Systematic Literature Review: The Relationship Between Metacognition and Students' Mathematical Problem-Solving Ability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.28918/circle.v6i2.2609Abstract
Although numerous empirical studies have examined the relationship between metacognition and students’ mathematical problem-solving ability, the available evidence remains fragmented. Previous review studies primarily synthesized literature published before 2020, generally treated metacognition as a single construct, and provided limited discussion of differences across educational levels as well as methodological and conceptual heterogeneity. To address these limitations, this study systematically synthesizes empirical evidence published between 2020 and 2026 using a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) following the PRISMA 2020 protocol. Twenty empirical studies retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Sinta-indexed journals met the inclusion criteria and were critically appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) 2018. A narrative synthesis was conducted because of substantial heterogeneity among the included studies. Unlike previous reviews, this study synthesizes findings by considering differences in metacognitive dimensions, educational levels, methodological characteristics, and study quality. The findings indicate a consistent qualitative pattern of positive association between metacognition and mathematical problem-solving ability across the reviewed studies, rather than a statistically established relationship. Metacognitive regulation, particularly planning, monitoring, and evaluation, emerged as the dimensions most consistently associated with mathematical problem-solving ability, although the evaluation stage remained the most challenging across studies. The available evidence is predominantly derived from junior and senior secondary education, highlighting the need for further high-quality primary research at the elementary school level. These findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the role of metacognition and support its explicit integration into mathematics instruction.
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