HABITS OF MIND, METACOGNITION, AND REFLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE: INTERRELATIONS AND PREDICTIVE ROLES AMONG SOHAR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18623/rvd.v23.4773Keywords:
Reflective Intelligence, Metacognition, Habits of Mind, Metacognitive Strategies, Reflective Thinking, Self-Awareness, Self-AssessmentAbstract
The present study investigates how habits of mind and metacognition are related to and predict reflective intelligence among undergraduate students at Sohar University, Oman. The concept is based on Costa’s hierarchy of thinking and Perkins’s triarchic view of intelligence. This research defined habits of mind as productive dispositions, metacognition as awareness and regulation of thinking, and reflective intelligence as a meta-level capacity to orchestrate mental resources in complex tasks. A sample of 179 students drawn from the Faculty of Education and Arts completed three instruments. A Habits of Mind Scale developed by the researchers, the Metacognition Self-Assessment Scale (MSAS), and Al Cody et al., 2025’s Reflective Intelligence Scale. Descriptive results revealed medium-to-high levels on all three constructs. Pearson correlations revealed a very strong, positive, and statistically significant association among habits of mind, metacognition, and reflective intelligence (r = 0.86-.93). Multiple regression showed that together, habits of mind and metacognition accounted for approximately 84% of the variance in reflective intelligence; yet only habits of mind emerged as a significant independent predictor when both were entered into the model. The present results support integrated models that position intelligent dispositions, metacognitive regulation, and reflective intelligence as interlinked higher-order thinking, emphasizing habits of mind as a nodal construct that interlinks metacognitive awareness with reflective performance. The study offers new evidence from a Gulf context in higher education to suggest that in any university curricula, especially in teacher preparation, the systematic development of habits of mind may offer a strong lever in developing reflective, self-regulated learners across 21st-century educational goals.
References
Abbu Jadu, S. M., & Nofal, M. B. (2007). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (in Arabic). Amman, Jordan: Dar Al-Fikr.
Abdelhadi, A. A. (2021). Habits of mind and their role in developing thinking skills. Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies, 45(2), 315–340.
Abduh, A. H. S. (2021). Cognitive psychology: Foundations and themes (in Arabic). Cairo, Egypt: Anglo Egyptian Bookshop.
Abu Jadu, S. M., & Nofal, M. B. (2007). Teaching thinking: Theory and application (in Arabic). Amman, Jordan: Dar Al-Maseera for Publishing and Distribution. https://doi.org/10.12691/education-5-8-3
Abu Nafiʿ, A. (2006). Higher-order thinking skills and metacognitive thinking (in Arabic). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: [Publisher].
Al Karasneh, S. M., Tawalbeh, H. M., & Qassrawi, R. M. (2024). Teachers’ effective approaches in social studies learning environments of late-childhood education during COVID-19. Cogent Education, 11(1).
Al Karasneh, S., Qassrawi, R., Al-Barakat, A., Alakashee, B., Alsalhi, N., & Alqatawneh, S. (2024). Fostering sustainability thinking by incorporating green education in international English language textbooks among university students. International Journal of Stress Management, 31(3), 46–63.
Al-Adl, A. M. M. (2018). Habits of mind and their relationship to both reflective thinking and moral intelligence (in Arabic). The Egyptian Journal of Psychological Studies, 28(100), 33–66.
Aliwaji, A., & Ababneh, E. (2022). The degree of inclusion of analytical thinking skills in the reading texts contained in the Arabic language textbook for the tenth grade students in Jordan. Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies, 25(2), 143–161.
Al-Naafi, A. (2006). Training strategies in a program for developing higher-order thinking skills (thinking-based learning) (in Arabic). Paper presented at the Training and Development Forum.
Beyer, B. K. (1987). Practical strategies for the teaching of thinking. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Cody, B. L., Shebani, Z., Grey, I., Cokley, K., & Al-Heeti, K. (2025). Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Student Professor Interaction Scale. Cogent Psychology, 12(1), 2520662. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2025.2520662
Costa, A. L. (1998). Teaching for thinking (S. Y. Al-‘Asar, Trans.). Cairo, Egypt: Qebaa Publishing and Printing House. (Original work published 1985)
Costa, A. L. (2001). Components of a well-developed thinking skills program. New Horizons for Learning.
Costa, A. L. (2001). Developing minds: A resource book for teaching thinking (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (2000). Discovering and exploring habits of mind. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (2000). Getting into the habit of reflection. Educational Leadership, 57(7), 60–62.
Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34(10), 906–911. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.34.10.906
Hjalmarson, M. A. (2001). A modeling perspective on metacognition in everyday problem-solving situations. In B. Speiser, C. A. Maher, & C. Walter (Eds.), Proceedings of the 23rd annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 177–186). Snowbird, UT.
Jaareer, S. (2022). Habits of mind and their relationship to metacognitive thinking among university students (in Arabic). Afkar wa Afaq (Ideas and Horizons), 10(1), 317–337.
Jarwan, F. (1999). Teaching thinking: Concepts and applications (in Arabic). Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates: University Book House (Dar Al-Kitab Al-Jami‘i).
Langer, E. J. (1989). Mindfulness. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Livingston, J. A. (2003). Metacognition: An overview (ERIC Document No. ED474273). Buffalo, NY: State University of New York at Buffalo.
Mustofa, S., Desrani, A., & Ritonga, A. W. (2022). HOTS in Arabic learning: A study of the implementation of HOTS on students' critical thinking ability. Al-Ta’rib: Jurnal Ilmiah Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Arab IAIN Palangka Raya, 10(2), 133–144. https://doi.org/10.23971/altarib.v10i2.4088
OECD. (2018). The future of education and skills: Education 2030 – Position paper. Paris, France: OECD.
Oman Vision 2040 Implementation Follow-up Unit. (2020). Oman Vision 2040: The future we want. Muscat, Oman: Author.
Pedone, R., Semerari, A., Riccardi, I., Procacci, M., Nicolò, G., & Carcione, A. (2017). Development of a self-report measure of metacognition: The Metacognition Self-Assessment Scale (MSAS): Instrument description and factor structure. Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 14(3), 185–194.
Perkins, D. N. (1995). Outsmarting IQ: The emerging science of learnable intelligence. New York, NY: Free Press.
Sternberg, R. J. (2003). Contemporary theories of intelligence. In W. M. Reynolds & G. E. Miller (Eds.), Handbook of psychology: Vol. 7. Educational psychology (pp. 23–47). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
UNESCO. (2015). Rethinking education: Towards a global common good? Paris, France: UNESCO.
Wagner, R. K., & Sternberg, R. J. (1985). Practical intelligence in real-world pursuits: The role of tacit knowledge. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49(2), 436–458. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.49.2.436
World Economic Forum. (2020). The Future of Jobs Report 2020. Geneva, Switzerland: World Economic Forum.
Zohar, A., & Barzilai, S. (2015). Metacognition and teaching higher order thinking (HOT) in science education: Students' learning, teachers' knowledge and instructional practices. In The Routledge international handbook of research on teaching thinking (pp. 229–242). Routledge.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
I (we) submit this article which is original and unpublished, of my (our) own authorship, to the evaluation of the Veredas do Direito Journal, and agree that the related copyrights will become exclusive property of the Journal, being prohibited any partial or total copy in any other part or other printed or online communication vehicle dissociated from the Veredas do Direito Journal, without the necessary and prior authorization that should be requested in writing to Editor in Chief. I (we) also declare that there is no conflict of interest between the articles theme, the author (s) and enterprises, institutions or individuals.
I (we) recognize that the Veredas do Direito Journal is licensed under a CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE.
Licença Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
