What is metacognition?
Is knowledge and understanding of our own cognitive processes and
abilities and those of others, as well as regulation of these processes. It is
the ability to make your thinking visible.
Metacognitive knowledge is knowledge that we hold about our own thinking, and
the thinking of other people. We are usually able to report metacognitive
knowledge if we are asked about our own thinking and it includes things like:
Understanding that having a strategy might help you to solve a problem
more efficiently or that having an essay plan may help to keep your argument on
track.
Knowing that it is more difficult to concentrate in a room that is noisy
than one which is quiet.
Knowing that you are good at remembering people’s faces but not their
names, while your friend is good with names, not faces.
There are three types of metacognitive knowledge that each play a role
in learning and problem-solving:
Declarative knowledge: “knowing
what” – knowledge of one’s
own learning processes, and about strategies for learning
Procedural knowledge: “knowing
how” – knowing what skills
and strategies to use.
Conditional knowledge: “knowing
when” – knowledge about
why and when various learning strategies should be used.
Self-regulation on the other hand, refers to a set of activities that
help learners to control their learning. Research has shown that metacognitive
regulation supports performance in a number of ways, including understanding
where to direct attention, using strategies more reliably and efficiently, and
developing awareness of difficulties with comprehension. At the heart of
self-regulation are three essential skills:
Planning.
Monitoring.
Evaluation.
Planning involves working out how a task might be approached
before you do it. For example you might make predictions before reading, select
a strategy before tackling a problem, or allocate time or other resources
before commencing work.
Monitoring refers to the pupil’s on-task awareness of progress,
comprehension and overall performance. Stopping every so often to self-test and
check for understanding is a good example of monitoring. Monitoring ability is
slow to develop and even adults find it difficult but it can be improved with
training and practice.
Evaluation requires the student to review the outcomes and
efficiency of the learning experience. Evaluation includes revisiting goals and
conclusions, deciding how to improve next time, and examining learning from
another person’s perspective to diagnose problems
Why is metacognition important?
Metacognitively able students are aware of a range of strategies to help
them to learn, know that they can direct their thinking & essentially are
active rather than passive learners (at least some of the time!) – engage with
material that is to be learned, with stimulating situations, actively question
and plan.
Cognitive vs. Metacognitive
Strategies.
Metacognition is referred to as "thinking about thinking" and
involves overseeing whether a cognitive goal has been met. This should be the
defining criterion for determining what is metacognitive. Cognitive strategies
are used to help an individual achieve a particular goal, while metacognitive
strategies are used to ensure that the goal has been reached.
Metacognition and Cognitive
Strategy Instruction.
Cognitive Strategy Instruction (CSI) is an instructional approach which
emphasizes the development of thinking skills and processes as a means to enhance
learning. The objective of CSI is to enable all students to become more
strategic, self-reliant, flexible, and productive in their learning endeavors.
- Here I left you the link of a video about Metacognition. I hope you like it.
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