Metacognition Challenge

Warning: ​fastest hands do not always win. Prudence might seem the best bet. But then no risk no gain. Luck goes to the one who endeavour.

​Metacognition Challenge

​Hint: Choose the best answer.

Multiple Choice

What is metacognition?

• Thinking about where to learn

• Thinking about what to learn

• Thinking about how to learn

• Thinking about when to learn

Multiple Select

Which of the following are part of metacognition?

• Control

• Awareness

• Regulate

• Monitor

• Surrender!

Multiple Select

Teachers should acquire the professional understanding and skills to develop their pupils’ metacognitive knowledge.

Which of the following are the metacognitive knowledge that we need to know about for any learning task:

• when is the best time to undertake the task (knowledge of the time)

• this particular type of activity (knowledge of the task).

• what strategies are effective and available (knowledge of strategies)

• our own abilities and attitudes (knowledge of ourselves as a learner)

When undertaking a learning task, we start with this knowledge, then apply and adapt it. This is metacognitive regulation. It is about planning how to undertake a task, working on it while monitoring the strategy to check progress, then evaluating the overall success. The diagram opposite represents the metacognitive regulation cycle. This is not a one-off process of discrete steps, but an ongoing cycle. As you progress through the task applying your metacognitive and cognitive skills, you update your metacognitive knowledge (of yourself, strategies, and tasks), as well as updating your subject knowledge and skills.

Multiple Select

What are the best questions to ask that reflect metacognition?

• What skills did I use in the task last week that I can re-use in this task

• When have I met a similar problem? What helped me solve it?

• How many possible ways could I do this? Which one will work best for me....why?

• What steps did you take to get to that answer? Which one led me to the wrong answer?

• Sorry, I am lost....

Multiple Select

Why do we need to teach students about Metacognition?

• So they can get good grades.

• So they can be more effective learners.

• So they can be self-directed learners.

• So they can be more resistance.

Multiple Select

Explicitly teach pupils metacognitive strategies.

Which following is/are metacognitive strategies?

• Executing

• Planning

• Monitoring

• Evaluating

• Adapting

​Encouraging pupils to think about the goal of their learning (set by the teacher, or themselves) and to consider how they will approach the task; this includes ensuring they understand the goal, activate relevant prior knowledge about the task, select appropriate strategies, and consider how to allocate their effort

Planning

Monitoring

​Emphasising the need, while undertaking the learning task, for pupils to assess the progress they are making; this includes the self-testing and self-questioning activities that are necessary to control learning, and making changes to their chosen strategies;

Evaluating

​Appraising the effectiveness of their plan and its implementation.

Multiple Select

How should teachers teach metacognitive strategies?

Which of the following teaching actions can be used to explicitly teach metacognition strategies to different subject content.

• Modelling of learned strategy

• Independent practice

• Explicit strategy instruction

• Structured reflection

• Activating prior knowledge

Multiple Select

Which of the following is/are misconception about metacognition?

• Metacognition is a general skill that can be separated from subject knowledge

• Metacognition is only developed in older pupils.

• Metacognition represents ‘higher order’ thinking and is therefore more important than mere cognition or subject knowledge.

• You can easily teach metacognitive knowledge and strategies in discrete ‘thinking skills’ lessons