Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI)

Purpose: To look at adults’ metacognitive awareness.

Sources: 

Short description: Inventory with 52 true/false items intended to look at adults’ metacognitive awareness. The MAI looks at 8 different subscales (declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, planning, evaluation) under two broader categories: knowledge of regulation and knowledge of cognition.  

Sample questions: 

Instructions:

Check True or False as appropriate. Use the Scoring Guide after completing the inventory. Contact Courntey Gurrera, Student Success Specialist at 443-412-2427 to discuss strategies to increase your metacognitive awareness.

Sample questions:

  • I ask myself periodically if I am meeting my goals.
  • I know how well I did once I finish a test.
  • I create my own examples to make information more meaningful.

Paid or free: Free

Reliability/validity measures: Not available

Setting: 

  • Tutoring center
  • Self-access learning center
  • Self-reflection

Stakeholder(s): 

  • Learner
  • Learning advisor
  • Teacher

Type of measurement: Questionnaire

Possible uses: 

  • Reflection
  • Learner plan (w/ or w/o learning advisor)
  • Pre- and post- test evaluation of an intervention

Ease of implementation: Easy. 52 items, est. 50 min.

Advantages:

  • Easy to answer, administer, and score
  • wide ranging: it covers metacognitive knowledge and regulation, and includes sub-categories
  • Minimal time commitment

Drawbacks:

  • Self-report
  • True-false limits creativity of answers (even more than a Likert scale)
  • Only intended for adults
  • 52 items has been reported by some to be lengthy

Studies this has been used in:

Schraw, G. & Dennison, R.S. (1994). Assessing metacognitive awareness. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 19, 460-475.

 

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