Efficacious Metacognition
Efficacious Metacognition
Efficacious Metacognition
Since William Perry first coined the term metacognition in 1968, research in to the concept of thinking about one's thinking has grown and evolved. First coming in sporadic spurts and waves, both research and practice have grown to a somewhat steady flow. Springer has had a journal devoted to the subject, Metacognition and Learning, since 2006. However, just knowing that students thinking about their own thinking enhances learning is no assurance of successful application in the classroom. For metacognition to be effective, it must be based on veridical self-awareness of both accuracy of knowledge and skill level.
There are two basic kinds of metacognition. One, discussed often by the late Paul Pintrich, concerns the learning of strategies for problem solving, learning when to apply different strategies, how to determine the effectiveness of that strategy, and what to have as plan B if the first approach is less than successful. The other kind is literally thinking about one's thinking, pondering why things are as they are and if one properly understands the concepts.
There are a number of sources available to teach how to guide students through both kinds of knowledge acquisition. In both kinds, though, a key component is having a solid foundation on which to either determine the effectiveness of the strategy or plumb the depths of what is actually and accurately known. Just thinking about success or knowledge is no guarantee of the veridical nature of those thoughts. Many people talk to themselves about their own thinking, but without a factual base, such metacognition could result in the blind leading the blind.
One key to resolve this issue is contained in better understanding the process of learning. My theory proposes that learning, qua learning, is just what the brain does. From before birth, experiences build memories that mesh to form beliefs. All documentation of statements made from here on can be found in my recent book (2011), Beliefs, Memories, and Learning: Using Knowledge of the Brain to Promote Higher-Order Thinking and Learning. These beliefs, which do not have to be fully understood by the holder of those beliefs, act as filters through which new information is assessed. This new information either shores up current beliefs, is rejected outright, or is accepted, but as not entirely compatible with current beliefs.
Teaching is about changing beliefs and competent teaching is about building up a supply of beliefs that are grounded in a more veridical understanding of the world or on opinions supported by fact-based assumptions. Applying this to metacognition, teachers need to first instill in students accurate beliefs about both knowledge on a subject and about skill levels necessary to address this subject. This bifurcated approach is accomplished by addressing both passive and participatory learning.
For metacognition to be effective, students need to have accurate understanding of both their knowledge on some subject and about their skill levels when addressing some subject. These are accomplished by addressing both passive and participatory learning. Passive learning is accomplished via actions like conditioning and priming. Participatory learning is accomplished by building on more veridical beliefs to assess the alignment of current knowledge on some subject with a more fact-based assessment of that subject.
Passive learning is something that is occurring all the time, like it or not. When reading a paper, listening to TV or radio, talking to any other sentient being, learning is taking place. Because of the way the brain works, the incoming information either shores up current beliefs, is rejected because it contradicts current beliefs, or is pondered as possible. This simple process is why there are people who follow Glen Beck religiously, while there are others who agree with Jon Stewart that Beck is a total loon.
These beliefs or personal paradigms extend to the classroom in that students have beliefs about the extent of their own knowledge and of their own skill levels. Most any student who claims, "I cannot get math," has that belief because this student was led to such a belief by experiences that reinforced that belief. To change this student's mind is to change this student's beliefs.
Two ways to use passive learning in the classroom is to employ conditioning and priming. Conditioning is best achieved by giving accurate feedback on assignments. Priming is best achieved by being sure to use the proper language in the classroom. Together, these simple actions can dramatically alter the way students think and will build that veridical self-understanding that is necessary for metacognition to be effective.
To condition students requires being more explicit in constructing the details for an assignment as well as creating detailed rubrics to be used in grading. It also requires taking the time to be explicit and detailed in comments on the assignment. It is not necessary to sugarcoat the comments, but it is necessary that they be accurate and that they address the content of the assignment. For any assignment, students need to be apprised of exactly what the teacher wants and how that assignment will be assessed. Then, the grading of that assignment must be aligned with those details. Doing so will help create better work and will help students better understand how to align work with expectations.
Priming is more subtle, but no less effective in changing beliefs. The easiest ways to prime students are by modeling and using proper language in the classroom. When tackling a new problem, it is a good thing for teachers to explain how they would go about solving the problem. It is also good to solicit other approaches. These actions not only show students one approach, but demonstrates there are other ways and that it is acceptable to find an alternative way up the mountain. Using proper language means to not only model proper grammar, but to stress the difference between stating a fact and stating an opinion. It also means mandating students do the same. By stressing the difference between statements of fact and statements of opinion, students (and teachers) will be more careful to distinguish between the two and to rely more on what is factual and opinions more aligned with facts.
Metacognition can be seen as either thinking about one's thinking or about thinking about the effectiveness of a chosen strategy when addressing a problem. However, without a solid fact-based understanding of one's skill levels and of the alignment of beliefs with reality, metacognition can be an exercise in futility. Employing actions consistent with how the brain actually learns is the best way to ensure metacognitive exploration works to produce a more veridical set of beliefs about any subject.
The gist of conditioning is that assignment directions and expectations need to be explicit and that both assessment and feedback must be aligned with the details of the assignment. Unless mindreading is part of the curriculum, being explicit in directions and feedback are imperative for accurate personal paradigms to be constructed. Priming is accomplished by speaking accurately about the differences between opinions and facts, as well as through modeling.
Conditioning and priming are successful because the brain passively learns a more veridical set of beliefs about the subject addressed. In this regard, all that a teacher says, writes, or does in the classroom will impact all students to some degree. What the competent teacher needs to decide is if building more fact-based beliefs is worth the effort to employ conditioning and priming.
Assuming the teacher does work with students to achieve a higher level understanding of a subject, then true metacognition can take place. While there are several ways to employ participatory learning, learning in which the individual is actively seeking to enhance neuronal connections or build new memories, only one will be discussed here. Self-reflection is a key component to building not only better understanding of any subject, but better understanding by the student of how a wide variety of beliefs were formed.
In brief, when realizing that work done did not meet expectations, assuming the expectations were crystal clear, exploring where the mark was missed will help most students achieve a better understanding of their own thought processes and which beliefs are helping or hindering the alignment of work to expectations. Helping students understand which beliefs about Mathematics or English hinder the ability to grasp linear equations or comma usage, will allow students to replace errant beliefs with those more aligned with facts.
Metacognition is a wonderful tool in the classroom, but it is so because of the way the brain learns. Many teachers know that with adult learners the hardest chore is to change years or decades of reinforced bad beliefs. Understanding the use of conditioning and priming in passive learning and of properly employing participatory learning to explore the roots of personal paradigms can make this change easier to accomplish.
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