The Contributions of Metacognitive Skills towards the Retention of Different Academic Ability Students for the Implementation of Several Learning Models

Metacognitive skills are self-regulation activities required to achieve active learning, critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making. There is a dearth of research on the contribution of metacognitive skills for the retention of students with varying academic abilities. This research study aims to fill this gap by suggesting learning models including READS (Reading, Exploring, Answering Discussing and Summarizing) learning model, Reading, Questioning and Answering (RQA) learning model and Conventional learning models. The sample of the study comprised 206 students divided into two equal groups of 103 students, each of high academic abilities and low academic abilities. The data was collected through a test and a rubric. The results of the regression analysis show that the READS learning model was better able to improve the metacognitive skills and retention of students with lower academic abilities compared to students with upper academic abilities. The results in the RQA learning model and conventional learning models show an increase in metacognitive skills and retention of students with higher academic abilities much faster than in students with low academic abilities. This suggests that the application of the READS learning model is more suitable for students with low academic abilities. The study recommends that teachers should learn to implement effective learning models to improve the metacognitive skills and retention of the upper and lower academic ability students.