Apr 15, 2012

Defintion

Metacognition is a mental process that a person uses in learning.  Metacognition is a conscious and deliberate process in which a person analyzes and manipulates their thought processes to solve problems and to achieve task. Psychologist define it as a way of thinking about thinking. Metacognition is essential in learning, gaining insight to problems, and organizing thought processes.
There are differential characteristics the various facts of metacognition; namely metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive experiences, and metacognitive skills ( Efklides, 2008).
  • Metacognitve Knowledge consist of:
    1. Declarative knowledge stored in memory
    2. Models of cognitive processes, such as language, memory and so forth
    3. Information about self and others as cognitive beings and how well tasks are accomplished
    4. Information about task, strategies, and goals
  • Metacognitive Experiences: experiences are what a person is aware of and what she or he feels when coming across a task and processing the information related to it.
  • Metacognitive Skills are the deliberate use of strategies in order to control cognition.
                                                                                                                                        (Efklides, 2008)

Usage and Application



Metacogntion is used in connecting new information to information that is already known.  There are  metacognition strategies that students use to improve higher learning. These are listed below:


"To make an individual metacognitively aware is to ensure that the individual has learned how to learn."(Garner), 1988

Planning
  1. What is the nature of the task?                                                     
  2. What is my goal?
  3. What kind of information and strategies do I need?
  4. How much time and resources will I need?
Monitoring
  1. Do I have a clear understanding of what I am doing?
  2. Does the task make sense?
  3. Am I reaching my goals?
  4. Do I need to make changes?
Evaluation
  1. Have I reached my goal?
  2. What worked?
  3. What didn't work?
  4. Would I do things differently next time?
Below is a website that can improve your learning abilility:
www.lumosity.com




                                                                                                                                     
                                                                   

Advantages and Disadvantages





                                                                             








Advantages:
  • "Metacognition enhances and enriches the learning experience"(St. Clair, n.d.)
  • "Applying metacognitive strategies such as self-awareness and self monitoring is to develop independent learners who can control their own learning and learn how to learn for life"(Papaleontiou-Louca, 2008).
  • Metacognition provides self-monitoring, which is a step-by-step process of evaluation during the learning process.
  •  Metacognition develops higher learning and problem solving skills



Disadvantages of poor metacognition:
  • Poor self-esteem
  • Difficulty in problem solving
  • Poor reading comprehension
  • Poor language and communication skills
  • Difficulty in obtaining success in society

Theories That Incorporate Metacogntion


piaget


Jean Piaget was a cognitive constructivism. He studied children as they move thogut different ages and observed they met similar stages of mental cognitive growth at different ages. His view was that children reached the next stage only after the previous stage had been mastered(Cooper, 2009). Piaget's view is that a child develops learning on his own through experiences and motivation through each stage. The child as he goes thorough the stages learns to self -regulate his knowledge. Self -regulation is a basic function of metacognition.

Stages of Cognitive Development:


Stage Age Features
Sensorimotor stage Birth to 2 years Rudimentary perceptual abilities
Reflexive movements
Inability to mentally represent unseen objects
Non-random movements in response to sensations

Pre- Operational stage 2 to 5 years Representational thought
Can make mental transformations on ideas/images
Unstructured flow of thought
Egocentric thinking *
Cannot solve conversational problems **
Difficulty with transitive relationships ***
Concrete Operations stage 5 to 11 years Has mastered the concept of conservation
Can take other's perceptual perspectives
Can perform operations on concrete ideas and objects
Cannot perform mental operations on abstract or hypothetical elements
Difficulty understanding relationships among relationships
Formal Operations stage 11 years to adult Can perform all the cognitive abilities described.
Beyond age 18 Accumulation of knowledge and skills and not the acquisition
of new cognitive abilities
                                                                                                                                        (Cooper, 2009)
The stage of Formal Operational thought is the stage in which a child is involved in thinking about thinking. Which is the definition of metacognition (St. Clair, n.d.). Metacognition begins to develop during this stage and further in life.

vygotsky Lev Vygotsky was a social constructivist. Vygotsky agreed with many of Piaget's views but believed that society influenced the development of cognition. Vygotsky believed that a child learned by guidance from adults and peers. Vygotsky's observed that when children are learning something new, the child is unable to preform the task with out guidance. Then they can do it with the assistance of an adult or an older peer and finally they can do it without assistance. The ZPD (zone of proximal development)  is the stage where they can do it assisted, but not alone. Thus the teacher often serves to guide a child as they learn something new (Cooper, n.d.).





Zone of Proximal Development
Begin of the ProcessPeriod of GrowthEnd of the Process
What you already knowWhat you are going to learnWhat you will know
Introduction of a conceptLearning the conceptEvaluation of what you have learned
Presentation of a New ToolLearning to Use the New ToolDemonstration of the Successful Use of the New Tool.
Introduction of a New ConceptLearning to Use the New ConceptSuccessful Application of the New Concept
                                                                                                                                        (St. Clair, n.d.)
 "What is important about the ZDP is that when a mentor or adult assist a child in learning, he is engaged in a metacognitive act. The mentor or adult is teaching the child how to think about thinking" ( St. Clair, n.d.).  The child  develops metacognitive skills that he learns from his mentors. Vygotsky view is that learning does not occur on it's own it is taught through socialization.
 Photo  John Flavell is considered the founding researcher in metacognition. He based many of his insights on Piaget's theories (Cooper, n.d.). "The term "metacognition" is often associated with John Flavell,(1979)"( Livingston, 1997).  "According to Flavell(1997, 1987), metacognition consists of both metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive experience or regulation(Livingston,1997). 
     
                                                                      

References

Cooper, S. (2009). Jean piaget: Genetic epistemology and cognitive constructivism. Continuing
                Education: Home Study CE Courses for Massage, Asian Body Work,& Acupuncture. 
                Retrieved from     
                http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/constructivism/piaget.html

Cooper, S.(n.d.). Theories of learning in educational psychology: Lev vygotsky; Social
               constructivism. Continuing Education: Home Study CE Courses for Massage, Asian Body 
               Work, & Acupuncture. Retrieved from
               http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/social/Vygotsky.html
                       
Cooper, S.(n.d.). Theories of learning in educational psychology: John flavell: Metacognition
                theory Continuing Education: Home Study CE Courses for Massage, Asian Body
                Work, & Acupuncture. Retrieved from
                 http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/constructivism/flavell.html
                
Efklides, A. (2008). Metacognition: Defining its facets and levels of functioning in relation to
               self-regulation and co-regulation. European psychologist 2008, 13(4)
               doi:10.1027/1016-9040.13.4.277
               https://ezproxy.una.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie&db=pdh&AN=epp-13-4-277&site=ehost-live

Livingston, J. A. (1997). Metacognition: An overview. Retreievd from
                http://gse.buffalo.edu/fas/shuell/cep564/Metacog.htm
      
Papaleontiou-Louca, E. (2008). Metacognition and theory of mind. Retrieved from
                http://www.c-s-p.org/flyers/9781847185785-sample.pdf

St. Clair, R.N., (n.d.). Metacognition and teaching of grammatical concepts. University of
               Louisville. Retrieved 4/12/2012 from
               http://epistemic-forms.com/FacSite/Articles/metacognition-teaching-grammar.html