Metacognition and the Socratic Method

1. Metacognition and the Socratic Method By: Jennifer Cranford EDP 304 Final Project

2. Metacognition • What is it? • knowledge about one’s thinking processes (Woolfolk, 2010). • In laymen’s terms, this means thinking about thinking • Broken down into 3 types of knowledge: declarative, procedural, and conditional (Woolfolk, 2010)

3. The Types Of Knowledge • Declarative knowledge is knowledge about oneself and what influences one’s learning and memory (Woolfolk, 2010) • Procedural: knowledge about how use strategies (Woolfolk, 2010). • Conditional: knowledge about completing a task. It is also knowing when and why to apply the procedures and strategies needed to complete that task (Woolfolk, 2010)

4. Why do we need it? • “Metacognition is the strategic approach of declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge to accomplish goals and solve problems” (Woolfolk, 2010). • Used in making judgments about the process and outcomes of thinking and learning (Woolfolk, 2010) • utilize heuristics: problem solving skills (Woolfolk, 2010)

5. Deductive reasoning • It’s problem solving skills! • beings with a syllogism; means it goes from the general to the specific. There a first premise, then a second premise, and then a conclusion • Required skill in early European and American schools. • Founder: Aristotle who was trained under Socrates • Utilized the Socratic Method

6. Socratic Method • teacher presents a question and then allows the student or students to debate issues concerning it. • Students are required to utilize deductive reasoning to solve problems • Involves high levels of communication and respect among students. • Teacher is meant to be a guide and to implement questions when students require assistance

7. Dewey • Began his work in late 1800’s and early 1900’s • Changed education from the Socratic methodology to more child centered classes • Believed school should be meant for socialization where a student can reach his full potential. • Although not his original purpose, followers expanded it to become the “self-centered” movement

8. Thesis • Because of Dewey’s educational theory and the resulting changes in modern education such as teaching methods from the deductive reasoning in the Socratic Method to child centered classes, students begin to lose their high cognitive reasoning skills; however with the return to the Socratic method there would be an increase in deductive reasoning.

9. Arguments • 1. the Socratic Method is the essence of metacognition. • determining what/how one is thinking. • 2. Socratic Method follows the top developmental theorists: Vygotsky, Bloom, and Montessori • 3. Socratic Method fosters more student engagement, memory, and rhetorical skills. Students feel more in control since they control the conversation.

10. Socratic Method is Essence of Metacognition • In a Socratic classroom, the teacher asks an open ended question and allows the students to converse together to find the answers; thereby, using deductive reasoning and their declarative knowledge in metacongition (Woolfolk 2010, and Schauszow) • Mortimer Adler: “Paideia Proposal.” • The Paideia approach moves outside the classroom and utilizes a didactic approach, coaching through cooperative learning and seminars (UNC-TV)

11. Socratic Method is Essence of Metacognition • In a 2000-2001 Grade 9 Proficiency Test: In content area of Citizenship: degrees of students passing in Webster: 84.7%, District: 62.4%, State: 82.5%; Mathematics: Webster: 75.3%, District: 42.6%, State: 72.5%; Reading: Webster: 93.9%, District: 76.1%, State: 90.5%; Writing: Webster: 94.9%, District: 80.6%, State: 91.6%; Science: Webster: 78.4%, District: 60.2%, State: 78.1%. (Arambula-Greenfield and Gohn, 2004). “Overall, approxiamtly 83% of all students passed the End Of grades tests in a year after implanting…” (Arambula-Greenfield and Gohn, 2004).

12. Socrates and Vygotsky • His theory states that through language, our minds develop and are able to explore and understand our world via language (PSY 376, 2010) • based off the Socratic Method because of its emphasis on exploration based on language. • you learn and develop through “talking about it.” • The Socratic Method is learning based on conversation and conversation presents the lessons learned

13. Socrates and Bloom • cognitive taxonomy: starts with basic knowledge, comprehension, and deductive reasoning comes over when one beings application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. • Socratic Method: questioning involved produces the cognitive processes suggested as top thinking in Bloom’s theory. • Learning through reasoning and application

14. Socrates and Montessori • Her theory was to allow children to work together to direct their won learning. The teacher’s job is to set up an environment that allows them to do so (ED 2100, 2007) • Socratic Method: The teacher presents the scenario, and the children work together to solve the problem.

15. Socratic Method and Student engagement • The whole method is based off students working together and conversing. • “students had a higher average daily attendance (84% and 91% versus 78% and 85%)” (Herman and Stringfield, 1995). • Students are able to work together, and the combined effort produces deeper level thinking • “When thinking Socratically, people discover that they cannot clearly define ideas and concepts they previously held with certainty. This awareness in turn inspires further curiosity and open-minded reflection (Nelson, 1940)” (Skordoulis and Dawson, 2007)

16. Memory and Engagement • The Socratic Method engages the Explicit Memory recognition. • Utilizes episodic memory and semantic memory • Episodic: your own experiences • Semantic: facts, general knowledge • Used in the Socratic Method by the students actually performing the actions; thereby, utilizing their episodic memory and learning facts; thereby, using semantic memory.

17. If the Socratic Method is so great, why isn’t everyone using it? Argument against the Socratic method: It isn’t teaching.

18. It isn’t teaching • In a study that questions middle school students what they believe is teaching, they compared direct teaching (teacher led instruction) against the Socratic method • argue that some learning can take place in “conversation,” but no actual instruction is seen within the method • Researchers asked 14 and 15 year olds to state if they thought the teachers intended to instruct.

19. Results • The students responded that teaching only took place in the direct teaching scenario because there was a presence of the teacher’s intention to instruct. They believed that there was not any presence of instruction intention in the Socratic scenario. • Invalid study: • 1. they primed the participants before questioning them. • 2. middle school students about a teachers’ intentions • 3. they did not conduct the experiment to see if any learning took place

20. Conclusion • Teaching is about maximizing student learning, not fitting into a strict definition like the study above suggests. • Self Esteem movement may not have been Dewey’s intention, but it is his theory’s offspring • The Socratic Method is the answer to stopping that offspring and creating students with strong reasoning skills that maximize metacognitive skills by utilizing deductive reasoning.

21. Conclusion • Not only does it increase metacogntion, but it also follows the theories of Vygotsky, Bloom, and Montessori. • Lastly, it maximizes student engagement and testing scores because students enjoy the conversation, debate, open mindedness, and freedom to learn and retain information

22. Thank you 