Allied Health Care Educators’ Awareness, Understanding, and Implementation of Metacognitive Teaching Strategies Within Their Practice
Developing metacognition as part of allied health care education is of critical importance in developing students’ clinical reasoning skills. Despite the importance of metacognition for academic development, clinical practice, and lifelong learning, an evident gap exists in the literature linking theory to practice within allied health care classrooms. To explore allied health care educators’ awareness, understanding, and inclusion of metacognition in their teaching practice. A mixed-method approach. Online questionnaire. Educators teaching on an athletic therapy programs in Ireland. A total of 28 educators answered the online questionnaire, and 14 semistructured interviews were conducted. In this study, 67.9% of participants had heard of metacognition, with 54% of educators always self-reflecting on how they think their class went. Reflective thematic analysis revealed 2 themes in educators’ awareness and understanding of metacognition: (1) diverse awareness and (2) acknowledgment of the important role of metacognition in allied health care education. Three themes emerged from the inclusion of metacognitive teaching strategies: (1) stakeholders’ role, (2) types of metacognitive strategies, and (3) contextual and pedagogical considerations. These findings suggest educators need more robust understanding of metacognition, enhanced by further support and resources to aid the implementation of metacognitive strategies in their practice.