Exploring metacognitive regulation activities and their roles in prompt literacy development among humanities and social science researchers in GenAI

Introduction. Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has profoundly influenced research paradigms in the humanities and social sciences (HSS) while imposing greater demands on users’ prompt literacy. There is an urgent need for empirical inquiry into how HSS researchers leverage metacognitive regulation activities to develop prompt literacy.

Method. Seventeen HSS researchers were recruited to participate in semi-structured interviews designed to examine their metacognitive activities and prompting behaviors when interacting with GenAI and to explore the role of metacognition in developing prompt literacy.

Analysis. The interview data were analysed using thematic analysis, with initial coding and theme identification conducted through iterative clustering.

Results. Our research shows that metacognitive regulation activities—planning, monitoring and evaluation—enhance prompt literacy in HSS researchers through four distinct stages. Prompt literacy manifests as a normative attitude toward prompts, the ability to design prompts, the ability to evaluate prompts, and the ability to think critically about prompting.

Conclusions. These findings reveal how metacognitive regulation shapes prompt literacy and provide theoretical and practical insights for cultivating prompt literacy in the GenAI era.