Metacognition:
Essential Knowledge and Skills for
Expert Learning
Karl WirthMacalester College
InTeGrate Webinar
17 November 2015
• What do you MOST wish your students understood about their own thinking and learning?
Reflective Prompt
The Goal of Higher Education is…
“to help college students become Intentional
Learners who can adapt to new environments,
integrate knowledge from different sources, and
continue learning throughout their lives.”
Greater Expectations(2002 AAC&U Report)
Intentional Learners
Greater Expectations(2002 AAC&U Report)
Becoming an intentional learner means: developing self-awareness about the reason for study, the learning process itself, and how education is used.
Intentional learners are integrative thinkers who see connections in seemingly disparate information to inform their decisions.
Intentional Learners are Self-Directing
Savin-Baden and Major (2004)
Self-directing learners are highly
motivated, independent, and strive toward
self-direction and autonomy. They take
the initiative to diagnose their learning
needs, formulate learning goals, identify
resources for learning, select and
implement learning strategies, and
evaluate learning outcomes.
Learning for the 21st Century
Knowledge
Competencies
Character
Met
acog
nitio
n
Trilling and Fadel (2009)
• creativity & innovation• critical thinking• communication• collaboration
• relevant and engaging• applicable• integrative• to support higher thinking
• adaptability• persistence• integrity• ethics
Workshop Goals• Define the terms metacognition, self-regulated learning,
and motivation.
• Describe why self-regulated learning is critical for student success.
• Give examples of activities that target specific elements of metacognition and self-regulated learning in students
• Analyze metacognitive activities in small groups and consider how to implement one for your InTeGrate module or course.
How can we make this happen?
Metacognition Involves Reflection
• What kind of problem is this?
• What is the best strategy for solving it?
• How will I know if I solved it correctly?
• How could I do it better next time?
• What additional information do I need?
• What use is this new information?
• How can I use my new understanding to
solve different kinds of problems?
Pedagogical Challenge
• Metacognition is a “self-imposed internal conversation”
• Shown to improve transfer (Bransford et al. 2000)
• Easily assumed that students are doing it, or can develop on own; both assumptions are wrong
• Challenge is to keep students in constant contact with their metacognition
• Instruction must be explicit (Pintrich, 2002)
Geologic Time
Personal Resources• Prior Knowledge• Available Strategies
Task Requirements• Type of Learning Task• Appropriate Strategies
Expert Learners - Knowledge
Modified from Ertmer and Newby (1996)
Metacognitive Knowledge(declarative, procedural, conditional)
PersonalResources
Prior KnowledgeAvailable Strategies
TaskRequirements
Type of LearningAppropriate Strategies
Expert Learners – Self-Regulation
Evaluate Monitor
Plan
Metacognitive Control(self-regulation)
Metacognitive Knowledge(declarative, procedural, conditional)
PersonalResources
Prior KnowledgeAvailable Strategies
TaskRequirements
Type of LearningAppropriate Strategies
Modified from Ertmer and Newby (1996)
Schoenfeld (1987)
Solving a ProblemElapsed Time (mins)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Read
Analyze
Explore
Plan
Implement
Verify
Experts
Elapsed Time(mins)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Read
Analyze
Explore
Plan
Implement
Verify
Novices
Expert Learners - Affect
Evaluate Monitor
Plan
Metacognitive Control(self-regulation)
Metacognitive Knowledge(declarative, procedural, conditional)
PersonalResources
Prior KnowledgeAvailable Strategies
TaskRequirements
Type of LearningAppropriate Strategies
GoalsBeliefs
AttitudesMotivation
Modified from Ertmer and Newby (1996)
Affect – Beliefs About Intelligence• “fixed” versus “growth”
theories of intelligence
• Affects motivation to learn and persistence
• Students taught study skills and brain plasticity outperform control groups
Dweck’s “Fixed” vs “Growth” Mindsets
• avoid challenges
• give up easily
• see effort as fruitless
• ignore feedback
• be threatened by success of others
• embrace challenges
• persist in face of setbacks
• see effort as path to mastery
• Iearn from criticism
• find lessons and inspiration in success of others
REGULATION
Metacognitive: awareness and regulation of learning strategies
Effort: ability to persist with learning in face of challenges/difficulties
EXPECTANCY
Self-Efficacy: self-appraisal in ability to master tasks
Control of Learning: belief that efforts will result in learning/performance gains
VALUE
Intrinsic Goal Orientation: a student’s perception that tasks will help achieve a personal goal
Task Value: how a student views the importance/value of a task
Incoming Motivation & PerformanceValue
Expectancy
Regulation
GARNET ProjectStudents in the lowest quartile of performance generally have the lowest incoming value, expectancy, and self-regulation; opposite those in highest quartile
Expert Learners - Reflection
Evaluate Monitor
Plan
Reflection
Metacognitive Control(self-regulation)
Metacognitive Knowledge(declarative, procedural, conditional)
PersonalResources
Prior KnowledgeAvailable Strategies
TaskRequirements
Type of LearningAppropriate Strategies
GoalsBeliefs
AttitudesMotivation
Reflection Reflection
Reflection
Modified from Ertmer and Newby (1996)
Metacurriculum for Metacognition
Activity Knowledge or Skills
Knowledge Surveys Goal-setting, Monitor. & Eval.
Reading Reflections Reflection & Monitoring
Learning Reflections Refl., Monitoring & Evaluation
Critical Thinking Strategies for Thinking
Exam Wrappers Evaluation & Goal-setting
How I Earned an “A” Goal-setting & Monitoring
Knowledge Surveys:
Goal-Setting, Monitoring, and Self-Assessment
Example Knowledge Survey ItemsItems Level
I can write a definition of a mineral? Remember
I can describe the cooling of a basaltic magma using Bowen’s Reaction Series. Understand
I can calculate the relief of a region. Apply
I can compare the generation of melts along convergent and divergent plate boundaries. Analyze
I can evaluate three potential sites for a landfill. Evaluate
I can construct a model of the origin of a suite of rocks from a layered intrusion. Create
1) I don't know the answer2) I know some of answer3) I know the answer
Goal-Setting Self-Assessment
Knowledge Surveys:
• Introduced by Nuhfer (1993, 1996)
• Content & skill objectives of course
• Span levels of thinking (Bloom levels)
• Students indicate knowledge/ability
Survey Items
KS Results - Individuals
Knowledge Survey & Exam Results
Results (by item) of pre-course (orange) and pre-exam I (blue) knowledge surveys. Full scale = “I can provide an answer.”
Mineralogy Knowledge Survey
“Map” of Learning for Dynamic EarthPre-Course Survey
Stu
dent
s
Survey Items
Pre-Course Survey
Pre-Exam I Survey
Pre-Exam II Survey
Pre-Exam III Survey
“Map” of Learning for Dynamic Earth
Average responses to knowledge survey questions before (2000-2003 courses) and after (2005) an intervention. Interventions were made to the units on crystallography and x-ray mineralogy.
Assessing Interventions
Utility of Knowledge SurveysCourse Design
Clarification of course objectives and structureImproved organization and preparation
StudentsFull disclosure of course objectives and expectationsStudy guideFormative assessment toolDevelopment of self-assessment skills
InstructorsAssessment of learning gainsCourse assessmentAssessment of instructional practices
ProgramsProgram ObjectivesStudent Learning
Learning Reflections:
Supporting Learning withReflection-in-Action
Reflecting on Learning• What are the three most important things
you have learned so far? How do they contribute insights in other areas?
• Describe the learning strategies that you are using. How might they be adaptedfor more effective learning?
• How does learning in this course relate to other courses? Other aspects of your life?
Critical Thinking:
Tools and Dispositions for Reflection
Reading Reflections:
Reflection and Monitoring
Reading and Reflecting
Reading Reflections:• Completed after each reading assignment
• Short responses to a few questions
• Submitted online before class
• Credit awarded for “reflective” submissions
• What is the main point of this reading?• What did you find surprising? Why?• What did you find confusing? Why?
Exam Scores in Micro-Economics
Effect Size = 0.71 (Large)
Course Grades in Intro Geology
Wrappers:
A Structured Reflection-on-Action
Exam “Wrapper”
Achacoso (2004)Lovett (2008)
1. Exam Re-do
2. Reflection
• Self Evaluation
• Preparation Strategies
• Performance Analysis
• Planning
Exam Preparation
Exam “Wrapper” Results
Study Strategies
Analysis of Errors
Learning Reflection:
Goal-Setting
Planning and Goal-Setting
The Art of Possibility (Zander and Zander, 2000)
Journal Activity:Write a letter describing what you accomplished in this course. The letter should be dated for the end of the semester and written in the past tense. Tell me what you did, how you did it, and how your thinking and understanding changed.
Begin your letter with:I earned an “A” in this course because…
Knowledge
Skill
Character
If Lifelong Learning is Our Goal…
why do so many of our courses look like this?
Knowledge
Skill Character
Metacognition
…. we should be doing something like this
Considering:
• Ertmer & Newby’s (1996) model of expert learnering, and
• the examples metacognitive activities
How might you implement a metacognitive activity to improve student learning in an InTeGrate module or a course?
Reflective Prompt
Reflection and closing thoughts…?
Reflection & LearningDimension Description
Habitual ActionMinimal thought and engagement; memorization is emphasized; correlated with surface learning; tasks treated as unrelated activities; an attitudinal state of non-reflectiveness
Understanding
Focuses on comprehension without relation to one’s personal experience or other learning situations; book learning that is understanding-oriented; learning stays within boundaries of preexisting perspectives
Reflection
Learning is related to personal experience and other knowledge; involves challenging assumptions, seeking alternatives, identifying areas of improvement; active engagement; characteristic of deep approaches to learning
Critical or Intensive Reflection
Highest level of reflective learning; learners are aware of why they think, perceive, or act as they do; as a result, learner likely alters or changes firmly held personal beliefs and ways of thinking
Modified from Mezirow (1991) and Kember et al. (2000)