Metacognition in action as a possible explanation for stock‐flow failure

Abstract

This study aims at examining the role of metacognition, which refers to one ’ s ability to control and regulate their own thinking process through various activities in assessing dynamics of stocks and fl ows. The fi rst research question focuses on the metacognitive activities used by individuals who solved such tasks correctly and who did not. The second question focuses on how successfully participants organized their thinking processes to arrive at a correct answer when prompted and permitted to retry. Forty undergraduate students were involved in the study, and concurrent think-aloud protocol was used to examine their thinking when per- forming two stock- fl ow tasks. The fi ndings revealed that participants tend to have dif fi culties in reading, planning, monitoring, and checking activities. The effectiveness of metacognitive activi- ties employed by the participants is likely to decrease from reading to checking, respectively. The study contributes to our understanding of metacognitive de fi ciencies in stock- fl ow failure and provides further research suggestions. Review on behalf of System Dynamics Society.