Metacognition and Learning Strategies

Metacognition

• Metacognition is knowledge and skills about one's own cognitive processes and how strategies can be used to improve learning and memory
• Includes declarative knowledge (what to do), procedural knowledge (how to do it), and self-regulatory knowledge (when and why to use it)
• Essential metacognitive skills include planning, monitoring, and evaluating
• Individual differences exist in metacognitive abilities, with skills improving throughout childhood and adolescence
• Researchers highlight several principles: students need exposure to various strategies, understanding the conditional use of strategies, desire to use skills, recognizing the value of strategies and strong background knowledge for effective use of strategies.

Different Learning Strategies

• Deciding what is important is crucial in learning to focus attention
• Summarizing, underlining, and highlighting are common but sometimes ineffective study strategies
• Taking notes is key, requiring selecting, organizing, transforming, and recording information from working memory
• Problem solving involves formulating new solutions beyond simple application of learned rules
• Understanding the problem requires focus on relevant information, accurate interpretation of the words and concepts, and activation of appropriate schema.

Four Different Ways to Represent a Problem

• Translation and schema training (direct instruction on schemas, worked examples)
• Worked examples and embodied cognition
• Results of problem representation

Searching for Possible Solution Strategies

• Algorithms are step-by-step procedures for achieving a goal
• Heuristics are general strategies that might lead to the correct answer

Problems with Heuristics

• Availability heuristics: judgments influenced by readily available information in memory
• Belief perseverance: clinging to beliefs even faced with contradictory evidence
• Confirmation bias: actively searching for information that confirms existing beliefs.

Experts' Knowledge and Problem Solving

• Experts know what is important, recognizing patterns and organizing information
• Procedural knowledge and strategic application of prior knowledge are used for solution strategies
• Effective planning and monitoring for problem solving are necessary

Critical Thinking

• Critical thinking involves questioning, analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, and judging information
• Critical thinking skills include defining the problem, evaluating information, and drawing conclusions

Constructivism / Constructivist Approach

• Emphasizes the active role of learners in constructing their understanding of information
• Constructivism is a philosophical approach, not a learning theory
• Central ideas are active construction of knowledge and the role of social interaction in this process.

Social Constructivism

• Views learning as participating in knowledge construction with others, especially in culturally meaningful situations
• Emphasizes the role of language, culture and social interactions in the development of knowledge and intellectual thought.

How Is Knowledge Constructed?

• Types of knowledge construction include external, internal, and a combination of both, as well as situated learning
• Individuals use information, resources, and help from others to build understanding

Complex Learning Environments and Authentic Tasks

• Complex learning relies on collaboration, respect for differing perspectives, and building shared meaning
• Multiple representations of content and spiral curriculum are important aspects of complex learning
• Constructivism emphasizes student awareness of their role in knowledge construction
• Effective assumptions for designing learning environments include prior knowledge, and cognitive/behavioral understanding of learners.

Scaffolding and Inquiry

• Scaffolding refers to support teachers provide to students as they learn
• Includes contingency support, fading, and transferring responsibility
• Inquiry involves a problem, hypotheses testing, and reflecting
• Different approaches include procedural, epistemic, and conceptual inquiry
• Different problem solving tasks (e.g., ill-structured or highly structured) may call for distinct pedagogical approaches.

Cognitive Apprenticeships and Reciprocal Teaching

• Cognitive apprenticeship involves observation, support, conceptual scaffolding and reflection
• Reciprocal teaching encourages students to understand and deeply process what they read
• Applying reciprocal teaching includes summarizing, questioning, clarifying and predicting.

Collaboration, Group Work, and Cooperative Learning

• Collaboration, group work, and cooperative learning have differing characteristics and purposes
• Collaboration is cooperative work to reach a shared goal
• Different types of cooperative learning include: student teams achievement divisions, jigsaw, and others.
• Cooperative learning improves many skills, such as cognitive skills, social skills and interpersonal skills.

Designs for cooperation

• Reciprocal questioning, Jigsaw, constructive / structured controversies.

Designing Learning Environments in a Digital World

• Technology and learning: active engagement, frequent interaction, realistic connections, and group work
• Virtual learning environments (VLEs) support individualized learning and online peer interaction
• Examples include learning management systems (LMS) and personal learning environments (PLEs)

Media/Digital Literacy

• Todays' literacy includes understanding and using diverse mediums in addition to printed words
• The flipped classroom model reverses traditional lesson structures

Motivation in Learning and Teaching

• Motivation drives actions and behaviors
• Forms of motivation include intrinsic (natural human tendency to seek and conquer)
• Extrinsic (doing something for grades, avoiding punishment, or pleasing the teacher)
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs, self-determination theory—competence, autonomy, relatedness- are significant considerations for fostering effective motivation.
• Goal orientations affect intrinsic and extrinsic motivation levels

Self-Determination: Need for Competence, Autonomy, and Relatedness

• Self-determination theory focuses on competence, autonomy, and relatedness to foster motivation
• Goal acceptance and expectancy-value-cost explanations are factors affecting student motivation
• Attribution theories, beliefs about knowledge, ability, and self-worth significantly influence motivation

Teacher Attributions Trigger Student Attributions

• Teacher beliefs and attributions can affect student motivation and performance
• Mindsets (fixed vs. growth), learned helplessness, and self-handicapping are influential factors
• Teacher's actions can result in student-level failure or success. This is contingent on teaching style and practices.

Students' Motivation to Learn

• Students' motivation and attitudes are influenced by factors like anxiety, interest, and task design
• Effective teaching requires recognizing students' individual needs and varying conditions that motivate students to learn.

Authentic Tasks and Problem-Based Learning

• Authentic tasks are relevant to student lived experiences
• Authentic tasks promote deeper learning through problem solving and critical thinking
• Strategies for support and choice are crucial to student's engagement and motivation
• Grouping, cooperative learning, teacher roles and behaviors can influence student learning

Classroom Management

• Effective classroom management creates positive learning environments
• Teacher awareness and proactive strategies are helpful to address varied behaviors and meet student needs

Diversity and Culturally Responsive Management

• Culturally responsive management acknowledges and respects cultural backgrounds
• Warm demanders exhibit high expectations and caring while being culturally responsive.

Explore the concepts of metacognition and effective learning strategies necessary for academic success. This quiz covers essential skills such as planning, monitoring, and evaluating one's cognitive processes, as well as various learning techniques. Test your understanding of these principles key to improving memory and learning outcomes.