| name | metacognitive-monitoring |
| description | Active supervision of the problem-solving process. Covers Schoenfeld's control layer, Ann Brown's self-regulation moves, planning-monitoring-evaluating cycle, time budgeting, strategy switching, and the "what am I doing and why?" check. Use continuously alongside any solving activity to avoid wandering, dead ends, and unproductive grinding. |
| type | skill |
| category | problem-solving |
| status | stable |
| origin | tibsfox |
| modified | false |
| first_seen | "2026-04-12T00:00:00.000Z" |
| first_path | examples/skills/problem-solving/metacognitive-monitoring/SKILL.md |
| superseded_by | null |
Metacognitive Monitoring
Metacognition is thinking about your thinking. In problem solving, it is the supervisor process that interrupts execution to ask: "Am I still on the right track? Is my current activity the best use of this moment? Do I need to reconsider?" Schoenfeld's research on mathematical problem solving shows that novices who grind for 20 minutes on a dead end outperform instantly when taught to pause every 2-3 minutes and check. This skill is the catalog of the checks.
Agent affinity: brown-ps (self-regulation, reciprocal teaching), schoenfeld (control layer), polya-ps (review phase)
Concept IDs: prob-problem-representation, prob-adaptive-management, prob-uncertainty-management, prob-trial-error-iteration
The Planning-Monitoring-Evaluating Cycle
Metacognition decomposes into three phases:
- Planning: Before solving, decide what to do.
- Monitoring: During solving, check that you are doing it.
- Evaluating: After solving, decide what worked.
These run nested inside problem solving, not alongside it.
Planning Operations
Goal: Set the meta-level frame for the solving session.
Operations:
- Goal clarification. What am I actually trying to accomplish in this session?
- Strategy selection. Which approach will I try first?
- Resource allocation. How much time, what tools, what help?
- Budget. How long will I give this strategy before switching?
- Fallback. What is my plan B if the first strategy fails?
- Success criterion. How will I know when I have succeeded?
A solver who starts without a plan is already in a dead end.
Monitoring Operations
Goal: Continuously check that the current activity is the right activity.
The core check — every 2-5 minutes, ask:
- What am I doing right now?
- Why am I doing it? (Does it serve the goal?)
- Is it working?
- Should I continue, adjust, or switch?
If any of the four questions produces "I don't know," stop and figure it out before continuing.
Progress indicators:
- Am I closer to the goal than 5 minutes ago?
