Metacognition and Self-regulation

Meta-cognition: Learning how to Learn Plato first suggested reflecting learning through dialogue; John Flavell, Stanford University, originated the term in 1979; means -“thinking about thinking” or “learning how to learn”; consists of both metacognitive knowledge and experiences. Literally meta-cognitive means “with thinking”. Flavell (1979) who first defined the term metacognition describes it as a person’s own ability to mange, monitor and retrieve information from memory. It acts, metaphorically, like a conductor of an orchestra of memory. Flavell in (1976) identifies that learners require three states for metacognition: Awareness of stored information in the brain for an intentional purpose Storing current information related to active problem-solving in their memory Developing systematic research skills to apply in problem-solving

Most Effective Strategies from Education Endowment Teaching and Learning Toolkit The top effective and economical strategies in closing the attainment gap are: Feedback Meta-cognition Peer tutoring Collaborative Learning Social and Emotional Learning Parental Involvement Identified most effective in terms of impact on attainment and cost effectiveness. Background information regarding each intervention and approach available within the Teaching and Learning Toolkit.

• Meta-cognition involves thinking about one’s own cognitive processes; thinking about one’s thinking, learning, reasoning and problem solving; metacognitive strategies are teaching approaches that make learners’ thinking explicit in the classroom; includes learners being taught how to plan, monitor and evaluate their own learning; • meta-cognition is essential for effective learning in complex situations.

self-awareness promotes self-regulation; Greater student awareness of their thinking processes as they learn, leads to creation of personal goals, sharper focus and deeper self-belief; self-awareness promotes self-regulation; simplest approach to developing metacognition is to promote pupils to think and get them to explain to everyone what they are thinking. A very useful teaching strategy is to use repetitive approaches where more information is added to extend or challenge pupils’ thinking. This encourages them to evaluate whether their initial thinking or position holds true. For example: Should all school uniforms be blue? What impact would it have to the sense of belonging to school? Will uniforms get cheaper? A useful definition for self-regulation is managing your own emotions to

What are the characteristics of metacognition? Factual information that can be declared, spoken or written e.g. the formula to find the area of a maths shape 2. Procedural process steps e.g. the steps in an experiment 3. Conditional judgement about when to use a skill or technique e.g. which method for subtraction works best In defining metacognition there are three characteristics to consider in terms of subject content and strategy knowledge. Factual, procedural and conditional are the identified characteristics.

Teaching Metacognition Improves Learning Planning and goal-setting; monitoring one’s progress; adapting as needed.   The teaching role should involve encouraging learners to take greater responsibility for their learning and to develop their own understanding of what success looks like. What do they need to do to achieve the task? Learners should learn to monitor and manage their own learning, plan and set personal goals. Scaffolded support from the teacher is most effective when based on the individual needs of the learner and adapted as necessary. Planning and setting goals need to be initially taught.

7 Strategies for developing metacognition Modelling, demonstrating, discussing and chunking information and giving peer feedback; Using different techniques for planning responses such as pictures, annotated diagrams, charts, concept maps or key words; Keeping regular learning logs to reflect on thinking and share with others ; Explaining to others thinking, step by step; Reflect on learning in cooperative learning group discussions; Use high order questioning techniques to make critical reflections and analysis of learning; Develop a ‘growth mindset’ Learners need to have secure knowledge of the learning intention of the task and the success criteria in order to choose the most appropriate strategies. Using higher order questioning skills enables the learner to be more critical in their thinking. Developing a growth mindset, where focus and effort lead to higher achievement, enables the learner to understand that mistakes are all part of the learning process.

Why is meta-cognition important? Consistently high or very high level of impact on learning; many studies showing substantial gains equivalent to eight months additional progress in learning; relatively low implementation cost; bar is raised for all pupils but reduces the gap between higher and lower attaining pupils; evidence indicates that it is also particularly helpful for lower attaining pupils.

Challenge Questions Some reflective questions for practitioners or groups of practitioners to use to develop self-evaluation and inform planning. Questions can be customised from How good is our school? (4th edition) to suit different contexts. To what extent are our metacognitive approaches improving learning for all? What strategies are we using to develop resilience and confidence in our learners to lead their own and others learning? To what extent do we critically engage with research, policy sources and developments in learning and teaching in relation to meta-cognition?

“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think” Albert Einstein • Metacognitive skills and beliefs about learning have positive outcomes for learners; • teaching skills and beliefs of meta-cognition with practice time improves learning; • simple interventions can have a huge effect size of up to 8 months learning gain.

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