Metacognition in school Physical Education: a systematic review of strategies, instruments, and contextual challenges

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v83.118292

Keywords:

Metacognition , Physical Education, Self-regulation, Adolescents , Pedagogical strategies

Abstract

Introduction: Metacognition and metacognitively oriented self-regulated learning are increasingly relevant to Physical Education because students must plan, monitor, evaluate, and adapt their learning during motor, tactical, and health-related tasks.

Objective: This systematic review examined how metacognition has been conceptualized, measured, and promoted in school Physical Education, mainly among adolescent students.

Methodology: The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 guidelines. Searches were conducted from database inception to July 1, 2026, in Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, ERIC, PsycINFO, and SciELO. Quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, intervention, and instrument-development studies were included when they explicitly addressed metacognitive knowledge or regulation.

Results: Seventy-two records were identified, 21 duplicates were removed, and 51 records were screened. Sixteen reports representing 18 study samples met the inclusion criteria. The evidence was dominated by cross-sectional self-report studies. Mastery-oriented goals, incremental beliefs about ability, autonomy-supportive teaching, and task-involving motivational climates were associated with greater metacognitive and self-regulatory activity. Metacognition was also related to enjoyment, performance, learning engagement, motor-skill acquisition, and intentions to participate in physical activity.

Discussion: Interventions based on video modelling, explicit instruction, progressive self-regulated learning, and combined Teaching Games for Understanding and Sport Education approaches showed promising findings, but heterogeneity in designs, constructs, and measurement instruments limited comparisons and causal conclusions.

Conclusions: The evidence supports the relevance of metacognition in school Physical Education, but stronger longitudinal and controlled studies, task-specific and culturally validated instruments, and direct measures of metacognitive processes are still needed.

Author Biographies

  • Misael Sandoval, Universidad de Concepción

    Misael Andrés Sandoval Cárcamo is a Physical Education teacher and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education, with postgraduate training in Physical Activity and Sport. He completed a Master’s in Physical Activity and Sport and a postgraduate diploma in Early Childhood Motor Development, which has allowed him to specialise in motor development and the promotion of active lifestyles from early childhood. He is currently a doctoral student in Education at the University of Concepción, where he is part of the first cohort of the PhD programme.

    Professionally, he has worked as a Physical Education teacher in schools in the municipality of Talcahuano and has also collaborated in teacher education processes and in teaching research methodology at the university level. His research interests focus on the relationship between physical activity, health and academic achievement, behaviour change towards more active lifestyles, and the analysis of fundamental motor patterns in preschool and primary school children. He has participated in studies and publications related to health programmes (such as the Vida Sana Programme) and to the role of physical education in supporting the overall well-being of school-aged children.

  • Miguel Cornejo, Universidad de Concepción

    Miguel Cornejo Améstica is a Full Professor in the Department of Physical Education at the Faculty of Education, Universidad de Concepción, Chile. He holds a PhD in Sociology of Sport from the Université de Grenoble and has taught at the Universidad de Concepción since 1978, where he has also served as Director of the Department of Physical Education. His academic work sits at the intersection of sport, society and education, with a particular focus on football as a social and cultural phenomenon.

    His research and public engagement address topics such as violence in football stadiums, the governance of “barras bravas”, and sport as a tool for social inclusion, for example in relation to Haitian migrant communities in Concepción. He has presented his work at major international forums, including the World Congress of Sociology of Sport in Ottawa and Latin American congresses on sociocultural studies of sport, and regularly contributes expert commentary on issues such as Olympic legacies and mega-events in the media. Across these roles, Cornejo positions sport and physical education as key spaces for citizenship, coexistence and education in contemporary Latin American societies.

  • Eugenio Chandía, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción

    Eugenio Chandía Muñoz is a mathematics educator and academic at the Universidad de Concepción, Chile. He is a Professor (Assistant) in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and an associated researcher at the Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación (CIAE) of the Universidad de Chile. He holds a degree as a Mathematics and Computing Teacher from the Universidad de Concepción, and a Doctorate in Education (Doctor en Ciencias de la Educación) from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

    His research focuses on mathematics education, particularly initial teacher education, classroom assessment, and the design of mathematically and culturally meaningful tasks, including work with Indigenous contexts. He has authored journal articles and book chapters on topics such as future teachers’ beliefs and practices, lexical availability linked to mathematics curricula, and culturally responsive mathematical tasks. In recent years, he has also been involved in national and international collaborations and research stays in intercultural mathematics education, strengthening networks between Chilean and European research groups.

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Published

30-05-2026

Issue

Vol. 83 (2026)

Section

Theoretical systematic reviews and/or meta-analysis

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Copyright (c) 2026 Misael Sandoval, Miguel Cornejo, Eugenio Chandia

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How to Cite

Sandoval, M., Cornejo, M., & Chandía, E. (2026). Metacognition in school Physical Education: a systematic review of strategies, instruments, and contextual challenges. Retos, 83, 302-319. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v83.118292