Metacognition: state-of-the-art learning theory implications for clinical nursing education

Clinical nursing education represents one of the most challenging aspects of the faculty role because nursing educators are being required to teach crucial aspects of comprehensive clinical practice to students in limited time periods and in increasingly demanding, high-acuity affiliation sites. State-of-the-art research in metacognition provides a stimulating array of instructional strategies that can assist in this process and provide an impetus for further cognitive inquiry in nursing. The article analyzes metacognition, explores its historical roots, delineates its relationship to memory theory, and describes a range of metacognitive strategies that are useful to faculty and students in nursing.