An age and gender-based analysis of ‘Metacognitive Awareness Inventory’ (MCAI) among first-year MBBS students from a Central Indian medical college

AbstractIntroduction: Cognition includes all mental processes and abilities which help to generate new knowledge through activities like memory, attention, reasoning, learning, and solving problems. Meta-cognition is a subdivision of cognition. It is an awareness and understanding of one’s own cognitive process.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional pre-sensitized study was done among first-year medical students of a medical college in central India. Out of 150 students, 127 participants provided valid information. ‘Meta-cognitive awareness inventory’ consisting of 52 questions was used. Data analysis was done by SPSS version 20 and ‘P’ value was set at <0.05.Result: The sample was subjected to one-sample t-test. Both the dependant variables i.e. age and gender of the participants demonstrated a highly significant association (p < 0.000) with all scales and subscales of metacognitive awareness inventory whose above all Cronhbach’s ? was 0.752. Younger participants and females both recorded significantly higher meta-cognition skills (p< 0.000).Conclusion: Students of less than 20 years of age and from female sex were found to have a stronger association with the cognitive process on meta-cognitive awareness inventory scale, which enables one’s ability for evaluation of critical thinking, learning skills, goal settings, assessment of learning strategies and performance errors.