Metacognition in STEM Education: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Applications

Guest Editors

Kristóf Tóth1 and Philipp Bitzenbauer2

¹ Department of Mathematics and Physics, Széchenyi István University, Győr, HUNGARY
² Institute of Physics Education, Faculty of Physics and Earth System Sciences, Leipzig University, Leipzig, GERMANY

Problem statement

Metacognition — broadly defined as the knowledge and regulation an individual has of their own cognitive processes — has become one of the most actively studied constructs in STEM education research. This is not merely a matter of theoretical fashion: a substantial and converging body of meta-analytic evidence links metacognitive instruction to measurable gains in learning outcomes. This is indeed a rapidly expanding rather than a mature, settled area of inquiry. At the same time, there are theoretical and methodological gaps that a special issue can usefully address.

The relationship between metacognitive knowledge (what learners know about cognition) and metacognitive regulation (how they monitor and control it) remains asymmetrically studied, with regulation receiving considerably more empirical attention than knowledge, even though both are thought to jointly drive learning.

Measurement of metacognition itself is often diverge in what they capture, and the field lacks consensus on how these should be combined or reconciled in STEM-specific tasks.

Although metacognition is frequently invoked as a mechanism behind conceptual understanding, its integration with established learning-theoretic frameworks remains comparatively underdeveloped.

While teachers' pedagogical content knowledge is recognized as critical for cultivating metacognitive skills in students, and while intelligent tutoring systems and AI-based learning environments are increasingly designed to scaffold monitoring and self-regulation, research on how these two levers — teacher professional development and technology-based scaffolding — translate into durable, transferable metacognitive gains in authentic STEM classrooms is still emerging.

This special issue invites contributions that advance the theoretical, empirical, and methodological understanding of metacognitive learning across the STEM disciplines, including original empirical studies, targeted instructional interventions tested in specific STEM content areas, review articles, and bibliometric or scientometric analyses of the field.

Research on metacognitive learning in the STEM fields is also disproportionate: while there are significantly more articles available in the field of mathematics education research, the field of engineering and technology education is underrepresented.

Focus Areas

We welcome submissions from diverse perspectives, including but not limited to:

  • Theoretical and conceptual frameworks situating metacognition within broader theories of learning in STEM domains.
  • Empirical studies of metacognitive knowledge, monitoring, and regulation during problem solving and learning in specific STEM domains.
  • Design, implementation, and evaluation of metacognitive instructional materials and interventions in specific STEM topics, including studies of their durability and transfer across tasks or content areas.
  • Technology-enhanced and AI-supported approaches to fostering metacognitive awareness and self-regulated learning.
  • Methodological and measurement-focused contributions addressing the assessment of metacognition and their comparative validity in STEM learning contexts.
  • Research on teacher education and professional development aimed at strengthening teachers' metacognitive knowledge and their pedagogical content knowledge for fostering metacognition in students.
  • Review, meta-analytic, and bibliometric studies mapping the current state, trends, and future research directions of metacognition research in STEM education.

Aims and Scope

By bringing together theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions, this special issue aims to advance our understanding of how metacognitive processes develop, can be measured, and can be deliberately fostered across the STEM disciplines. We encourage submissions that offer new theoretical insights, evaluated instructional applications, or methodological advances that contribute to the ongoing discourse on metacognitive learning.

Submission Guidelines

All submissions undergo a thorough double-blind peer-review.

Submission Process

  1. Visit https://www.editorialpark.com/ejmste and log in (or create an EditorialPark account if you do not have one).
  2. Click the “Submit New Manuscript” button.
  3. Under the “Issue Type” section, select “Special Issue”.
  4. Select “Metacognition in STEM Education: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Applications” from the special issue list and submit your manuscript.

Key Dates

Submission Deadline: June 30, 2027

Expected Publication: December 2027

Contact

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at ejmste@ejmste.com.