What is Metacognition?

Metacognition is simply “thinking about one’s own thinking.”

Psychologist John Flavell introduced the word metacognition in the 1970’s.

Although he didn’t use the word metacognition, Plato emphasized the importance of reflecting through dialogue.

John Dewey, often considered the father of progressive education, viewed reflection as a central part of learning.

Piaget demonstrated children’s ability to verbalize the processes they used in completing a task and the ways in which they were aware of their thinking. He called this “consciousness of cognizance,” which relates closely to metacognition.

Vygotsky further explored these ideas in his research about the process of verbalizing internal thoughts as a way to make sense of something. Articulating inner thoughts out loud not only helped students learn, but demonstrated awareness of the learning process, also closely tied to metacognition.

Metacognition is broken down into two distinct but interrelated areas:

Metacognitive knowledge –awareness of one’s thinking,reflecting on what we know

Metacognitive regulation – the ability to manage one’s own thinking processes, directing our learning

3 Kinds of Metacognitive Knowledge

Awareness of knowledge

Awareness of thinking

Awareness of thinking strategies

Awareness of Knowledge

Understanding what one knows, what one does not know, and what one wants to know. For example:“I know that I understand that plants need sunlight but I do not know why.” This category also includes awareness of others’ knowledge.

Awareness of Thinking

Understanding cognitive tasks and the nature of what is required to complete them. For example:”I know that reading this newspaper article will be easier for me than reading my textbook.”

Awareness of Thinking Strategies

Understanding approaches to directing learning. For example: “ I am having difficulty reading this article. I should summarize what I just read before going on.”

Metacognitive Regulation:3 Ways We Direct Our Own Learning

Planning approaches to tasks Monitoring activities during learning Checking outcomes

Planning Approaches to Tasks

Identifying the problem, choosing strategies, organizing our thoughts, and predicting outcomes.

Monitoring Activities During Learning

Testing, revising, and evaluating the effectiveness of our strategies.

Checking Outcomes

Evaluating the outcomes against specific criteria of efficiency and effectiveness.

Strategies for Metacognitive Learning

Predicting outcomes Evaluating work Questioning by the teacher Self- assessing Self- questioning Selecting strategies Using directed or selective thinking Using discourse Critiquing Revising

Reference:

Annenberg Foundationwww.learner.org