Metacognition in Higher Education: Successful Learning Strategies and Tactics for Sustainability

Background

Researchers report many successful learning strategies involving eLearning, metacognitive, multimedia and others. Usually, they articulate successful learning strategies with global or/and digital opportunities. Whereas in 1990 the successful learning strategies are considered a special way of processing information that enhance comprehension, learning and retention, in 2016 the successful learning strategies rely on metacognitive skills, critical thinking, decision-making and educational sustainability. As noted by Heyes (2016), a good learning strategy is a social strategy focused on the right agents and associative processes that determine the actions of behavior.

Through a meta-analysis of the metadata “successful learning strategies” could be observed that the concept “successful learning strategies” defines a complex metacognitive construct that could be developed using the principles of educational technology. This construct include three features: “successful”, “learning” and “strategies”, where “successful” relies on 1) having the correct or desired result: ending in success or 2) having gotten or achieved wealth, respect, or fame (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2016). Therefore, the successful learning strategies could be associated to “sustainability”, especially when refers to a quality of life because sustainability is about keeping people to meet their current needs without compromising the resources available for future generations to meet their future needs, such as, “The sustainability skill set required of contemporary citizens in a complex and changing world” (Tarrant & Thiele, 2016). Do successful learning strategies ensure a successful life? If yes, what is the impact of successful learning strategies on academic learning? What is the role of metacognition?