Metacognition

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Metacognition Critical Thinking

• EDU 330 Educational Psychology
• Daniel Moos

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Metacognition Introduction (I)

• Metacognition Awareness of and control over
  ones cognitive processes. Thinking about
  thinking

A student does poorly on a quiz and realizes that
he studied passively. He makes an effort to
practice activities before next quiz.
Are metacognitive in their approach to studying
learning. Match strategies to goals
A student attempts to relate new topic to those
shes already studied.
Have broad background knowledge
A student summarizes passages, takes notes,
studies with a friend, and writes down
definitions and examples.
Have a repertoire of strategies
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Metacognition Strategies (I)

• Study strategies
• Note taking Guided notes
• Text signals Numbered and bulleted lists
  underlined, bold, or italicized text preview and
  recall sentences
• Summarizing
• Elaborative questioning Drawing inferences,
  identifying examples, and forming relationships
  in the material being studied
• (1)What is another example of this idea?
• (2)How is this topic similar to or different from
  the one in the previous section?
• (3) How does the idea relate to other big ideas I
  have been learning?
• SQ3R Complex study strategy that teaches
  students to use a series of sequential steps to
  monitor comprehension while reading

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S Survey Survey the headings to understand
how the chapter is organized. Q Question Ask
elaborative questions that you expect to
answer as you read the chapter. R Read Read
the chapter. R Recite Try to answer the
elaborative questions as you read, and ask
yourself how each section relates to other
sections in the chapter and content of earlier
chapters. R Review Answer the Checking Your
Understanding questions in the chapters,
and respond to the exercises and self-help
quiz in the Student Study Guide and the
practice quiz on the website.
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Metacognition Principles of Instruction for
developing strategic learning

• Describe the strategy and explain why it is
  useful.
• Explicitly teach the strategy by modeling both
  its use and metacognitive awareness.
• Provide opportunities for students to practice
  the strategy in a variety of contexts.
• Provide feedback as students practice.

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Critical thinking Introduction
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Critical thinking Principles of Instruction for
promoting critical thinking

• Integrate critical thinking into the content of
  the regular curriculum.
• Require students to provide evidence for their
  conclusions with questions such as How do we
  know? Why?
• Promote students awareness of their own
  thinking.
• Capitalize on opportunities to develop thinking
  dispositions when they arise.

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Transfer Introduction (I)
If knowledge is wholly tied to the context of its
acquisition, it will not transfer to other
contexts (Anderson et al., 1996)
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Transfer Introduction (II)
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Transfer Introduction (III)
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Transfer Introduction (IV)
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Transfer Introduction (V)
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Transfer Factors that affect transfer (I)
Similarity between two learning situations
Students who understand that quickly is an adverb
are likely to conclude that openly is an adverb
Students who discuss and practice with examples
and applications are more likely to transfer than
those who dont
Depth of learners original understanding
Students seeing grammar rules in the context of
written paragraphs are more likely to transfer
than those seeing the rules in isolated sentences
Learning Context
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Transfer Factors that affect transfer (II)
Quality and variety of examples and other
experiences
Students who see a real lobster, spider, beetle,
are more likely to transfer the concept arthropod
than students seeing pictures of the animals
Students who are aware of the way they think and
learn are more likely to transfer than those who
are less aware
Emphasis on metacognition
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Metacognition Ending thought questions

• Research indicates that learners typically
  receive little formal instruction in the use of
  study strategies. Why is this the case? Are study
  strategies best taught within the context of a
  particular content area, such as history, or are
  they better taught context-free? Why do you
  think so?
• Some people have advocated placing greater
  emphasis on critical thinking through the
  introduction of a separate course on critical
  thinking. What advice do you have for them based
  upon the research in this chapter? Are the
  developmental issues? Domain issues?