Fostering Metacognition in K-12 Classrooms: Recommendations for Practice

This article makes the case for why it is important for educators to intentionally foster students’ metacognition. Metacognition is often defined as thinking about thinking, but it is more complete to describe it as including knowledge, awareness, and control of one’s own cognition and human cognition in general. Two primary components of metacognition, knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition, are presented and described with regard to learning contexts. Metacognition grows as part of cognitive development and can also be further enhanced through instruction at all levels of schooling. Research that indicates metacognition can be increased through instruction and is associated with academic achievement is reviewed. Steps for embedding metacognition instruction are described and principles for incorporating metacognition instruction into classroom instruction are presented. Metacognition instruction, including strategy instruction, may be either implicit or explicit, and can and should be incorporated into typical classroom instruction

Fostering Metacognition in K-12 Classrooms: Recommendations for Practice

This article makes the case for why it is important for educators to intentionally foster students’ metacognition. Metacognition is often defined as thinking about thinking, but it is more complete to describe it as including knowledge, awareness, and control of one’s own cognition and human cognition in general. Two primary components of metacognition, knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition, are presented and described with regard to learning contexts. Metacognition grows as part of cognitive development and can also be further enhanced through instruction at all levels of schooling. Research that indicates metacognition can be increased through instruction and is associated with academic achievement is reviewed. Steps for embedding metacognition instruction are described and principles for incorporating metacognition instruction into classroom instruction are presented. Metacognition instruction, including strategy instruction, may be either implicit or explicit, and can and should be incorporated into typical classroom instruction

Elaborative Rehearsal: An Examination of Usage, Perceptions of Utility, and Differences in Metacognition and Test Performance

This action research study explored the use of elaborative rehearsal as an intervention and examined differences in metacognition and test performance among college students in a general psychology course. Metacognitive processes are crucial for adequate comprehension. Students often come into college having very little metacognition, knowledge about different strategies, different cognitive tasks, and sometimes even accurate knowledge about how they learn (Pintrich, 2002). Common metacognition strategies are note-taking, summarizing, finding main ideas, writing to learn, self-questioning, outlining, previewing, reflecting, reciting and reviewing (Kisac & Budak, 2014). Elaborative rehearsal is a metacognitive learning strategy that encompasses many of these components. Unfortunately, at the time this research was conducted there were minimal studies investigating it independently. This paper provides a thorough review of the literature, grounded in the theoretical framework of cognitive constructivism, information processing, and metacognition. The methodologies used were a mixed-method design, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative measures providing an in-depth examination. The results of this study not only provide additional research to the small body of literature currently available for elaborative rehearsal but also offers insight into the use and utility of this learning strategy from the student perspective

Practices from Lecturers’ and Undergraduate Students’ Perspectives in the Faculty of Education at a University in Saudi Arabia

Many studies evidence the importance of metacognition in successful learning. Metacognitive skills improve the academic outcomes of learners. Additionally, metacognitive skills build lifelong learning skills, which are transferable to employment and other contexts. As such, developing metacognition in students is of great value to universities as society as a whole. This study explores the perceptions of lecturers and student teachers in a College of Education at a University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) regarding the presence and promotion of metacognitive skills at the University in which the study took place. The study spanned three departments in the College, namely Kindergarten, Special Education, and Art Education. The study employs an interpretive research approach and case study methodology to gather this rich understanding of lecturers’ and students’ perceptions. Data were collected from twelve lecturers and twelve undergraduate students through a combination of lecture room observations, semi-structured interviews, and group interviews. The most significant finding emerging from this study is the lack of lecturer participants’ knowledge regarding metacognition generally. My study found that skills such as planning, monitoring, and evaluating skills were sometimes present in their teaching, but were not used to engage students in thinking metacognitively or developing their own metacognitive abilities. I found that metacognition was not present consistently or intentionally in lecture rooms. The findings further exposed some obstacles which could inhibit the promotion of metacognition in higher education in KSA. For example, traditional methods of rote learning were shown to discourage metacognitive thinking. Large student numbers and lecturers’ lack of time could prohibit lecturers from investing in teaching metacognitive skills to their students. Students’ apathy towards anything other than memorising facts to pass examinations and acquire grades could also demotivate them to learn valuable skills like metacognition without comprehensive changes to educational norms. The study identified multiple ways in which metacognition could be promoted in higher education in KSA. For example, diversifying teaching practices to include more active learning methods such as discussion and questioning would be more effective than the current prevalent method of lecturing and learning by memorising. Lecturers could role-model metacognitive skills to their students by incorporating metacognition into their own practice, and thus incorporate it into existing courses. Students could be motivated to develop metacognitive skills by discovering the benefits to them of metacognition on both their academic success and their future careers. The study’s findings supported the importance of including metacognition in higher education and advocating it to students as a valuable skill. Thus, there is a need to establish mechanisms or frameworks for integrating metacognition into higher education in KSA, and communities of practice which support the development of metacognitive skills among lecturers and student teachers who will be the teachers of tomorrow. I therefore offer a model with recommendations for practical uptake to expedite this, and support it with this study's evidence

Does cognition matter? Current pedagogical practice and the need for reform

Recent debate in the educational sphere highlights the continuing dilemma that is the creation and implementation of a true 21st century classroom in secondary schools across Australia. A difficulty with these ongoing attempts to reform teaching and learning is the behaviourist educational paradigm through which Western schools operate. This traditional perspective influences the ways in which modern researchers, policy-makers, teachers and the wider community all conceptualise education and its purpose. As such, this paper aims to establish that this understanding of education needs to be overthrown, in light of a changing global context and the evolving needs of students. Thus, an alternative paradigm will be discussed, specifically with reference to the explicit and effective incorporation of metacognition and metacognitive strategies, which are conducive to lifelong learning. For such a teaching and learning focus to become a reality, however, the re-training of needs of educators would be extensive, as would be the restructuring of pre-service teachers’ programs. This paper therefore aims to establish the need for future research into education programs, as well as the current ability of teachers to incorporate further skills and instruction into their pedagogical practice. Such evidence would contribute to the ongoing discussion surrounding the creation and application of modern schooling practices

Socioscientific decision making in the science classroom: the effect of embedded metacognitive instructions on students' learning outcomes

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of cooperative training strategies to enhance students' socioscientific decision making as well as their metacognitive skills in the science classroom. Socioscientific decision making refers to both “describing socioscientific issues” as well as “developing and evaluating solutions” to socioscientific issues. We investigated two cooperative training strategies which differed with respect to embedded metacognitive instructions that were developed on the basis of the IMPROVE method. Participants were 360 senior high school students who studied either in a cooperative learning setting (COOP), a cooperative learning setting with embedded metacognitive questions (COOP+META), or a nontreatment control group. Results indicate that students in the two training conditions outperformed students in the control group on both processes of socioscientific decision making. However, students in the COOP+META condition did not outperform students in the COOP condition. With respect to students' learning outcomes on the regulation facet of metacognition, results indicate that all conditions improved over time. Students in the COOP+META condition exhibited highest mean scores at posttest measures, but again, results were not significant. Implications for integrating metacognitive instructions into science classrooms are discussed

The effects of musical feedback training on metacognition and self-directed learning

IntroductionMetacognition and self-directed learning are key components in educational research, recognized for their potential to enhance learning efficiency and problem-solving skills. This study explores the effects of musical feedback training on these competencies.MethodsThe study involved 84 preservice teachers aged 18 to 21. Participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental group, which received musical feedback training, or a control group.ResultsThe findings indicate that musical feedback training effectively improved metacognitive abilities. However, its impact on the readiness for self-directed learning was inconclusive. A notable difference in metacognition and self-directed learning readiness was observed between the experimental and control groups during the session, indicating a significant interaction effect. Furthermore, a positive correlation was identified between metacognition and self-directed learning.DiscussionThese results contribute to educational discourse by providing empirical evidence on the utility of musical feedback training in fostering metacognition. They also highlight the importance of consistent and long-term engagement in self-directed learning practices. The significance of these findings advocates for incorporating music feedback training into music education curricula to enhance metacognition and improve overall learning efficiency

Learning as a permanent innovation: advances on studies of the intellect

Even though research shows that incorporating metacognition-based pedagogy into the classroom leads to improved student performance, educators\u27 grasp of the concept remains limited. It is argued that educators would benefit from a deeper familiarity with the metacognitive approach if they worked with students to foster a belief that education has the potential to inspire a lifelong curiosity for discovery and improvement. This article therefore provides a synthesis of the analysis of the outcomes of implementing metacognition-based pedagogical approaches (N = 83), published between 2016 and 2021. Researchers looked into teachers\u27 conceptualizations and implementations of pedagogical strategies in order to comprehend the factors that stimulate students\u27 perceptions of innovation. From these studies, we can infer that the learner experiences, perceives, and comprehends the new information as an integral part of himself, rather than as an imposition from without. The findings led to the presentation of five hypotheses about how educators can improve their practice by learning more about students\u27 perceptions, cognitive experiments, and interpsychic and intrapsychic social relations