Using reflective writing to promote metacognition [engineering education]

Meta-analysis, metalanguage, metalevel, metamessage, metacognition are part of the recent proliferation of "meta" words in education which is daunting to many engineering educators. This paper addresses "metacognition", a difficult word to define in precise, concise language without resorting to other educational jargon. Here, the author defines metacognition through examples, aiming to give the reader a feel for the concept before a dictionary definition.