Metacognitive strategies in solving mathematical word problems: a case of Rwandan primary school learners

Abstract This study aims to understand the use of metacognitive skills by Rwandan learners while solving mathematical word problems. We interviewed and assessed third-, fourth- and fifth-grade learners from a public primary school. The following three points emerged. First, the metacognitive skills of learners with correct answers were considerably higher than that of those with incorrect answers. Second, although there was no considerable difference in metacognitive skills between learners who answered correctly and those who did not at the stage of ‘understand the problem’, considerable differences were observed in the ‘search for solving methods’ and ‘execute the solving methods’ and ‘examine the answer’ stages. During the ‘search for solving methods’ and ‘execute the solving methods’ stage, learners who answered correctly mainly used three metacognitive skills to control their learning—‘writing the process by sentences’, ‘drawing tables’ and ‘drawing pictograms’. Third, when metacognitive skills were measured and scored, the average scores for fifth and third graders were similar. The interview revealed that the teachers of third graders taught them metacognitive strategies in mathematics lessons. It can be inferred that consequently, the metacognitive skills of third graders were raised to be as high as those of fifth graders. Although this is only a single empirical study in Rwanda, it is a major step towards improving the standard of mathematics education in African countries. In the future, similar research must be conducted in other African countries to accumulate relevant research results.