Metacognition and Cooperative Learning in the Mathematics Classroom

Based on theoretical notions of metacognition in light of the reality of mathematics learning and teaching in Saudi Arabia, this study aimed to explore a teacher’s and students’ perceptions of the nature of the relationship between cooperative learning and an improvement in metacognition. Consequently, a case study design was favoured in order to suit the research agenda and meet its aims. The participants consisted of one case study class from a secondary school in Saudi Arabia. Semi-structured interviews and classroom observation were used for data collection. The findings of the data analysis asserts that metacognition can be assisted through the creation of a suitable socio-cultural context to encourage the social interaction represented in cooperative learning. This has a role in motivating the establishment of metacognition, as the absence of this social interaction would impede this type of learning. The importance of the student’s role in learning through metacognition was asserted by this study.