The Road to Achievement
Metacognition enables learners to use knowledge strategically to perform most efficiently.
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Teachers not only need to show students what to think but how to think and why they should contemplate their own metacognitive methods and become successful learners.
1. Tacit learners are unaware of their metacognitive knowledge. They do not think about any particular strategies for learning and merely accept if they know something or not.
2. Aware learners know about some of the kinds of thinking that they do such as generating ideas, finding evidence etc. However, thinking is not necessarily deliberate or planned.
3. Strategic learners organise their thinking by using problem-solving, grouping and classifying, evidence-seeking and decision-making etc. They know and apply the strategies that help them learn.
4. Reflective learners are not only strategic about their thinking but they also reflect upon their learning while it is happening, considering the success or not of any strategies they are using and then revising them as appropriate.
Metacognitive processes are internal, "executive" processes that supervise and control cognitive processes. They enable one to plan, monitor, and evaluate performance throughout the execution of a task.
Through metacognition, one can define the nature of a task or problem; select a useful mental and physical representation; select the most useful strategy for executing the task
allocate resources such as time
activate relevant prior knowledge
pay attention to feedback on how the task is proceeding
and translate feedback into improved performance, either during execution or in a plan for the future.
Metacognitive activities that are externally imposed (i.e., the teacher generates questions or dictates strategies to use for clarification) are less effective than those generated by the students themselves. Questions that students might ask themselves are simple and easy to suggest by posting them on the bulletin board:
‘What am I being asked to do?’
‘Which strategies will I use?’
‘Are there any strategies that I have used before that might be useful?’
‘Is the strategy that I am using working?’
‘Do I need to try something different?’
‘How well did I do?’
‘What didn’t go well?’ ‘What could I do differently next time?’
‘What went well?’ ‘What other types of problem can I use this strategy for?
Whereas cognitive strategies enable one to make progress--to build knowledge-- metacognitive strategies enable one to monitor and improve one's progress--to evaluate understanding and apply knowledge to new situations. Thus, metacognition is vital to cognitive effectiveness.
Sternberg (1981, 1986) outlined in detail the metacognitive skills that are essential to intelligent functioning but are rarely acknowledged or measured by standard intelligence tests. Metacognitive skills are forms of developing expertise that teachers should identify for students. Teachers must also recognize and value individual differences among students metacognitive skills.
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