Professional Documents
Culture Documents
FACI Module 2
FACI Module 2
Learning Outcomes
After completing this module, you should be able to:
1. discuss with in- depth knowledge the process of metacognition; and
2. apply metacognitive strategies for learning.
Learning Content
What Is Metacognition?
Metacognition is one’s 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. It helps learners
choose the right cognitive tool for the task and plays a critical role in successful
learning.
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. Flavell (1976), who first used the term, offers the following example: I
am engaging in Metacognition if I notice that I am having more trouble learning A
than B; if it strikes me that I should double check C before accepting it as fact (p.
232).
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.
Elements of Metacognition
Researchers distinguish between metacognitive knowledge and
metacognitive regulation (Flavell, 1979, 1987; Schraw & Dennison, 1994).
Metacognitive knowledge refers to what individuals know about themselves as
cognitive processors, about different approaches that can be used for learning and
problem solving, and about the demands of a particular learning task.
Metacognitive regulation refers to adjustments individuals make to their processes
to help control their learning, such as planning, information management
strategies, comprehension monitoring, de-bugging strategies, and evaluation of
progress and goals. Flavell (1979) further divides metacognitive knowledge into
three categories:
Person variables: What one recognizes about his or her strengths and
weaknesses in learning and processing information.
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.
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.
Livingston (1997) provides an example of all three variables: “I know that I
(person variable) have difficulty with word problems (task variable), so I will answer
the computational problems first and save the word problems for last (strategy
variable).”
Why Teach Metacognitive Skills?
Research shows that metacognitive skills can be taught to students to
improve their learning (Nietfeld & Shraw, 2002; Thiede, Anderson, & Therriault,
2003).
Constructing understanding requires both cognitive and metacognitive
elements. Learners “construct knowledge” using cognitive strategies and they
guide, regulate, and evaluate their learning using metacognitive strategies. It is
through this “thinking about thinking,” this use of metacognitive strategies, that real
learning occurs. As students become more skilled at using metacognitive
strategies, they gain confidence and become more independent as learners.
Individuals with well-developed metacognitive skills can think through a
problem or approach a learning task, select appropriate strategies, and make
decisions about a course of action to resolve the problem or successfully perform
the task. They often think about their own thinking processes, taking time to think
about and learn from mistakes or inaccuracies (North Central Regional
Educational Laboratory, 1995). Some instructional programs encourage students
to engage in “metacognitive conversations” with themselves so that they can “talk”
with themselves about their learning, the challenges they encounter, and the ways
in which they can self-correct and continue learning.
Moreover, individuals who demonstrate a wide variety of metacognitive skills
perform better on exams and complete work more efficiently—they use the right
tool for the job, and they modify learning strategies as needed, identifying blocks to
learning and changing tools or strategies to ensure goal attainment. Because
Metacognition plays a critical role in successful learning, it is imperative that
instructors help learners develop metacognitive.
Metacognitive strategies can be taught (Halpern, 1996), they are associated
with successful learning (Borkowski, Carr, & Pressley, 1987). Successful learners
have a repertoire of strategies to select from and can transfer them to new settings
(Pressley, Borkowski, & Schneider, 1987). Instructors need to set tasks at an
appropriate level of difficulty (i.e., challenging enough so that students need to
apply metacognitive strategies to monitor success but not so challenging that
students become overwhelmed or frustrated), and instructors need to prompt
learners to think about what they are doing as they complete these tasks (Biemiller
& Meichenbaum, 1992). Instructors should take care not to do the thinking for
learners or tell them what to do because this runs the risk of making students
experts at seeking help rather than experts at thinking about and directing their
own learning. Instead, effective instructors continually prompt learners, asking
“What should you do next?”
McKeachie (1988) found that few college instructors explicitly teach
strategies for monitoring learning. They assume that students have already
learned these strategies in high school. But many have not and are unaware of the
metacognitive process and its importance to learning. Rote memorization is the
usual—and often the only—learning strategy employed by high school students
when they enter college (Nist, 1993). Simpson and Nist (2000), in a review of the
literature on strategic learning, emphasize that instructors need to provide explicit
instruction on the use of study strategies. The implication for ABE programs is that
it is likely that ABE learners need explicit instruction in both cognitive and
metacognitive strategies. They need to know that they have choices about the
strategies they can employ in different contexts, and they need to monitor their use
of and success with these strategies.
Recommended Instructional Strategies
Instructors can encourage ABE learners to become more strategic thinkers
by helping them focus on the ways they process information. Self-questioning,
reflective journal writing, and discussing their thought processes with other
learners are among the ways that teachers can encourage learners to examine
and develop their metacognitive processes.
Fogarty (1994) suggests that Metacognition is a process that spans three
distinct phases, and that, to be successful thinkers, students must do the following:
Develop a plan before approaching a learning task, such as reading for
comprehension or solving a math problem.
Monitor their understanding; use “fix-up” strategies when meaning breaks
down.
Evaluate their thinking after completing the task.
Goals of teaching Metacognitive Skills
Instructors can model the application of questions, and they can prompt
learners to ask themselves questions during each phase. They can incorporate
into lesson plans opportunities for learners to practice using these questions
during learning tasks, as illustrated in the following examples:
1. During the planning phase, learners can ask, what am I supposed to
learn? What prior knowledge will help me with this task? What should I do first?
What should I look for in this reading? How much time do I have to complete this?
In what direction do I want my thinking to take me?
2. During the monitoring phase, learners can ask, how am I doing? Am I on
the right track? How should I proceed? What information is important to
remember? Should I move in a different direction? Should I adjust the pace
because of the difficulty? What can I do if I do not understand?
3. During the evaluation phase, learners can ask, How well did I do? What
did I learn? Did I get the results I expected? What could I have done differently?
Can I apply this way of thinking to other problems or situations? Is there anything I
don’t understand—any gaps in my knowledge? Do I need to go back through the
task to fill in any gaps in understanding? How might I apply this line of thinking to
other problems?
Rather than viewing reading, writing, science, social studies, and math only
as subjects or content to be taught, instructors can see them as opportunities for
learners to reflect on their learning processes. Examples follow for each content
area:
Reading: Teach learners how to ask questions during reading and model “think
aloud.” Ask learners questions during read-aloud and teach them to monitor their
reading by constantly asking themselves if they understand what the text is
about. Teach them to take notes or highlight important details, asking
themselves, “Why is this key phrase to highlight?” and “Why am I not highlighting
this?”
Writing: Model prewriting strategies for organizing thoughts, such as
brainstorming ideas using a word web, or using a graphic organizer to put ideas
into paragraphs, with the main idea at the top and the supporting details below it.
Social Studies and Science: Teach learners the importance of using organizers
such as KWL charts, Venn diagrams, concept maps, and anticipation/reaction
charts to sort information and help them learn and understand content. Learners
can use organizers prior to a task to focus their attention on what they already
know and identify what they want to learn. They can use a Venn diagram to
identify similarities and differences between two related concepts.
Math: Teach learners to use mnemonics to recall steps in a process, such as the
order of mathematical operations. Model your thought processes in solving
problems.
The goal of teaching metacognitive strategies is to help learners become
comfortable with these strategies so that they employ them automatically to
learning tasks, focusing their attention, deriving meaning, and making adjustments
if something goes wrong. They do not think about these skills while performing
them but, if asked what they are doing, they can usually accurately describe their
metacognitive processes.
Teaching and Learning Activities
Present a situation or scenario and use metacognitive skills to solve the
problem or situation
Identify a situation based on your experiences and how you can cope with
the challenges
Learning materials and resources for supplementary reading.
Handouts (pdf) upload
Flexible Teaching Learning Modality (FTLM) adopted
Asynchronous and Synchronous
For the written activity, you may answer it through Goggle classroom, and for
those who wish to submit a hard copy, you may give it to the on duty watchman at ISU-
old site Security Guard House.
Assessment Task
Guide Questions
References
A. Books
• Biemiller, A., & Meichenbaum, D. (1992). The nature and nurture of the self-
directed learner. Educational Leadership, 50, 75–80. Retrieved November 17,
2019.
Borkowski, J., Carr, M., & Pressely, M. (1987). “Spontaneous” strategy use:
Perspectives from metacognitive theory. Intelligence, 11, 61–75. Retrieved
November 17, 2019.
Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of
cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34, 906–911. Retrieved
November 17, 2019.
Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B. Resnick
(Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp. 231–236). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
Fogarty, R. (1994). How to teach for metacognition. Palatine, IL: IRI/Skylight
Publishing. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
Halpern, D. F. (1996). Thought and knowledge: An introduction to critical
thinking. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved November 17,
2019.
Livingston, J. A. (1997). Metacognition: An overview. Retrieved November 17,
2019.
Lucas, M. R. & B. Corpus. (2007). Facilitating Learning A Metacognition
Process: Lorimar Publishing. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
McKeachie, W. J. (1988). The need for study strategy training. In C. E.
Weinstein, E. T. Goetz, & P. A. Alexander (Eds.), Learning and study strategies:
Issues in assessment, instruction, and evaluation (pp. 3–9). New York: Academic
Press. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
Meichenbaum, D. (1985). Teaching thinking: A cognitive-behavioral perspective.
In S. F., Chipman, J. W. Segal, & R. Glaser (Eds.), Thinking and learning skills,
Vol. 2: Research and open questions. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
Nietfeld, J. L., & Shraw, G. (2002). The effect of knowledge and strategy
explanation on monitoring accuracy. Journal of Educational Research, 95, 131–
142. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
Nist, S. (1993). What the literature says about academic literacy. Georgia
Journal of Reading, Fall-Winter, 11–18.
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. (1995). Strategic teaching
and reading project guidebook. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
Pressley, M., Borkowski, J. G., & Schneider, W. (1987). Cognitive strategies:
Good strategy users coordinate metacognition and knowledge. In R. Vasta, & G.
Whitehurst (Eds.), Annals of child development, 4, 80–129. Greenwich, CT: JAI
Press.
COGNITIVE AND
METACOGNITIVE FACTORS
LEARNER-CENTERED
MOTIVATION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTAL
AFFECTIVE PRINCIPLES FACTORS
FACTORS
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
FACTORS
The 14 learner-Centered Psychological Principles
The following 14 psychological factors pertain to the learner and the learning
process. They focus on psychological factors that are primarily internal to and under the
control of the learner rather than biological factors. However, the principles also attempt
to acknowledge external environment or contextual factors that interact with these
internal factors.
The principles are intended to deal holistically with learners in the context of real-
world learning situations. Thus, they are best understood as an organized set of
principles; no principle should be viewed in isolation. The 14 principles are divided into
those referring to cognitive and metacognitive, motivational and affective,
developmental and social, and individual difference factors influencing learners and
learning.
Finally, the principles are intended to apply to all learners-from children, to
teachers, to administrators, to parents, and to community members involved in our
educational system.
Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors
Nature of the learning process
The learning of complex subject matter is most effective when it is an intentional
process of constructing meaning from information and experience.
There are different types of learning processes; for example, habit formation in
motor learning and learning that involves the generation of knowledge or cognitive skills,
and learning strategies. Learning in schools emphasizes the use of intentional
processes that students can use to construct meaning from information, experiences,
and their own thoughts and beliefs. Successful learners are active, goal-directed, self-
regulating, and assume personal responsibility for contributing to their own learning.
Goals of the learning process
The successful learner, over time and with support and instructional guidance,
can create meaningful, coherent representations of knowledge.
The strategic nature of learning requires students to be goal directed. To
construct useful representations of knowledge and to acquire the thinking and learning
strategies necessary for continued learning success across the life span, students must
generate and pursue personally relevant goals. Initially, students’ short-term goals and
learning may be sketchy in an area, but over time their understanding can be refined by
filling gaps, resolving inconsistencies, and deepening their understanding of the subject
matter so that they can reach longer-term goals. Educators can assist learners in
creating meaningful learning goals that are consistent with both personal and
educational aspirations and interests.
Construction of knowledge
The successful learner can link new information with existing knowledge in
meaningful ways.
Knowledge widens and deepens as students continue to build links between new
information and experiences and their existing knowledge base. The nature of these
links can take a variety of forms, such as adding to, modifying, or reorganizing existing
knowledge or skills. How these links are made or develop may vary in different subject
areas and among students with varying talents, interests, and abilities. However, unless
new knowledge becomes integrated with the learner’s prior knowledge and
understanding, this new knowledge remains isolated, cannot be used most effectively in
new tasks, and does not transfer readily to new situations. Educators can assist
learners in acquiring and integrating knowledge by a number of strategies that have
been shown to be effective with learners of varying abilities, such as correct mapping
and thematic organization or categorizing.
Strategic thinking
The successful learner can create and use a repertoire of thinking and reasoning
strategies to achieve complex learning goals.
Successful learners use strategic thinking in their approach to learning,
reasoning, problem solving, and concept learning. They understand and can use a
variety of strategies to help them reach learning and performance goals, and to apply
their knowledge in novel situations. They also continue to expand their repertoire of
strategies by reflecting on the methods they use to see which work well for them, by
receiving guided instruction and feedback, and by observing or interacting with
appropriate models. Learning outcomes can be enhanced if educators assist learners in
developing, applying, and assessing their strategic learning skills.
Thinking about thinking
Higher order strategies for selecting and monitoring mental operations facilitate
creative and critical thinking.
Successful learners can reflect on how they think and learn, set reasonable
learning or performance goals, select potentially appropriate learning strategies or
methods, and monitor their progress toward these goals. In addition, successful
learners know what to do if a problem occurs or if they are not making sufficient or
timely progress toward a goal. They can generate alternative methods to reach their
goal (or reassess the appropriateness and utility of the goal). Instructional methods that
focus on helping learners develop this higher order (metacognitive) strategies can
enhance student learning and personal responsibility for learning.
Context of learning
Learning is influenced by environmental factors, including culture, technology,
and instructional practices.
Learning does not occur in a vacuum. Teachers play a major interactive role with
both the learner and the learning environment. Cultural or group influences on students
can impact many educationally relevant variables, such as motivation, orientation
toward learning, and ways of thinking. Technologies and instructional practices must be
appropriate for learners’ level of prior knowledge, cognitive abilities, and their learning
and thinking strategies. The classroom environment, particularly the degree to which it
is nurturing or not, can also has significant impacts on student learning.
Motivational and Affective Factors
Motivational and emotional influences on learning
What and how much is learned is influenced by the learner’s motivation.
Motivation to learn, in turn, is influenced by the individual’s emotional states, beliefs,
interests and goals, and habits of thinking.
The rich internal world of thoughts, beliefs, goals, and expectations for success
or failure can enhance or interfere with the learner’s quality of thinking and information
processing. Students’ beliefs about themselves as learners and the nature of learning
have a marked influence on motivation. Motivational and emotional factors also
influence both the quality of thinking and information processing as well as an
individual’s motivation to learn. Positive emotions, such as curiosity, generally enhance
motivation and facilitate learning and performance. Mild anxiety can also enhance
learning and performance by focusing the learner’s attention on a particular task.
However, intense negative emotions (e.g., anxiety, panic, rage, insecurity) and relative
thoughts (e.g., worrying about competence, ruminating about failure, fearing
punishment, ridicule or stigmatizing labels) generally detract from motivation, interfere
with learning, and contribute to low performance.
Intrinsic motivation to learn
The learner’s creativity, higher order thinking, and natural curiosity all contribute
to motivation to learn. Intrinsic motivation is stimulated by tasks of optimal novelty and
difficulty relevant to personal interests, and providing for personal choice of control.
Curiosity, flexible and insightful thinking, and creativity are major indicators of the
learners’ intrinsic motivation to learn, which is in large part a function of meeting basic
needs to be competent and to exercise personal control. Intrinsic motivation is facilitated
on tasks that learners perceive as interesting and personally relevant and meaningful,
appropriate in complexity and difficulty to the learners’ abilities, and on which they
believe they can succeed. Intrinsic motivation is also facilitated on tasks that are
comparable to real-world situations and meet needs for choice and control. Educators
can encourage and support learners’ natural curiosity and motivation to learn by
attending to individual differences in learners’ perception of optimal novelty and
difficulty, relevance, and personal choice and control.
Effects of motivation and effort
Acquisition of complex knowledge and skills requires extended learner effort and
guided practice.
Without learners’ motivation to learn, the willingness to exert this effort is unlikely
without coercion. Effort is another main indicator of motivation to learn. The acquisition
of complex knowledge and skills demands the investment of considerable learner
energy and strategic effort, along with persistence over time. Educators need to be
concerned with facilitating motivation by strategies that enhance learner effort and
commitment to learning and to achieving high standards of comprehension and
understanding. Effective strategies include purposeful learning activities, guided by
practices that enhance positive emotions and intrinsic motivation to learn, and methods
that increase learners’ perceptions that a task is interesting and personally relevant.
Developmental influences on learning
As individuals develop, there are different opportunities and constraints for
learning. Learning is most effective when differential development within and across
physical, intellectual, emotional, and social domains is taken into account.
Individuals learn best when material is appropriate to their developmental level
and is presented in an enjoyable and interesting way. Because individual development
varies across intellectual, social, emotional, and physical domains, achievement in
different instructional domains may also vary. Overemphasis on one’s type of
developmental readiness–such as reading readiness, for example–may preclude
learners from demonstrating that they are more capable in other areas of performance.
The cognitive, emotional and social development of individual learners and how they
interpret life experiences are affected by prior schooling, home, culture, and community
factors. Early and continuing parental involvement in schooling and the quality of
language interactions and two-way communications between adults and children can
influence these developmental areas. Awareness and understanding of developmental
differences among children with and without emotional, physical, or intellectual
disabilities can facilitate the creation of optimal learning contexts.
Guide Questions
Activity 1:
Construct a paragraph that states the difficulties/problems you’ve encountered upon
learning and how would you apply the LCP to address those difficulties?
Rubrics:
Content: 50%
Organization: 50%
Total 100%
A. Identify what principle is being asked on the following.
__________1. The successful learner can create and use a repertoire of thinking
and reasoning strategies to achieve complex learning goals”.
__________2. Learning is influenced by environmental factors, including culture,
technology, and instructional practices.
__________3. Learners have different strategies, approaches, and capabilities
for learning.
__________4. Learning is most effective when differences in learner’s linguistic,
cultural, and
Social backgrounds are taken into account.
__________5. Learning is influenced by social interactions, interpersonal
relations, and communication with others.
References
A. Book
Lucas, M. R. & B. Corpus. (2007). Facilitating Learning A Metacognition
Process: Lorimar Publishing. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
B. Website
https://www.cdl.org/articles/learner-centered-psychological-principles/. Retrieved
November 17, 2019.