Metacognitive Strategies in Action Research on Reading Comprehension

This guide is for teachers who want to improve their learners’ reading comprehension through action research. It explains what metacognitive strategies are, why they matter for reading, and how to use the action research cycle to test them in your own classroom. It ends with practical classroom tips you can start using right away.

On this page 7 sections

What metacognitive strategies are

Reading comprehension is a complex skill. It draws on several thinking processes, including:

• Decoding: turning written words into sounds and meaning
• Vocabulary knowledge: knowing what words mean
• Background knowledge: what the reader already knows about the topic
• Metacognition: awareness of one’s own thinking

Metacognitive strategies, often called “thinking about thinking,” are the mental processes that help learners monitor, regulate, and evaluate their own learning. Common examples are:

• Setting goals
• Planning
• Self-monitoring
• Self-evaluation
• Self-reflection

Why they matter for reading comprehension

When learners use metacognitive strategies, they become more aware of how they think while reading. This helps them:

• Set goals for what they want to get out of a text
• Check whether they actually understand what they are reading
• Change their reading approach when something is not working
• Spot gaps in their understanding and clarify confusing ideas
• Recall information more effectively

Research supports teaching these strategies directly. Baker and Brown (1984) linked metacognitive strategy instruction with better comprehension among struggling readers, and a meta-analysis by Swanson (1999) found that metacognitive interventions had a moderate to significant effect on reading comprehension.

What action research is

Action research is a collaborative, systematic, and self-reflective way for teachers to improve teaching and learning. Instead of guessing what works, you identify a concern, gather data, act on it, and check the results.

For reading, action research helps you find out how your learners use metacognitive strategies, which strategies work best for them, and how to adjust your teaching for different kinds of learners.

Five steps to an action research cycle on metacognitive strategies

1. Identify an area of concern. Look at where your learners struggle with comprehension, such as vocabulary, making inferences, or identifying main ideas.
2. Collect data. Gather evidence of how learners read and understand, such as test scores, written reflections, or think-aloud protocols (learners say their thoughts out loud while reading).
3. Analyze the data. Look for patterns, strengths, and weaknesses in your learners’ comprehension.
4. Develop and implement interventions. Based on what you found, try a change, such as teaching a specific metacognitive strategy, giving targeted feedback, or using graphic organizers.
5. Evaluate the outcomes. Collect new data, such as test scores, observations, or learner reflections, to see whether the intervention worked.

Step	Example data or action
Identify a concern	Learners cannot find the main idea
Collect data	Test scores, written reflections, think-alouds
Analyze	Patterns, strengths, and weaknesses
Intervene	Strategy lessons, feedback, graphic organizers
Evaluate	New scores, observations, reflections

Tips for teaching metacognitive strategies in class

Building these strategies into daily lessons can be challenging. These approaches make it easier:

1. Model the strategies. Think aloud while you read, and explicitly show learners how and when to use each strategy.
2. Use graphic organizers. Help learners see their thinking, plan their reading, and check their understanding.
3. Give feedback. Praise good plans and gently correct errors in thinking as learners use the strategies.
4. Teach self-reflection. Have learners reflect on how they thought while reading, name their strengths and weaknesses, and set goals for next time.
5. Differentiate instruction. Adjust your teaching to each learner’s metacognitive strengths and weaknesses.

Key takeaway

Metacognition is one of the thinking processes behind good reading comprehension. Action research gives you a systematic, collaborative, data-driven way to test metacognitive strategies with your own learners, while modeling, graphic organizers, feedback, self-reflection, and differentiation help you build those strategies into everyday teaching.

Frequently asked questions