Transcript Metacognition - Garfield High School

Metacognition
Garfield Math Coaches
September 2007
What is metacognition?
• Popular definition: “Thinking about
thinking”
• Dr. Michael E. Martinez, Associate
Professor, Department of Education, UC
Irvine: “Metacognition is the monitoring
and control of thought”
What is required to achieve
metacognition?
• Knowledge base (Declarative, Procedural,
Conditional)
• “What we already know determines to a
great extent what we will pay attention to,
perceive, learn, remember, and forget.”
• Organization (Helps improve memory)
• Automaticity (“aids and is essential to
higher-order thought”)
Why is automaticity essential?
• Higher-order and lower-order thought
work together rather than compete
because of the limited capacity
of…working memory
• For example, automated reading and
note-taking skills reduce burden on
working memory
What are the three metacognitive
skills?
• Planning/Organizing: deciding how much time to
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spend on a task, how to start, which strategies
to use (Organization improves memory)
Monitoring: awareness of “how am I doing?”
Evaluation: making judgments about processes
and outcomes of thinking and learning and
acting on those judgments
How do we help students plan,
organize, monitor, and evaluate
their learning and thinking
processes?
• Research proposes: Academic SelfRegulation
• Also known as “Self-Regulation”
What is Academic Self-Regulation?
• “process by which students activate and
sustain cognitions, behaviors, and affects
that are systematically oriented toward
the attainment of academic goals.”
• the degree to which “individuals are
metacognitively, motivationally, and
behaviorally active participants in their
own learning process.” (Zimmerman)
What are examples of SelfRegulation?
• While listening: Does this make sense? Am I
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getting this? Am I paying attention?
While planning: Do I have everything together?
Am I organized? What order will I do this?
While working: Am I working fast enough? How
much time is left? Do I need to stop and start
over?
While checking: Did I finish everything? Did I
check my answers? Do my answers make sense?
Why Teach Self-Regulation?
• “Research has provided compelling
evidence that a strong link exists between
students’ academic self-regulation…and
their academic achievement”
• When students with LD “receive
instruction in the use of self-regulatory
methods, they achieve success in
academic settings”
What are the self-regulation
methods or strategies that students
need to be aware of?
• Setting educational goals
• Being aware of weaknesses
• Practice, note taking, spelling aids, tape recorders,
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calendars, organizing study time
Organizing and transforming information
Keeping records (e.g., a list of misspelled words)
Self-consequating (rewarding oneself for good work)
Seeking information (textbooks, libraries, Internet)
Seeking social assistance (e.g., peers, teachers)
Rehearsing and using memory aids
Effects of Metacognitive Training
Embedded in Cooperative Settings
on Mathematical Problem Solving
• Seventh grade students were randomly
assigned to one of three cooperative
learning groups: metacognitive, strategic,
and control-group
• All students received direct instruction
before proceeding to work in groups
• Students with metacognitive training
outperformed the other groups
In the metacognitive group,
students were first asked to answer
three types of questions:
• Comprehension (What is given in the
problem?)
• Comparison (How is this problem
similar/different from the other problems?)
• Strategy (What strategies are appropriate
for solving this problem?)