title: Thinking about thinking: changes in first-year medical students' metacognition and its relation to performance.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Studies have shown the importance of metacognition in medical education. Metacognitive skills consist of two dimensions: knowledge of metacognition and regulation of metacognition.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study hypothesizes that the knowledge and regulation of metacognition is significantly different at the beginning and end of the academic year, and a correlation exists between the two dimensions of metacognitive skills with academic performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Metacognitive Skills Inventory comprising 52 Likert-scale items was administered to 159 first-year medical students at the University of Malaya. Students' year-end results were used to measure their academic performance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A paired sample t-test indicated no significant difference for knowledge of metacognition at the beginning and end of the academic year. A paired sample t-test revealed significant difference for regulation of metacognition at the beginning and end of the academic year. A very strong correlation was found between the two dimensions of metacognition. The correlation between knowledge and regulation of metacognition with students' academic result was moderate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The improvement in students' metacognitive regulation and the moderate correlation between knowledge and regulation of metacognition with academic performance at the end of the academic year indicate the probable positive influence of the teaching and learning activities in the medical program.
authors: Medical Education and Research Development Unit (MERDU), Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; weihan@um.edu.my; josephine_hong@yahoo.com.
authors: Wei Han
authors: WH
authors: Hong
authors: Medical Education and Research Development Unit (MERDU), Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors: Jamunarani
authors: J
authors: Vadivelu
authors: Department of Mathematics and Science, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors: Esther Gnanamalar Sarojini
authors: EG
authors: Daniel
authors: Medical Education and Research Development Unit (MERDU), Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors: Joong Hiong
authors: JH
authors: Sim
mesh_terms: D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D008296:Malaysia; D000067489:Metacognition; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D013850:Thinking
keywords: medical students; metacognitive skills; selection tool