Metacognition

Draft

Definition

Metacognition is strongly related to learning theory

• Metacognition = thinking about one's thinking processes. It has to do with the active monitoring and regulation of cognitive processes. (Unesco Learning without frontiers)

• Metacognition plays an important role in student's learning strategies:
  • More technically, metacognition is the ability to evaluate one's own comprehension and understanding of subject matter and use that evaluation to predict how well one might perform on a task ([1])
  • This is the process where the student takes conscious control of the learning.The learner thinks about how he is thinking in a cognative sense. For example, the learner is using metacognition if he realizes that he is having more trouble learning how to complete a fraction problem than a multiplication problem. (Monica Schott, Rich Environments for Active Learning)
  • An awareness and understanding of how one thinks and uses strategies during reading and writing ([2])

Metacognition types

“"Metacognition" is often simply defined as "thinking about thinking." In actuality, defining metacognition is not that simple” (Livingston)

Flavell's typology

According to Flavell (1979, 1987) cited by Livingston (1977), metacognition consists of both metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive experiences or regulation.

(1) Metacognitive knowledge according to Livingston (1977):

1. Knowledge of person variables: general knowledge about how human beings learn and process information, as well as individual knowledge of one's own learning processes
2. Knowledge of task variables: knowledge about the nature of the task as well as the type of processing demands that it will place upon the individual.
3. Knowledge of strategy variables: knowledge about both cognitive and metacognitive strategies, as well as conditional knowledge about when and where it is appropriate to use such strategies

(2) Metacognitive regulation according to Livingston (1977):

Metacognitive strategies are sequential processes that one uses to control cognitive activities, and to ensure that a cognitive goal (e.g., understanding a text) has been met.

Metacognition vs. cognition

Metacognition is defined as "thinking about thinking" and therefore not the same as an ordinary cognitive strategy or learning strategy, even if it is not always easy to separate them conceptually.

“Cognitive strategies are used to help an individual achieve a particular goal (e.g., understanding a text) while metacognitive strategies are used to ensure that the goal has been reached (e.g., quizzing oneself to evaluate one's understanding of that text). 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.” (Livingston, 1977).

A definition by an example

(in french)

Partons d'un exemple pour tenter de mieux comprendre la notion de stratégie métacognitive. L'élève qui prend des notes lors d'un cours oral va mettre en oeuvre des stratégies cognitives qui lui permettront de transcrire le message oral sous une forme synthétique en veillant à dégager les idées principales, les liens entre ces idées, la structure d'ensemble du discours...

A l'issue de la prise de notes interviendra, pour certains élèves, ce qu'on appelle un jugement métacognitif qui consiste à évaluer si les notes dont on dispose sont suffisantes pour préparer l'examen. Suite à un jugement négatif à ce niveau, va se mettre en place une phase de régulation métacognitive qui aboutira à identifier différentes stratégies cognitives susceptibles d'améliorer l'état des notes: revoir ses notes pour en améliorer la structuration, compléter ses notes à partir des notes d'un condisciple ou d'un enregistrement sonore du discours du professeur, consulter des ouvrages sur le sujet.

Comme l'illustre cet exemple, l'idée de "méta" qui accompagne le qualificatif cognitif fait référence au fait que les stratégies cognitives vont conduire à porter un jugement ou à réguler l'application des stratégies cognitives. Si on accepte ce rôle de contrôle continu des processus cognitifs joué par les stratégies métacognitives, on comprend aisément pourquoi on accorde aujourd'hui autant d'intérêt à ce type de stratégies.

(Depover & et al.)

Can metacognition be taught ?

Today, most learning theorists believe that otherwise similar students with better metacognitive abilities are likely to be better learners. Therefore there is a logical interest for instruction of metacognitive strategies.

"While there are several approaches to metacognitive instruction, the most effective involve providing the learner with both knowledge of cognitive processes and strategies (to be used as metacognitive knowledge), and experience or practice in using both cognitive and metacognitive strategies and evaluating the outcomes of their efforts (develops metacognitive regulation). Simply providing knowledge without experience or vice versa does not seem to be sufficient for the development of metacognitive control" (Livingston, 1996).

DSchneider (from this own personal experience) would add that exposition to situations that require metacognition must be repeted.

• See Cognitive Strategy Instruction for an instructional design model.

Links

• Wikipedia: Metacognition

References

• Brown, A. L. (1987). Metacognition, executive control, self-regulation, and other more mysterious mechanisms. In F. E. Weinert & R. H. Kluwe (Eds.), Metacognition, motivation, and understanding (pp. 65-116). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

• Depover Christian, Bruno De Lièvre, Jean-Jacques Quintin, Filippo Porco et Cédric Floquet. Quelques concepts clés issus du modèle cognitiviste, dans Les modèles d'enseignement et d'apprentissage.

Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34, 906-911.

Flavell, J. H. (1987). Speculations about the nature and development of metacognition. In F. E. Weinert & R. H. Kluwe (Eds.), Metacognition, Motivation and Understanding (pp. 21-29). Hillside, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

• Livingston, Jennifer A. (1977), Metacognition: An Overview HTML (retrieved 11:46, 24 May 2006 (MEST)).