4. Meta-cognition
4.1 Abstract
Metacognition is thinking about thinking and knowing what we know and
what we don't know. Perhaps the clearest statement on the meaning of
metacognition has been provided by John Flavell (1976, 1987). Flavell
described metacognition as "ones knowledge concerning one's own cognitive
processes and products and anything related to them." Flavell (1987) says that
involving children in problem solving, in choosing which direction to take,
how and where information can be stored and retrieved, where and when
decisions have to be made concerning which information to use and how to
use it, testing and hypothesizing, would be the type of experiences that would
promote the development of metacognition. Taylor (1999) defines
metacognition as “an appreciation of what one already knows, together with
a correct apprehension of the learning task and what knowledge and skills it
requires, combined with the agility to make correct inferences about how to
apply one’s strategic knowledge to a particular situation, and to do so
efficiently and reliably.” The more students are aware of their thinking
processes as they learn, the more they can control such matters as goals,
dispositions, and attention.
See http://academic.pgcc.edu/~wpeirce/MCCCTR/metacognition.htm#IX
4.2 Academic
Meta-cognition is a key concept in recent educational psychology and
the topic of numerous theoretical and empirical studies since the early 1980’s.
It is defined as “the process of using reflective thinking about one’s own
person, tasks, and strategy knowledge in a given context” (Ridley et al., 1992).
In simple terms it means a higher-order thinking which involves active
control over the cognitive processes of learning.
Activities such as:
1. planning how to approach a given learning task
2. monitoring comprehension
3. evaluating progress toward the completion of a task
are meta-cognitive in nature. Meta-cognition is cognition that reflects on,
monitors, or regulates first-order cognition. Cognitive strategies are used to
help achieving a particular goal (e.g., understanding a text) while meta-
cognitive strategies are used to ensure that the goal has been reached (e.g.,
quizzing oneself to evaluate one’s understanding of that text). Meta-cognitive
experiences usually precede or follow a cognitive activity. They often occur
when cognitions fail, such as the recognition that one did not understand
what one just read. Such an impasse is believed to activate meta-cognitive
processes as the learner attempts to rectify the situation (Roberts & Erdos,
1993).
Since the age of 3, meta-cognition develops such that it becomes more
explicit, powerful and more effective under the individual’s consciousness.
According to John Flavell (the initiator of research of meta-cognition; 1979,
1987; see also Pintrich, 2000), Meta-cognitive knowledge is acquired
knowledge about cognitive processes, which can be used to control the
cognitive processes. Meta-cognition consists of three types of knowledge:
o
Knowledge of person
knowledge about how
information, as well as
learning cognitive and
weaknesses.
variables (self-knowledge): general
human beings learn and process
individual knowledge of one’s own
affective dispositions, strength and
o
Knowledge of task variables: include knowledge about the
nature of the task as well as the type of processing demands that
it will place upon the individual.
o
Knowledge about strategy variables (knowledge of learning
modes): include knowledge about both cognitive and metacognitive strategies, as well as conditional knowledge about
when and where it is appropriate to use such strategies.
Brown (1987) further adds Meta-cognitive experiences: involves the use of
meta-cognitive strategies or regulation — sequential processes that one uses
to control cognitive activities and to ensure that a cognitive goal (e.g.,
understanding a text) has been met. These processes help to regulate and
oversee learning, and consist of planning and monitoring cognitive activities,
as well as checking the outcomes of those activities.
Teachers
See also SRL (3.3)
Metacognition is thinking about one's own thinking or controlling one's own
learning. It consists of two basic processes occurring simultaneously:
monitoring your progress as you learn, and making changes and adapting your
strategies if you perceive you are not doing so well (Winn, W. & Snyder, D.,
1998). Metacognitive strategy takes as its basic premise the idea that
awareness of ourselves as learners, helps us to learn more effectively.
Students’ ability to monitor their learning is one of the key building blocks in
self regulated learning; students who are aware of the level of their mastery of
material can adjust their study time and strategies (Isaacson & Fujita 2006).
Metacognition is about self-reflection, self-responsibility and initiative, as well
as goal setting and time management. Metacognitive skills include taking
conscious control of learning, planning and selecting strategies, monitoring
the progress of learning, correcting errors, analyzing the effectiveness of
learning strategies, and changing learning behaviors and strategies when
necessary (Ridley, D.S., Schutz, P.A., Glanz, R.S. & Weinstein, C.E., 1992).
Metacognitive or reflective strategies form a crucial component in the
development of the self-regulating learning environment.
Using metacognitive strategies to study for an essay exam:
http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/metacognition/start.htm
Tips and lesson plans (based on Fisher 1998)
One way of facilitating metacognition is to make explicit and infuse the
language of thinking and learning into the planning of teaching and into
classroom discussion. The aim is to model the vocabulary we want children to
use in their own thinking and understanding of learning by using it ourselves
to describe our teaching, with such prompts as 'The thinking we are going to
be using today is ...', 'This lesson is about ...', 'What thinking have we been
doing ...?' This will also involve the direct explanation of terms being used,
and also challenging children to define these terms in their own words.
Another helpful way would be to create and share with the students an
understanding or definition of the term "metacognition". Some definitions
may include:
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'thinking about thinking and developing the process of solving
problems and answering questions'
'the examination of how we think about how we do things, how we go
about finding solutions, how well we can understand and analyse the
systems, strategies and techniques we use to think to do things'
'an awareness of the process of how an answer is found, what
strategies and type of thought has gone on and the previous
experiences that have been used'
'to consciously apply a process, a procedure to a problem or activity and
to be aware that the result is satisfactory or otherwise. To be able to
'unpick' that strategy/those actions and so improve performance'
'awareness of the different processes involved in thinking'
'the ability to take out our thinking, and examine it, and put it back,
rearranged if necessary'
'thinking about thinking rather than just remembering facts and
recalling events'
We need to encourage children to probe deeper into what they have said and
what they think, through what has been called 'empathetic challenging'
(Bonnet 1994). Enquiring into a child's thinking facilitates thinking.
Metacognitive questions can offer the challenge children need to become
conscious of their thoughts and feelings, either before, during or after an
activity. 'What helps us to learn in this lesson?' 'What do good readers do?'
'How should we plan this?'
The above activities address the three types of metacognitive knowledge as
presented above (4.2). Particularly, these activities raise awareness to different
learning modes and strategies and the knowledge of specific tasks.
Furthermore, questions such as "what do I know on this topic?", "Am I
knowledgeable enough to proceed in this task", encourage processes of selfknowledge in which the student may assess and evaluate the depth of his
own knowledge and learning capabilities, weaknesses and strengths.
*Some Sample Metacognitive Strategies
(http://academic.pgcc.edu/~wpeirce/MCCCTR/metacognition.htm#IX)
Learning portfolio. Commander and Valeri-Gold (2001) describe a learning
portfolio as a collection of student papers applying learning strategies to their
course work. Among the benefits for instructors evaluating student work are
that learning portfolios “(a) capture the intellectual substance and learning
situation in ways that other methods of evaluation cannot; (b) encourage
students to take a role in the documentation, observation, and review of
learning; are a powerful tool for improvement; and (d) create a culture of
professionalism about learning” (p.6). The chief benefits for students are their
actually performing effective learning strategies and the opportunity for selfassessment.
Individual learning plan (ILP) as a contract with the instructor. Linda H.
Chiang (1998) describes the process as “setting ILP goals, developing an ILP,
monitoring the learning process, writing a reflective journal, conducting oneon-one conferences, and making summative evaluations” (p. 5).
Test Debriefing. Maryellen Weimer (2002) in Learner-Centered Teaching
describes how she uses metacognition as she debriefs students after returning
an exam in order to give them a sense of control over their learning. She asks
students to write down the numbers of questions they missed and then has
perform three analyses:
1. Students first go through their notes on the missed questions and
determine whether any of these were on days they missed class and
had to rely on someone else’s notes.
2. Dr. Weimer then identifies which questions came from the assigned
reading and which from her lectures and asks students to identify
whether more missed questions came from reading notes or class
notes.
3. She then has students look through their exam, check for answers that
they changed, and determine how many any of their changes resulted
in correct answers. If there is a pattern, it is useful self-knowledge.
Then students write a reflective note to themselves about what they learned
from preparing for and taking this exam that will help them prepare for the
next one and to describe what steps they will take between now and the next
exam. (Click here for a review and summary of Maryellen Weimer’s LearnerCentered Teaching.)
References
Ridley, D.S., Schutz, P.A., Glanz, R.S. & Weinstein, C.E. (1992). Self-regulated
learning: the interactive influence of metacognitive awareness and goalsetting. Journal of Experimental Education 60 (4), 293-306.
Winn, W. & Snyder D. (1996). Cognitive perspectives in pyschology. In D.H.
Jonassen, ed. Handbook of research for educational communications and technology,
112-142. New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan
Pintrich, P. R., Walters, C., & Baxter, G. P. (2000). “Assessing metacognition
and self-regulated learning.” In G. Schraw and J. C. Impara (Ed.), Issues in the
measurement of metacognition: 43 - 97. Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute of Mental
Measurement
Pintrich, Paul R. (2002), "The Role of Metacognitive Knowledge in Learning,
Teaching, and Assessing" Theory Into Practice, 41 (4): 220-227.
Isaacson R. M., and Fujita F., (2006) "Metacognitive Knowledge Monitoring
and Self-Regulated Learning: Academic Success and Reflections on Learning",
Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 6 (1): 39-55.
Abstract: During the past decade the relationship of self-regulated learning
(SRL) to academic success has been extensively explored but the impact of
metacognition in this process has not been thoroughly examined. This study
examined the relationship of metacognitive knowledge monitoring (MKM) to
classroom performance. Eighty-four undergraduate students in an introductory
educational psychology class completed ten weekly in-class tests in which they
were allowed to choose test questions. Students were asked to identify the number
of hours they studied, their level of confidence, and to predict their test results
after completing the test but before it was graded. High achieving students were:
more accurate at predicting their test results; more realistic in their goals; more
likely to adjust their confidence in-line with their test results; and more effective
in choosing test questions to which they knew the answers. The study supports the
relationship of metacognitive knowledge monitoring to self-regulated learning
and academic success. Keywords: self-regulated learning, metacognitive
knowledge monitoring.
B. Zimmerman & D. Schunk (Eds.) (2001), Self-regulated learning and
academic achievement: Theoretical perspectives, Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
White B. & Frederiksen J., (2005), "A Theoretical Framework and Approach
for Fostering Metacognitive Development", in Educational Psychologist, 40 (4):
211-223
Abstract: This article provides an overview of our work on the nature of
metacognitive knowledge, its relationship to learning through inquiry, and
technologies that can be used to foster and assess its development in classrooms as
students engage in collaborative inquiry. To illustrate our theoretical ideas, we
present examples from our Inquiry Island software. It provides learners with advisors,
who contain knowledge, advice, and tools aimed at supporting students'
metacognitive development in the context of doing inquiry projects. Our pedagogical
approach includes having young learners take on the roles of various cognitive,
social, and metacognitive advisors as a way of enacting and internalizing the forms of
expertise they represent. We describe a sequence of learning activities and indicate
how students respond to them, using examples and findings from a 5th-grade class.
Our work shows how such learning tools and activities can foster the development of
metacognitive knowledge and skills needed for collaborative inquiry and reflective
learning.
Quicke J. & Winter C. (1994) 'Teaching the language of learning', British
Educational Research Journal, 20 (4): 429-45.
Brown, A. (1987), "Metacognition, Executive Control, Self-Regulation, and
other Mysterious Mechanisms", In F. E. Weinert and R. H. Kluwe (Eds.),
Metacognition, Motivation, and Understanding, Hillsdale New Jersey: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, pp. 65-116.
Fisher R. (1998), "Thinking about Thinking: Developing Metacognition in
Children', Early Child Development and Care, 141: 1-15
Thermostat analogy to monitoring: Pintrich et al. (2000) compares monitoring
to the thermostat of a furnace. When the temperature falls below a specified
level the thermostat tells the furnace to turn on the heat; when a learner is
confused or does not comprehend what they are studying the monitor tells
the learner to regulate their behavior, cognitive strategies, or motivation and
affect to increase learning. To be effective learners, students must adjust their
efforts based on their awareness of their own understanding and the level of
difficulty of the upcoming task. One of the critical barriers to success for many
students may be their inability to objectively assess their mastery of the
academic tasks they are facing.
*For a comprehensive list of references on Learning strategies and
Metacognition see:
http://linguistics.byu.edu/faculty/andersonn/learningstrategies/LearningStrategies.pdf