Tamparong, Nynothsca A.

Assignment

1. What is metacognition?

Metacognition refers to awareness of one’s own knowledge—what one does and

doesn’t know—and one’s ability to understand, control, and manipulate one’s cognitive
processes (Meichenbaum, 1985). It includes knowing when and where to use particular
strategies for learning and problem solving as well as how and why to use specific
strategies. Metacognition is the ability to use prior knowledge to plan a strategy for
approaching a learning task, take necessary steps to problem solve, reflect on and
evaluate results, and modify one’s approach as needed.

2. Enumerate the Metacognitive Knowledge Variable. Elaborate.

2.1 Person Variables

What one recognizes about his or her strengths and weaknesses in learning
and processing information. For example, you may be aware that your study
session will be more productive if you work in the quiet library rather than at
home where there are many distractions.

2.2 Task Variables

What one knows or can figure out about the nature of a task and the
processing demands required to complete the task—for example, knowledge that
it will take more time to read, comprehend, and remember a technical article than
it will a similar-length passage from a novel.

2.3 Strategy Variables

The strategies a person has “at the ready” to apply in a flexible way to
successfully accomplish a task; for example, knowing how to activate prior
knowledge before reading a technical article, using a glossary to look up
 unfamiliar words, or recognizing that sometimes one has to reread a paragraph
several times before it makes sense.

3. Differentiate Expert Learners from Novice Learners?

The Difference between Novice and Expert Learners

Aspect of Learning Novice Learners Expert Learners

Have deeper knowledge

Have limited knowledge in different subject areas
Knowledge in
in the different subject because they look for
different subject areas.
areas. inter-relationship in
things they done.

First try to understand the

Satisfied at just scratching
problem, look for
the surface; hurriedly
Problem Solving boundaries, and create a
gives a solution to the
mental picture of the
problem.
problem.

Employ rigid strategies

Design new strategies that
Learner / Thinking that may not be
would be appropriate to
Strategies appropriate to the task at
the task at hand.
hand.

Select important to
Attempt to process all process, able to
Selecting in Processing
information they receive. breakdown information to
manageable chunks.

Do not examine the Check their errors and

Production of Output quality of their work, nor reflect their efforts to
stop to make revisions. maintain quality output.

3. Who is Jeaanne Ellis Omrod?

 Jeanne Ellis Ormrod received her A.B. in psychology from Brown University and
her M.S. and Ph.D. in educational psychology from The Pennsylvania State University.
She earned licensure in school psychology through postdoctoral work at Temple
University and the University of Colorado at Boulder and has worked as a middle school
geography teacher and school psychologist. She was Professor of Educational
Psychology at the University of Northern Colorado until 1998, when she moved east to
return to her native New England. She is currently affiliated with the University of New
Hampshire, where she occasionally teaches courses in educational psychology and
research methods. She has published numerous research articles on cognition and
memory, cognitive development, and giftedness, but she is probably best known for this
textbook and four others: Human Learning (currently in its fifth edition); Essentials of
Educational Psychology (currently in its second edition); Child Development and
Education (co-authored with Teresa McDevitt, currently in its fourth edition);
and Practical Research (co-authored with Paul Leedy, currently in its ninth edition). With
her three children now grown and out on their own, she lives in New Hampshire with her
husband Richard.

5. What are the Metacognitive Strategies Used to Facilitate Learning?

Cognitive strategies are the basic mental abilities we use to think, study, and learn
(e.g., recalling information from memory, analyzing sounds and images, making
associations between or comparing/contrasting different pieces of information, and
making inferences or interpreting text). They help an individual achieve a particular goal,
such as comprehending text or solving a math problem, and they can be individually
identified and measured. In contrast, metacognitive strategies are used to ensure that an
overarching learning goal is being or has been reached.

Metacognitive strategies facilitate learning how to learn. You can incorporate

these, as appropriate, into eLearning courses, social learning experiences, pre- and post-
training activities and other formal or informal learning experiences.

a) Ask Questions. During formal courses and in post-training activities, ask

questions that allow learners to reflect on their own learning processes and
strategies. In collaborative learning, ask them to reflect on the role they play
when problem solving in teams.
b) Foster Self-reflection. Emphasize the importance of personal reflection during
and after learning experiences. Encourage learners to critically analyze their own
assumptions and how this may have influenced their learning.
c) Encourage Self-questioning. Foster independent learning by asking learners to
generate their own questions and answer them to enhance comprehension. The
questions can be related to meeting their personal goals.
 d) Teach Strategies Directly. Teach appropriate metacognitive strategies as a part of
a training course.
e) Promote Autonomous Learning. When learners have some domain knowledge,
encourage participation in challenging learning experiences. They will then be
forced to construct their own metacognitive strategies.
f) Provide Access to Mentors. Many people learn best by interacting with peers
who are slightly more advanced. Promote experiences where novices can observe
the proficient use of a skill and then gain access to the metacognitive strategies of
their mentors.
g) Solve Problems with a Team: Cooperative problem solving can enhance
metacognitive strategies by discussing possible approaches with team members
and learning from each other.
h) Think Aloud. Teach learners how to think aloud and report their thoughts while
performing a difficult task. A knowledgeable partner can then point out errors in
thinking or the individual can use this approach for increased self-awareness
during learning.
i) Self-explanation. Self-explanation in writing or speaking can help learners
improve their comprehension of a difficult subject.
j) Provide Opportunities for Making Errors. When learners are given the
opportunity to make errors while in training, such as during simulations, it
stimulates reflection on the causes of their errors.

4. Provide examples in No. 5.

Examples of metacognitive activities include planning how to approach a learning

task, using appropriate skills and strategies to solve a problem, monitoring one’s own
comprehension of text, self-assessing and self-correcting in response to the self-
assessment, evaluating progress toward the completion of a task, and becoming aware of
distracting stimuli.

6. Enumerate examples of teaching strategies to develop metacognition.

a) Teach students how their brains are wired for growth.

The beliefs that students adopt about learning and their own brains
will affect their performance. Research shows that when students
develop a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset, they are more likely to
engage in reflective thinking about how they learn and grow. Teaching
kids about the science of metacognition  can be an empowering tool,
helping students to understand how they can literally grow their own
brains.
b) Give students practice recognizing what they don't understand.
The act of being confused and identifying one's lack of
understanding is an important part of developing self-awareness. Take
time at the end of a challenging class to ask, "What was most confusing
about the material we explored today?" This not only jumpstarts
metacognitive processing, but also creates a classroom culture that
acknowledges confusion as an integral part of learning.

c) Provide opportunities to reflect on coursework.

Higher-order thinking skills are fostered as students learn to
recognize their own cognitive growth. Questions that help this process
might include:
 Before this course, I thought earthquakes were caused by _______. Now I
understand them to be the result of _______.
 How has my thinking about greenhouse gases changed since taking this
course?

d) Have students keep learning journals.

One way to help students monitor their own thinking is through
the use of personal learning journals. Assign weekly questions that help
students reflect on how rather than what they learned. Questions might
include:
 What was easiest for me to learn this week? Why?
 What was most challenging for me to learn? Why?
 What study strategies worked well as I prepared for my exam?
 What strategies for exam preparation didn't work well? What will I do
differently next time?
 What study habits worked best for me? How?
 What study habit will I try or improve upon next week?
Encourage creative expression through whatever journal formats work
best for learners, including mind maps, blogs, wikis, diaries, lists, e-
tools, etc.

e) Use a "wrapper" to increase students' monitoring skills.

A "wrapper" is a short intervention that  surrounds an existing
activity and integrates a metacognitive practice. Before a lecture, for
example, give a few tips about active listening. Following the lecture,
ask students to write down three key ideas from the lecture. Afterward,
share what you believe to be the three key ideas and ask students to self-
 check how closely theirs matched your intended goals. When used often,
this activity not only increases learning, but also improves metacognitive
monitoring skills.

f) Consider essay vs. multiple-choice exams.

Research shows that students use lower-level thinking skills to
prepare for multiple-choice exams, and higher-level metacognitive skills
to prepare for essay exams. While it is less time consuming to grade
multiple-choice questions, even the addition of several short essay
questions can improve the way students reflect on their learning to
prepare for test taking.

g) Facilitate reflexive thinking.

Reflexivity is the metacognitive process of becoming aware of our
biases – prejudices that get in the way of healthy development. Teachers
can create a classroom culture for deeper learning and reflexivity by
encouraging dialogue that challenges human and societal biases. When
students engage in conversations or write essays on biases and moral
dilemmas related to politics, wealth, racism, poverty, justice, liberty,
etc., they learn to "think about their own thinking." They begin to
challenge their own biases and become more flexible and adaptive
thinkers.