unfamiliar mathematical tasks. Moreover, ۹۰% reported that they never asked themselves reflective questions. While students recognized practice as a helpful factor, their approach was largely imitative, often modeled after teachers or parents. These findings suggest a predominant reliance on automatic, habitual strategies rather than deliberate, goal-directed engagement with the problem-solving process. The findings highlights a significance gap between cognitive capacity and metacognitive strategy use in high-working-memory students. Despite their cognitive advantage, these students rarely employed reflective practices when solving problems, indicating that current instructional approaches may emphasize rote repetition over strategic thinking. This tendency appears particularly pronounced within teacher-centered educational contexts. To address this imbalance, curricula should incorporate explicit metacognitive training, including guided strategy-transfer exercises, problem classification activities, and structured reflection protocols. Such interventions may enhance students’ ability to engage in adaptive problem-solving and could contribute to improved outcomes in international mathematics assessments, particularly within educational systems like Iran’s.

Keywords:

metacognition , problem solving , working memory , Wechsler Intelligence Scale