Rely 

Re:Module 4 DQ 2

Write an initial substantive response of 50 words in length. Begin your response with a restatement of the question/prompt, and include in-text citation(s) and a reference for each scholarly source used according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide located in the Student Success Center. The restatement of the question/prompt, the references, and the citations are not included in your response word count.

Mara Matsumura

Question: “Metacognition is thinking about thinking. What are some of the benefits of metacognition and why is it important for doctoral learners to understand their metacognitive processes” (Kelly, n.d., p. 1).

Part 1 

Entry level doctoral students must face the fact that they will need to be self-guided in their thinking.  Doctoral students must be prepared to have their spoken and written defenses for their research and methods examined and critiqued heavily (Butin, 2010).  To both be prepared for this process of examination and explanation and to be a true example of a scholar from the point of entry into a doctoral program forward into one’s career and studies, doctoral studies must be committed to self-critique and prepared for the intellectual challenges.  This process involves deep metacognition and a rich understanding of critical thinking skills.

The National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking (2013) has identified eight “elements of thought” including reasoning with direction towards a target, reasoning to answer questions and to solve problems, reasoning stemming from “assumptions” that must be  justified or left behind, reasoning from various view points, data and evidence-based reasoning, reasoning particular to certain concepts, “inferences” leading to “conclusions” that are embedded within reasoning, and the “implications” of reasoning ("Critical Thinking," 2013, p. 3-4).  Particular elements of thought from this list will need to be applied more thoroughly at different stages of the doctoral process.