Metacognition in Education

"Think About It" Metacognitive Group Intervention

Multifaceted intervention with phonemic awareness, semantic cueing and metacognitive strategies (Ferguson, Currie, Paul and Topping, 2011).

"Solve It!" Group Intervention

-Additive effect of metacognitive and mathematical skills taught together -Cognitive strategy intervention for maths problem solving

Evidence that Metacognitive Awareness Comes With Thinking and Learning Process

-Baird: Children can reflect on where they are in the learning process -McGuiness: after being explicitly taught about doing specific types of thinking, children could then identify what kind of thinking they are doing for each task. More metacognition.

Evidence of effectiveness: Literacy

-Develops reading comprehension and decoding skills -Can improve children's writing skills by making them aware of the processes involved in writing

Self Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) for writing

-E.g. how to write a persuasive argument -Look at elements of persuasive writing to help kids in persuasive essays

Examples of Metacognitive Measures

-Getting kids to "think out loud" -Metacognitive Self-Knowledge (MSK) Questionnaire and Interview (semi-structured interview about maths and how to do it) -Self-Talk Questionnaire -Metacomprehension Strategy Index (MSI)

Evidence of effectiveness: Numeracy

-Metacognitive instruction could be tailored to regular classrooms where the majority are low-achievers e.g. to improve their math skills(Cardelle-Elawar, 1995) -Metacognitive training outperformed worked out maths examples (Mevarech & Kramarski, 2002). -If you explain to kids the process, then they are better able to understand it. Knowing what the process if for is also helpful(Montague et al., 1993).

Why Metacognition is studied

-More metacognitive thinking and remembering of tasks associated with successful people (Short et. al.) -looked at kids with learning difficulties and found they couldn't remember strategies they learned in the past and apply it in the future (Eyde & Altman) -Successful learners are more likely to use a range of cognitive skills and strategies than those who experience difficulties in learning (Cameron and Reynolds, 1999)

Story Grammar Group Intervention

-Uses 7 questions to help kids think about writing a story -Gives kid scaffold to improve their writing

Definition of Metacognition

Ability to think about your own thinking. Active awareness; higher order process.

Metacognitive Knowledge

Accumulated autobiographical information about one's own cognitions

Metacognitive Beliefs

Beliefs about one's capability to perform the task

Evidence that Metacognitive Awareness Leads to Greater Understanding of Present and Future Knowledge

Chi: Can understand present cognitive connections Prambling: Children better prepare for future with metacognitive skills

Definition of a Metacognitive Strategy

Ongoing control and monitoring of one's own cognitions. Self-regulation.

Does Metacognitive Ability Change Over Time?

Yes. Metacognitive ability improves significantly with age during adolescence with prolonged developmental trajectory. Sensitive period of growth between 12-15. If those in education act they can make a difference. (Weil et al., 2013).