Metacognition: A Fancy Word for a Powerful Concept in Learning

1. Metacognition: A Fancy Word for a Powerful Concept in Learning Henry O. Patterson, Ph.D. RATO December 8, 2010

2. 4 Major Questions… • Did you become a better or worse learner the longer you stayed in school? Why? • How often do you reflect on the strategies you use to learn & the assumptions you make about learning (i.e., how aware are your of your own metacognition & epistemology)?

3. 4 Major Questions… • As a trainer, teacher, mentor, coach, how often do you reflect on the learning strategies & assumptions of those you teach/train? • How often do you discuss strategies & assumptions with those you teach/train? • How often do you think about how your own strategies & assumptions might differ from those you teach/train?

4. 4 Major Questions… • How does your awareness of your own & your students’ learningstrategies & assumptions impact on how you… • design learning experiences? • conduct classes & sessions? • interact with learners? #

5. Goals • Encourage youto reflect on your ownmetacognitions & epistemologies; • Help you explore how your learning strategies & assumptions differ from others—especially your students/trainees, & how these differences impact on teaching/training/learning; • Take away new, useful strategies for helping your students/trainees develop more effective learning strategies & more helpful epistemologies; • Have a stimulating & enjoyable morning. #

6. Overview • Metacognition—the Missing Element in Learning • Exploring Our Own Metacognition • 7 Effective Learning/Study Strategies • Epistemological Beliefs • The Intentional Learner • Why Learners Don’t Always Use Effective Strategies • Promoting Effective Metacognition & Learning Strategies • Conclusions

7. I. Metacognition—the Missing Element in Learning • Most learning situations focus on the content to be learned—knowledge, skills, attitudes, not on the process used to learn • Process rarely taught in school; few learners develop high level of metacognition & self-regulation of learning • “How to Study” courses sometimes offered • Rarely do teachers/trainers discuss how information could be learned • Often few role models

8. I. Metacognition—the Missing Element in Learning (con’t) • One major reason for ignoring metacognition is that learning theory has been based mostly on animal research (i.e. rats); what humans believe about learning & their efforts at controlling the process ignored • Recent learning theory is focusing on humans’ awareness of their own learning

9. I. Metacognition—the Missing Element in Learning (con’t) • Metacognition – knowledge of our own learning & memory processes & regulation of those processes, i.e., “thinking about thinking” • May be mostly implicit • Can—and should--be taught • Plays significant role in the effectiveness of adult learning #

10. II. Exploring Our Own Metacognition • Self-regulation of learning includes… • Goal setting • Planning • Self-motivation • Attention control • Application of learning strategies • Self-monitoring • Appropriate help seeking • Self-evaluation • Self-reflection

11. II. Exploring Our Own Metacognition • Take the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) • Score own inventory • Discuss results & reactions in small groups • Groups report major issues discussed #

12. III.7Effective Learning/Study Strategies • Meaningful learning & elaboration • Organization, e.g., • Internal • Outline • Graphic representation • Concept map • Note taking • Facilitates encoding by adding visual

13. III.Some Effective Learning/Study Strategies (con’t) • Identifying important information • Notice signals from presenter/text • Underlining & highlighting • Summarizing (not always easy) • Comprehension monitoring – checking to see if info understood & remembered • Illusion of knowing – falsely believing that info is known, so stop studying prematurely • Use self-questioning & self-assessment

14. III.SomeEffective Learning/Study Strategies (con’t) • Mnemonics • Verbal mediation, e.g., principal is a “pal” • Visual imagery, e.g., • Loci • Pegword • Superimpose meaningful structure , e.g., sentence, story, rhyme, acronym (HOMES), acrostic (A-C-E-G: all cows eat grass) #

15. IV. Epistemological Beliefs • Beliefs about knowledge & learning, e.g., • Certainty of knowledge (absolute vs. dynamic) • Simplicity & structure of knowledge (isolated vs interrelated) • Source of knowledge (self vs. others) • Criteria for determining truth (expert vs. logic) • Speed of learning (quick vs. gradual) • Nature of learning ability (innate vs. learned)

16. IV. Epistemological Beliefs (con’t) • Developmental & cultural differences in epistemological beliefs (e.g., Asians view mastery as slow & requires persistence) • Effects of epistemological beliefs—determines how we study & learn • Questionnaire & interview with Bill… • Group discussion of implications of different beliefs (see handout) #

17. V. The Intentional Learner • Most effective, ideal learner is actively & consciously engaged in cognitive & metacognitive activities directed specifically at thinking about & learning info (vs. behavioral view) #

18. VI. Why Learners Don’t Always Use Effective Strategies • Uninformed & misinformed about effective strategies – not taught in school • Epistemological beliefs lead to poor strategies • Belief that existing strategies already effective • Assignments often involve low-level skills • Belief sophisticated strategies require too much effort • Incompatible goals, e.g., grades • Low self-efficacy #

19. VII. Promoting Metacognition & Effective Learning Strategies • Self-regulation training programs at any age or level are effective • Discussion of handout: 13 Guidelines for Promoting Effective Learning Strategies… #

20. VIII. Conclusions • Effective learning based on metacognition & self-regulated learning • Learners’ epistemological beliefs often preclude their being intentional learners, so they use poor study strategies & limit storage & retrieval capabilities • Students at any level can be taught appropriate epistemological beliefs, & metacognitive, self-regulation, effective study strategies • It’s never too late to learn to learn!! ###