Abstract

The purpose of this study was to illuminate metacognition beyond the skill level, aiming at providing critical insights for practitioners to design metacognitive learning/teaching. The ultimate goal was to construct a framework for designing the illuminated conceptions of metacognition. The methodology comprised illuminative analysis of metacognition, historical synthesis of Zen teaching, critical analysis of instructional design, and convergence of two different modes of thinking--Zen and critical theory. ;To extend people's understanding of metacognition beyond the skill level, the study first applied Chinese Zen philosophy to uncover the nature and neglected facets of metacognition, and its relationship to other mental processes within the self-system. A synthesis and analysis of Zen teaching was then undertaken to illuminate alternative teaching perspectives on metacognition. The study also applied Habermas' three fundamental human interests to critically analyze the practice of instructional design in order to take into account the social dimension of instructional design, and to uncover the power relationship embedded in the design process. Finally, the study integrated the spirit of Zen philosophy--the gradual and sudden enlightenment--with the three design approaches derived from Habermas' theory, technical, practical and emancipatory, to construct a design framework for metacognition. ;The results of this study encompassed a set of new conceptions of metacognition, a synthesis of Zen teaching, three design approaches derived from Habermas' theory, and a design framework which integrated the previous results. It was expected that such a design framework would provide school teachers or instructional designers/consultants with illuminative perspectives and critical insights for designing metacognitive learning/teaching. The integration of Zen philosophy and Habermas' critical theory should be regarded as a source for expanding our repertoire of thinking and action on design, rather than a restriction to the boundary of either the western or eastern culture. Since the design framework consisted of various levels of metacognition, and two major different levels of design , it could be applied to a wide variety of learners and divergent contexts