metacognitive limitations in young learners: assessing barriers to awareness and problem-solving in third-grade students

Objective: this study explored the metacognitive abilities of students with high working memory capacity in the context of solving mathematical problems. method: this study adopted dominant mixed-methods design with quantitative approach and utilized structured interviews alongside standardized assessments. however, developmental constraints limited the explanatory power of the qualitative insights. the measuring instruments included two researcher-developed tests to assess students’ mathematics achievement and metacognition levels, a structured interview, and the working memory index from the wechsler intelligence scale for children (wisc-iv). the face and content validity of the researcher-developed instruments were confirmed by a panel of 12 experts. reliability was established using the test-retest method, yielding pearson correlation coefficients of r = .87 for the mathematics test and r = .85 for the metacognition assessment. using cluster random sampling, three female public schools—one from each of three randomly selected districts in tehran—were chosen. all third grade students in the selected schools (n=262) were assessed, and 31 were purposively chosen based on working memory and math scores (wisc-iv >110, mathematics test >7/10). quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics aligned with the nominal scaling of metacognitive performance, while qualitative interviews underwent directed content analysis.results: data analysis indicated that the students rarely engaged in conscious retrieval of prior knowledge during problem-solving. 90.3% (n=28) never engaged in reflective questioning. while practice was the most cited factor in their success (54.8%), essential metacognitive strategies such as error checking, time management, and self-monitoring were entirely absent from students’ reported behaviors. 61.3% (n=19) demonstrated zero strategic effort with unfamiliar tasks, and 54.8% (n=17) prioritized imitative practice over adaptive strategies. conclusions: these findings suggest a predominant reliance on automatic, habitual strategies rather than deliberate, goal-directed engagement with the problem-solving process. also, the study highlights a significance gap between cognitive capacity and metacognitive strategy use in high-working-memory students. to address this imbalance, curricula should incorporate explicit metacognitive training, including guided strategy-transfer exercises, problem classification activities, and structured reflection protocols.