02 Metacognition

CLARENDON COLLEGE
Odiong, Roxas, Oriental Mindoro
Course / Course Code Facilitating Learner-Centered Teaching (PEC4)

Lecturer JENNIFER A. SIÑEL
Module No. & Title Module 2: Metacognition
Required Reference Bulusan, F., Raquepo, M., Balmeo, M., Gutierrez, J. Facilitating
Material of the Student Learner-Centered Teaching (2019). Rex Book Store, Inc.
A. Introduction
Metacognition is such a long word. What does it mean? You will find this out in this module. It is the first
module so you get to understand and apply it from the beginning of this learning module.
B. Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, the students shall be able to:

1) explain metacognition in your own words; and
2) apply metacognitive strategies in your own quest for learning as a novice or an expert learner.
C. Topics
oMetacognitive Variables
oMetacognitive Strategies to Facilitate Learning
D. Learning Activities
o Book Reading: Chapter 2 (pages 17-28)
oGuided Lecture and Discussion (Video)
E. Lecture Notes
What Is Metacognition?
Metacognition refers to awareness of one’s own knowledge—what one does and doesn’t know—and
one’s ability to understand, control, and manipulate one’s cognitive processes (Meichenbaum, 1985). It
includes knowing when and where to use particular strategies for learning and problem solving as well as how
and why to use specific strategies. Metacognition is the ability to use prior knowledge to plan a strategy for
approaching a learning task, take necessary steps to problem solve, reflect on and evaluate results, and
modify one’s approach as needed. Flavell (1976), who first used the term, offers the following example: I am
engaging in Metacognition if I notice that I am having more trouble learning A than B; if it strikes me that I
should double check C before accepting it as fact.
Cognitive strategies are the basic mental abilities we use to think, study, and learn (e.g., recalling
information from memory, analyzing sounds and images, making associations between or
comparing/contrasting different pieces of information, and making inferences or interpreting text). They help an
individual achieve a particular goal, such as comprehending text or solving a math problem, and they can be
individually identified and measured. In contrast, metacognitive strategies are used to ensure that an
overarching learning goal is being or has been reached. Examples of metacognitive activities include planning
how to approach a learning task, using appropriate skills and strategies to solve a problem, monitoring one’s
own comprehension of text, self-assessing and self-correcting in response to the self-assessment, evaluating
progress toward the completion of a task, and becoming aware of distracting stimuli.
Elements of Metacognition
Researchers distinguish between metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation (Flavell, 1979,
1987; Schraw & Dennison, 1994). Metacognitive knowledge refers to what individuals know about themselves
Learning Module in Facilitating Learner-Centered Teaching. Clarendon College. All rights reserved. 5|P a g e
as cognitive processors, about different approaches that can be used for learning and problem solving, and
about the demands of a particular learning task. Metacognitive regulation refers to adjustments individuals
make to their processes to help control their learning, such as planning, information management strategies,
comprehension monitoring, de-bugging strategies, and evaluation of progress and goals. Flavell (1979) further
divides metacognitive knowledge into three categories:
 Person variables: What one recognizes about his or her strengths and weaknesses in learning and
processing information.
 Task variables: What one knows or can figure out about the nature of a task and the processing
demands required to complete the task—for example, knowledge that it will take more time to read,
comprehend, and remember a technical article than it will a similar-length passage from a novel.
 Strategy variables: The strategies a person has “at the ready” to apply in a flexible way to successfully
accomplish a task; for example, knowing how to activate prior knowledge before reading a technical
article, using a glossary to look up unfamiliar words, or recognizing that sometimes one has to reread a
paragraph several times before it makes sense.
Livingston (1997) provides an example of all three variables: “I know that I (person variable) have difficulty
with word problems (task variable), so I will answer the computational problems first and save the word
problems for last (strategy variable).”
Components of Metacognition
Metacognition is divided into three components:
 Metacognitive knowledge. Metacognitive knowledge refers to the awareness individuals possess
about themselves and other people as cognitive processors.
 Metacognitive regulation. Metacognitive regulation, on the other hand, has to do with people’s control
over cognition and learning experiences through a set of methods that help people regulate their
learning.
 Metacognitive experiences. Metacognitive experiences involve cognitive efforts that are currently
taking place.
Types of Metacognitive Knowledge

The metacognitive knowledge component of metacognition is divided into three different types of knowledge:
 Declarative knowledge. Declarative knowledge refers to the factual information that we know, and can
both be spoken or written. This is also the knowledge about ourselves as learners and about what
factors can influence our performances.
 Procedural knowledge. Procedural knowledge refers to information on how to do something or how to
perform the procedural steps that make up a task. A high degree of procedural knowledge allows us to
perform tasks more automatically through a variety of strategies
 Conditional knowledge. Conditional knowledge refers to the knowledge about when to use a
procedure, skill, or strategy or when not to. Such knowledge allows us to assign optimal resources for
various tasks.
Skills in Metacognitive Regulation

There are three important skills in metacognitive regulation:
 Planning. Planning involves suitable selection of strategies and the right assignment of resources.
 Monitoring. Monitoring includes awareness of understanding and task performance.
 Evaluating. Evaluating refers to the assessment of the final result of a task and the efficiency carried
out during task performance.
Metacognitive Experiences
Metacognitive experiences are those experiences that have something to do with the current, ongoing
cognitive endeavour. Metacognitive experiences usually precede or follow a cognitive activity. They often occur
when cognitions fail, such as the recognition that one did not understand what one just read. Such an impasse
is believed to activate metacognitive processes as the learner attempts to rectify the situation.
Metacognition, or the ability to control one’s cognitive processes (self regulation) has been linked to
intelligence (Borokowski et al., 1987, Brown, 1987, Sternberg, 1984, 1986). Sternberg refers to these
executive processes as “Metacomponents in his triarchic theory of control, other cognitive components as well
as receive feed back from these components. According to Sternberg, metacomponents are responsible for
“figuring out how to do a particular task or set of tasks, and then
making sure that the task or set of tasks are done correctly” (Sternberg,
1986). These executive processes involve planning, evaluating,
monitoring and problem solving activities. Sternberg maintains that the
ability to appropriately allocate cognitive resources, such as deciding
how and when a given task should be accomplished is central to
intelligence.
Flavell (1979) offered a model of Metacognition (as shown in
the figure on the right) with four components.
 Metacognitive knowledge
 Metacognitive experience
 Goals (tasks)
 Actions (strategies)
Why Teach Metacognitive Skills?

Research shows that metacognitive skills can be taught to students to improve their learning (Nietfeld &
Shraw, 2002; Thiede, Anderson, & Therriault, 2003).
Constructing understanding requires both cognitive and metacognitive elements. Learners “construct
knowledge” using cognitive strategies, and they guide, regulate, and evaluate their learning using
metacognitive strategies. It is through this “thinking about thinking,” this use of metacognitive strategies, that
real learning occurs. As students become more skilled at using metacognitive strategies, they gain confidence
and become more independent as learners.
Individuals with well-developed metacognitive skills can think through a problem or approach a learning
task, select appropriate strategies, and make decisions about a course of action to resolve the problem or
successfully perform the task. They often think about their own thinking processes, taking time to think about
and learn from mistakes or inaccuracies (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 1995). Some
instructional programs encourage students to engage in “metacognitive conversations” with themselves so that
they can “talk” with themselves about their learning, the challenges they encounter, and the ways in which they
can self-correct and continue learning.
Moreover, individuals who demonstrate a wide variety of metacognitive skills perform better on exams
and complete work more efficiently—they use the right tool for the job, and they modify learning strategies as
needed, identifying blocks to learning and changing tools or strategies to ensure goal attainment. Because
Metacognition plays a critical role in successful learning, it is imperative that instructors help learners develop
metacognitively.
What’s the Research?

Metacognitive strategies can be taught (Halpern, 1996), they are associated with successful learning
(Borkowski, Carr, & Pressley, 1987). Successful learners have a repertoire of strategies to select from and can
transfer them to new settings (Pressley, Borkowski, & Schneider, 1987). Instructors need to set tasks at an
appropriate level of difficulty (i.e., challenging enough so that students need to apply metacognitive strategies
to monitor success but not so challenging that students become overwhelmed or frustrated), and instructors
need to prompt learners to think about what they are doing as they complete these tasks (Biemiller &
Meichenbaum, 1992). Instructors should take care not to do the thinking for learners or tell them what to do
because this runs the risk of making students experts at seeking help rather than experts at thinking about and
directing their own learning. Instead, effective instructors continually prompt learners, asking “What should you
do next?”
McKeachie (1988) found that few college instructors explicitly teach strategies for monitoring learning.
They assume that students have already learned these strategies in high school. But many have not and are
unaware of the metacognitive process and its importance to learning. Rote memorization is the usual—and
often the only—learning strategy employed by high school students when they enter college (Nist, 1993).
Simpson and Nist (2000), in a review of the literature on strategic learning, emphasize that instructors need to
provide explicit instruction on the use of study strategies. The implication for ABE programs is that it is likely
that ABE learners need explicit instruction in both cognitive and metacognitive strategies. They need to know
that they have choices about the strategies they can employ in different contexts, and they need to monitor
their use of and success with these strategies.
Recommended Instructional Strategies

Instructors can encourage learners to become more strategic thinkers by helping them focus on the
ways they process information. Self-questioning, reflective journal writing, and discussing their thought
processes with other learners are among the ways that teachers can encourage learners to examine and
develop their metacognitive processes.
Fogarty (1994) suggests that Metacognition is a process that spans three distinct phases, and that, to
be successful thinkers, students must do the following:
1. Develop a plan before approaching a learning task, such as reading for comprehension or solving a
math problem.
2. Monitor their understanding; use “fix-up” strategies when meaning breaks down.
3. Evaluate their thinking after completing the task.
Instructors can model the application of questions, and they can prompt learners to ask themselves
questions during each phase. They can incorporate into lesson plans opportunities for learners to practice
using these questions during learning tasks, as illustrated in the following examples:
 During the planning phase, learners can ask, What am I supposed to learn? What prior knowledge
will help me with this task? What should I do first? What should I look for in this reading? How much
time do I have to complete this? In what direction do I want my thinking to take me?
 During the monitoring phase, learners can ask, How am I doing? Am I on the right track? How should
I proceed? What information is important to remember? Should I move in a different direction? Should I
adjust the pace because of the difficulty? What can I do if I do not understand?
 During the evaluation phase, learners can ask, How well did I do? What did I learn? Did I get the
results I expected? What could I have done differently? Can I apply this way of thinking to other
problems or situations? Is there anything I don’t understand—any gaps in my knowledge? Do I need to
go back through the task to fill in any gaps in understanding? How might I apply this line of thinking
to other problems?
The goal of teaching metacognitive strategies is to help learners become comfortable with these strategies
so that they employ them automatically to learning tasks, focusing their attention, deriving meaning, and
making adjustments if something goes wrong. They do not think about these skills while performing them but, if
asked what they are doing, they can usually accurately describe their metacognitive processes.
F. Assessments
 Ask lecturer for details.

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CLARENDON COLLEGE

Odiong, Roxas, Oriental Mindoro

Course / Course Code Facilitating Learner-Centered Teaching (PEC4)

At the end of the lesson, the students shall be able to:

Types of Metacognitive Knowledge

Skills in Metacognitive Regulation

Why Teach Metacognitive Skills?

What’s the Research?

Recommended Instructional Strategies

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