Facilitating Learner-Centered Teaching

(Chapter 1)

What you just did while answering the questionnaire and analysing your scores is an exercise in
metacognition. You stopped for a moment and thought about how you study and learn. You
were reminded of your strengths and weaknesses, then you wrote what it is that you can do to
improve your study habits. Hopefully, this will help you to start to learn more effectively.

The most important goal of education is to teach students how to learn on their own.
The quotation on the side margin stresses this. It is vital that students acquire the skills of how
to learn; and that these skills enable them to lean not just while they are in school but for a life
time. This entails deeper awareness of how one processes information, the ability to evaluate his
own thinking and to think of ways to make his own learning process more effective. All these
involve metacognition.

What is metacognition? This appears to be such a high-sounding word that some people
are confused about even before they actually speed time to find out what is really means. It is
not all that complicated. In fact, we do metacognitive activities so often in our daily lives. When
you sense that you experiencing some difficulty with a topic you are studying, and you try out
different strategies to learn better, you are practicing metacognition. The world maybe long,
seems to be so intangible but it is worth focusing on because it can help you to be a more
successful learner. When you become a teacher, it can also help your students to learn more
efficiently and effectively.

The term “metacognition” was coined by John Flavell. According to Flavell (1979-1987),
metacognition consist of both metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive experience or
regulation. Metacognition simply put, is “thinking about thinking” or “learning how to learn”.
It refers to higher order thinking which involves active awareness and control over the
cognitive process engaged in learning. Metacognitive knowledge refers to acquired knowledge
about cognitive process, knowledge that can be used to control cognitive process. Flavell further
divides metacognitive knowledge into three categories: knowledge of person variables, task
variables and strategy variable.

Person Variables. This includes how one views himself as a learner and thinker.
Knowledge of person variable refers to knowledge about how human beings learned and
process information as well as individual knowledge of one’s own learning process. For
example, you may be aware that you

Study more effectively if you study very early in the morning than late in the evening, and that
you work better in a quite library rather than at home where there are a lot of things that make
it hard for you to focus and concentrate.

Task Variables. Knowledge of task variables includes knowledge about the nature of
task as well as the type of processing demands that it will placed upon the individual. It is
about knowing what exactly needs to be accomplished, gauging is its difficultly and knowing
the kind of efforts it will demand from you. For example, you may be aware that it takes more
time for you to read and comprehend a book in educational philosophy than it is for you to read
and comprehend a novel.

Strategy Variables. Knowledge of strategy variable involves awareness of the strategy

you are using to learn a topic and evaluating whether this think of various strategies and try out
one to see if it will help you learn better. Terms like meta-attention and meta-memory are
related to strategy variable. Meta-attention is the awareness of specific strategies so that you
can keep your attention focused on the topic or task at hand. Meta-memory is your awareness
of memory strategies that work best for you.

These three variables all interact as you learned and apply metacognition. Omrod
includes the following in the practice of metacognition.

 Knowing three limits of one’s own learning and memory capacities

 Knowing what learning task one can realistically accomplish within a certain
amount of time.
 Knowing which learning strategies are effective and which are not.
 Planning an approach to a learning task that is likely to be successful
 Using effective learning strategies to process and learn new material
 Monitoring one’s own knowledge and comprehension. In other words, knowing
when information has been successfully learned and when it’s not.
 Using effective strategies for retrieval of previously stored information.
 Knowledge is said to be metacognitive if it is keenly used in a purposeful
manner to ensure that a goal is met. For example, a student my use knowledge in
planning how to do homework: “I know that I (person variable) have more
difficulty with my science assignments than English and find Araling Panlipunan
easier (task variable), so I will do my homework in science first, then Language
Arts, then Araling Panlipunan. (strategy variables).” If one is only aware about
one’s cognitive strengths or weaknesses and the nature of the task but does not
used this to guide or oversee his/her own learning, then no metacognition has
been applied.
Huitt believes that metacognition includes the ability to ask and answer
the following types of questions:
 What do I know about this subject, topics, issue?
 Do I know what I need to know?
 Do I know where I can go to get some information,
knowledge?
 How much time will I need to learn this?
 What are some strategies and tactics that I can used to
learn this?
 Dis I understand what I just heard, read or saw?
 How will I know if I am learning at an appropriate rate?
 How can I spot an error if I make one?
 How should I revise my plan if it is not working to my
expectation/ satisfaction?

Metacognitive Strategies to Facilitate Learning

 Researches such as that of Fang and Cox showed that metacognitive awareness was
evident in pre-schooler and in students as young as eight years old. Children already have the
capacity to be more aware and reflective of their metacognition.

The challenge then to future like you is to integrate more activities that would build
your student’s capacity to reflect on their own characteristics as learners (self-knowledge), the
task they are to do (task knowledge) and the strategies that they can used to learn (strategic
knowledge). Remember metacognition is like any other thing you will teach. Metacognition
involves knowledge and skills which you and your students can learn and master. Here are
some examples of teaching strategies now in your role as a student. It will surely be rewarding
learning experience for you.

1. Have students monitor their own learning and thinking.( Example: have a student
monitor a peer’s learning/thinking/behaving in dyad)
2. Teaching students study or learning strategies.
TQLR – This can be taught to younger students (primary grades) . it is a
metacognitive strategy before listening to a story or presentation.

T is for Tune in. It is first important for the learner himself to be aware that he is
paying attention, and that he is ready to learn.

Q is for Question. The learner is given question or he thinks of question about

what he will soon learn.

L is for Listening. The learner then intentionally exerts effort to listen. He

becomes aware if he is momentarily detracted and goes back to listen again.

R is for Remember. The learner uses ways or strategies to remember what was
learned.

PQ4R – This is usually for older students in the intermediate levels and
onwards. This strategy is used to study a unit chapter.

P-Preview. Scan the whole chapter before delving on each paragraph. Check out
the objectives. Look for outlines or advance organizer that will give you an idea
about the important topics and idea s in the chapter. Read the summary of the
chapter first. (But please don’t stop at the summary alone. No. No. No. This is
not good idea at all. Read the whole chapter!)

Q-Question. Read the guide questions provide, or think of your own question
about the topic.

R-Read. Check out sub headings as you read. Pay attention on words that are
printed in bold or italicized. Find out the meaning of words that are not cleared
to you. Use a marker or colored pencil to highlight important words or phrases.
(Do not highlight the whole paragraph!)
 R-Recite. Work on answering the question you had earlier.

R-Review. Pinpoint topics you may need to go back and read in order to
understand better.

R-Reflect. Think about what you read. Is everything clear to you? What are the
main points you learned? How is this relevant or useful to you?

3. Have students make prediction about information to be presented next based on

what they have read.
4. Have students relate ideas to existing knowledge structures. (It is important to have
relevant knowledge structures well learned).
5. Have students developed questions; ask question themselves, about what’s going
on around them (have you asked a good question today?)
6. Help students to know when to ask for help. (He/She must be able to self-monitor;
require students to show how they have attempted to deal with the problem of their
own.)
7. Show students how to transfer knowledge, attitudes, values, skills to other situations
or tasks.

Novice and Expert Learners

In the last twenty years, cognitive psychologists have studied the distinctions among
learners in the manner they absorb or process information. They are able to differentiate expert
leaners form novice learners. A very important factor that separates these two types of learners
mentioned is metacognition. Expert learners employ metacognitive strategies in learning. They
are more aware of their learning process as they read, study and do problem solving. Expert
learners monitor their learning and consequently adjust their strategies to make more effective.

The table below shows the difference between a novice learner and an expert learner.

Difference Between Novice and Expert learners

Aspect of Learning Novice Learners Expert Learners

Knowledge in different subject *Have limited knowledge * Have a deeper knowledge
areas in the different subject areas in different subject areas
because they look for
interrelationship in the
things they learned.
Problem solving *Satisfied at just scratching * First try to understand the
the surface; hurried given problem, look for
solution to the problem boundaries, and create a
mental picture of the
problem.
Learning/thinking Strategies *Employ rigid strategies *Design new strategies that
that may be appropriate to would be appropriate to the
 the task at hand. task at hand.
Selectivity in Processing * Attempt to process all * Select important
information they receive information to process; able
to breakdown information to
manage chunks
Production of output * Do not examine the *Check their error and
quality of their work, nor redirect their efforts to
stop to make revisions maintain quality output

Stop and pause a while. Are you a novice learner? Or an expert one? Strive to apply the
concepts of metacognition in your world of learning, and for sure you will be on your way to be
an expert learner, probably an expert.

Evaluation:

1. As a student, when can you say that you have reached the metacognition level of your
learning.
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2. When can we say that a teacher is implementing a learner-centered teaching?

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3. Why is metacognition considered as the highest level of learning?

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4. Are all learners capable of metacognition? Why? Why not?

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5. How can we develop metacognition among learners?

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