The Effectiveness of a Metacognitive Strategy during the Reading Process on Cognitive Allocation and Subject Matter Retention

Metacognition is an important skill required for improving students’ reading comprehension ability. Studies have reported effectiveness of metacognitive reading strategies to increase reading comprehension and information retention. However, there is limited research utilizing eye-tracking technology to explore the effectiveness of metacognitive reading strategies. This experimental study utilized eye-tracking technology on 40 undergraduate students to investigate the effectiveness of a metacognitive strategy on reading comprehension outcomes. The Survey, Question, Read, Respond, Recite, Record, and Review (SQ5R) strategy was used as the metacognitive reading strategy intervention. Participants’ eye movements were recorded during the reading process. Reading comprehension was assessed before and after watching the SQ5R intervention. This study revealed that participants adopted the SQ5R when reading scientific text, which enabled the students to better comprehend and retain more information. Results suggests that agricultural educators should incorporate the SQ5R metacognitive reading strategy into the design of agriscience reading materials to improve students’ reading skills and their ability to comprehensively understand complex and controversial issues in agriculture.