The authors build on Winne’s COPES model to map how conditions, operations, products, evaluations, and standards interact with meta-awareness. That framework helps explain why some students recover quickly from distractions while others remain caught in chains of task-unrelated thoughts. Framing wandering as part of a cycle rather than a failure reframes practical interventions: brief monitoring checks, timely adjustments to strategies, and clearer standards can reduce prolonged drift and support sustained focus.
For educators, learners, and designers of learning tools, this perspective points toward actionable research and design questions that matter for growth and inclusion. How might classroom routines build routine monitoring habits? Which prompts help diverse learners regain attention without stigma? The article paves the way to investigate those questions, inviting readers to follow the theoretical map to experiments and applications that could expand who thrives in learning environments.
Abstract
This theoretical article examines the relationship between self-regulated learning and task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) through the lens of metacognition. Grounded in Winne’s COPES (conditions, operations, products, evaluations, and standards) model of self-regulated learning, we propose an interaction model emphasizing metacognitive monitoring and control. This model suggests the metacognitive cycle inherent to self-regulated learning can increase meta-awareness and mitigate prolonged experiences of TUTs. Learners can potentially redirect their focus by engaging in iterative cycles of metacognitive monitoring and control when thoughts inevitably drift toward TUTs. Foundational concepts explored include metacognition, meta-awareness, and the COPES facets. By synthesizing theoretical connections, processes are proposed through which learners’ self-regulatory capacities may influence TUT experiences via enhanced meta-awareness. This lays the groundwork to guide future inquiries on self-regulation dynamics underlying effective learning. Empirical research is recommended to investigate the viability of this theorized mechanism linking self-regulation processes to experiences of TUT and research agendas following from this theoretical framework are outlined.
