1. Metacognition, Learning, & The 21st Century Classroom
Michael J. Serra
Department of Psychological Sciences Texas Tech University

2. Who are YOU?
New instructors?
Some experience?
Tons of experience?

3. Training / Background Education / Training:
Faculty: Texas Tech University, 2008+
Post-Doc: Columbia University, (under Janet Metcalfe)
Ph.D.: Kent State University, (under John Dunlosky)
M.A.: UNC-Greensboro, (under John Dunlosky)
B.A.: Hofstra University, 2002

4. Training / Background Texas Tech:
Associate Professor, Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience Program
Director, Experimental Psychology Graduate Program
Prior: Director, Undergraduate Program
Member, TTU Teaching Academy
Recipient, 2017 TTU President’s Excellence in Teaching Award
Observations & Supervision

5. Research Cloud Metacognition Student Learning Memory Control of Study
Monitoring
Unskilled & Unaware Effect
Accuracy vs. Inaccuracy
Metacognition
Effective Restudy
Judgment and Decision Making
Framing Effects
Heuristics
E-Textbooks & Software
Knowledge & Beliefs
Student Learning
Memory
Adaptive Memory
Course / Exam Performance
Multimedia Learning
Reading Comprehension
Dual Coding
Explicit Memory

6. General Research Interest
Identifying factors that aid or hinder student learning
Direct Effects
Multimedia Learning
E-Textbook Variations
Indirect Effects
Metacognition as Mediator
Monitoring and Control

7. Talk Overview What is metacognition? Knowledge, Control, Monitoring
Errors in knowledge / beliefs What can you do about them?
Errors in control / studying What can you do about them?
Errors in monitoring / judging What can you do about them?
Discussion / Q&A

8. But I Studied REALLY Hard!C-

9. Metacognition Meta – Cognition Cognition: thoughts & thought processes
Meta: critical analysis of _____
“critical analysis of thoughts & thought processes”
“thinking about thinking”

10. Metacognition Metacognition Cognition Monitoring Control Knowledge
cf. Nelson & Narens

11. Knowledge of Learning Processes Evaluation of Learning State
Metacognition
Knowledge of Learning Processes
Knowledge of Monitoring Techniques
Knowledge of Study Techniques
Evaluation of Learning State
Judging Learning
Study
Behaviors
Studying for Exam
cf. Nelson & Narens

12. Metacognition The Problem:
Errors can occur anywhere in the metacognition cycle
Can we identify where students are having trouble?
Can we intervene to help learning?

13. Metacognition
Note:
My talk will focus on studying (i.e., for exams) post-lesson
Will not focus (much) on learning during a lesson or lecture

14. Metacognition
Note:
Difficult to consider one aspect of the cycle at a time, as they are all related

15. Knowledge / Beliefs Metacognition Cognition Monitoring Control
cf. Nelson & Narens

16. Knowledge / Beliefs
Correct knowledge (or correct / incorrect beliefs) about:
How learning “works”
How to study (control)
How to judge learning (monitoring)

17. Knowledge / Beliefs
What incorrect / inefficient beliefs do students often have about how learning occurs?

18. Fixed vs. Growth Mindset
Belief that abilities are malleable (growth) vs. permanent trait (fixed)
Most college students identified as “growth mindset” based on scales
Yet… they sometimes seem a lot like “fixed mindset” students! (surprised when their abilities don’t supersede the need to study) “But I’m a pre-med major!?”

19. Fixed vs. Growth Mindset
What can instructors do?
Avoid acting as if abilities / knowledge are fixed states
Instead, focus on student effort and improvement

20. Learning Styles
Ex: Visual Learner vs. Verbal Learner (vs. Kinesthetic Learner?)
Learning styles are not supported: some formats help people learn (or don’t) regardless of “learning style” (no support for “meshing hypothesis”)
Students might use “learning style mismatch” as an excuse
cf. Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, & Bjork, 2009

21. Learning Styles What can instructors do? Don’t endorse this myth
Use multiple modalities, but also think about “what is the best modality for a given lesson / point?”
cf. Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, & Bjork, 2009

22. Domain Familiarity
Students assume they have more knowledge / ability to learn in some topics than in others “Isn’t psychology supposed to be easy?”
Largely accurate
But can be over-utilized when judging learning or studying for exams
cf. Shanks & Serra, 2014

23. Media / Material Effects
Students believe some materials make learning easier
True, but can be over-generalized
Students can overestimate their learning based on format alone (Ex: photos in textbooks)
cf. Serra & Dunlosky, 2010

24. Media / Material Effects Domain Familiarity
What can instructors do?
Students need to explicitly evaluate their learning, regardless of the materials or their expertise
More on this later!
cf. Serra & Dunlosky, 2010

25. Beliefs about Studying
See next section!

26. Knowledge / Beliefs
What correct / efficient beliefs do students often have about how learning occurs?
What did I forget?

27. Control (Study) Metacognition Cognition Monitoring Control Knowledge
cf. Nelson & Narens

28. Control (Study)
Performing cognitive activities to reach goal learning state
Knowledge / beliefs guide choice of behaviors
Output of monitoring informs stop / continue to study decision

29. Control (Study)
What ineffective / inefficient methods do students use to study?

30. Multitasking / Distractions
Studying with music / tv / etc. (+ explicit belief that “music helps learning”)
Studying with friends

31. Multitasking / Distractions
What can instructors do?
Need to be explicitly told that multitasking is inefficient
Post-exam show of hands:
“Who studied while distracted?”
“Are you happy with your grade?”

32. Beliefs: Cramming
Spaced practice / study is better for studying / learning
Yet many students believe cramming is better for studying
Belief or laziness?

33. Beliefs: Cramming What can instructors do?
Need to be explicitly told that cramming is inefficient
Implicitly reinforce spaced practice: start reviews earlier than the exam
Assign practice questions throughout the semester, not just before exam

34. Beliefs: Cramming & Study Drugs
Reducing cramming should help to reduce use (& risks ) of study drugs

35. Beliefs: Study Time Belief: Study Time  Learning
Time spent studying isn’t as important as the activities students do / don’t do during that time

36. Beliefs: Re-Reading
Yes, need to read / hear lecture to get the information to begin with (NOT condemning reading or lectures!)
Re-reading textbook or lecture notes; re-writing / copying notes
Minimal benefits for learning
No recall or processing required

37. Study Time & Re-Reading
What can instructors do?
Students need to know that reading / re-reading notes is not enough
Need to do something effortful or integrative while studying
Maybe you need to assign the task

38. Practice Testing
Interspersed test questions that require retrieval from memory (or any other activity that requires retrieval and processing, such as writing summary or tutoring)
Testing enhances learning compared to restudying / re-reading
Testing also provides explicit info about what is known / not known (see also Monitoring / Judgment section)

39. Practice Testing: The Flipped Classroom?
Probably not a magic solution;
Probably forces students to retrieve and apply information

40. Flashcards
Study aids: facts / definitions written on cards; often double-sided (phrase on one side vs. definition on back) (see also: digital versions)
A form of self-testing (+)
Students drop “known” items from restudy too soon! (–)

41. Flashcards Students need to space their study of flashcards
More important: need to rotate known cards back into pile at later point

42. Practice Testing / Flashcards
What can instructors do?
Students need to know to space study of flashcards and rotate known cards back into pile
Instructors can assign practice quizzes (or do them in class) to get students to engage in practice testing

43. Control (Study)
What effective / efficient methods do students use to study?
What did I forget?

44. Monitoring (Judging) Metacognition Cognition Monitoring Control
Knowledge
Cognition
cf. Nelson & Narens

45. Monitoring (Judging)
Assessing current level of learning for comparison to goal state
Output of monitoring informs stop / continue to study decision
Monitoring is a judgment and decision making (JDM) process

46. Monitoring (Judging)
What ineffective / inefficient methods do students use to judge learning?

47. How do we Judge?
Neither system is guaranteed to produce accurate judgments
What matters: “How predictive is the info used to judge?”
SYSTEM 2
Theory-Based
Explicit
Conscious
Slow
Effortful
JUDGE
SYSTEM 1
Heuristic-Based
Implicit
Non-conscious
Fast
Automatic
TARGET
cf. Kahneman & Tversky

48. Are Judgments Accurate?
Calibration / Absolute Accuracy:
UNDERCONFIDENT
ACCURATE
OVERCONFIDENT

49. Are Judgments Accurate?
Discrimination / Resolution / Relative Accuracy:
ACCURATE
NO DISCRIMINATION

50. But I Studied REALLY Hard!C-

51. But I Studied REALLY Hard!
MISMATCH: Expectations vs. Actual Performance
Under-studying for exams
Inefficient study (across topics, across courses)
Changing of major
Dropping out of school

52. Belief-Based Effects
Students believe some materials make learning easier
True, but can be over-generalized
Students can overestimate their learning based on format alone (Ex: photos in textbooks)
cf. Serra & Dunlosky, 2010

53. Desired Grades Most students desire high grades
Not all students can earn high grades
Students’ desires for higher grades can (non-consciously) inflate their estimated learning / predicted grades
cf. Saenz, Geraci, Miller, & Tirso, 2017; Serra & DeMarree, 2016

54. ABC ABC Experiential Information
Fluency: subjective experience of ease / difficulty of processing
ABC
ABC
ABC
Fluency effects based on materials
VS.
Fluency effects of instructor
cf. Rhodes & Castel, 2008; Serra & Magreehan, 2016

55. Experiential Information
cf. Carpenter, Wilford, Kornell, & Mullaney, 2013; Serra & Magreehan, 2016

56. Experiential Information
Re-reading textbook or lecture notes; re-writing / copying notes
No recall or processing required
Therefore, provides subjective experience of ease / mastery

57. Poor Judgment Accuracy…
What can instructors do?
Students often over-rely on “System 1” heuristics when judging their learning
Re-reading books / notes “feels” easy
Some instructors are “easier” to follow
Better to rely on “System 2” analytical information, if they can obtain it
Self-testing “feels” difficult… but ALSO provides diagnostic information on learning
cf. Carpenter, Wilford, Kornell, & Mullaney, 2013; Serra & Magreehan, 2016

58. E-Textbooks & Software
Advantages of enhanced e-textbooks over non-enhanced textbooks?

59. E-Textbooks & Software
Non-enhanced books: students are left to study / restudy on their own
Enhanced books: testing software can guide students to restudy missed info
cf. Ortegren (Dissertation), 2016

60. E-Textbooks & Software
Students benefit most greatly from feedback: need help identifying what they did / did not know (students are very bad at self-grading; often use word-count heuristic)
Students might not need software to guide their restudy schedule (no effect of various restudy schemes vs. self-controlled study)
cf. Ortegren (Dissertation), 2016

61. E-Textbooks & Software
You don’t need fancy software! (as long as students get accurate feedback)
It’s the testing that is important, not the modality!

62. Monitoring (Judging)
What effective / efficient methods do students use to judge learning?
What did I forget?

63. Metacognition The Problem:
Errors can occur anywhere in the metacognition cycle
Inaccurate beliefs about learning
Poor study skills / strategies
Inaccurate judgments of learning

64. Metacognition The Problem:
Can we identify where students are having trouble?
Start of Semester: How “should” you study?
Exam Time: How will you study?
Post-Exam: How did you study? Did it work?
Can we intervene to help learning?

65. Take-Home Message: Knowledge
Students (and instructors) need to know more about how learning works and does not work
Teach study skills / learning in courses
Explicit suggestions for how to study
Study-skills interventions before failures
Instructors: don’t forget about the large empirical literature on learning!

66. Take-Home Message: Studying
Studying needs to be spaced out
Studying needs to be effortful
Studying should mimic the exam
Sounds terrible!

67. Take-Home Message: Judging
Avoid subjective (experiential) info about learning while studying
Monitoring of learning while studying needs to be based on explicit info that relates to the exam conditions
Self-testing / practice tests
Summary writing
Tutoring others / study group
Go back and study what isn’t known! (and also re-study what is known!)

68. Thanks!
Questions?