Metacognition and Learning Strategies

Donald is studying for an upcoming exam. He does a number of things to prepare for the exam, four of which are listed below. Three of these illustrate metacognition. Which one reflects very little metacognitive activity?

• He periodically tests himself to see if he is sufficiently prepared for the exam.

• He allows himself adequate study time for the exam.

• He identifies a suitable mnemonic technique that will help him remember a difficult piece of information.

• He focuses his eyes on the first page of his textbook.

Three of the following are characteristics of self-regulated learning. Which one is not necessarily a characteristic associated with self-regulated learning?

• Wanting to learn something even though there is no external reward for learning it

• Working hard to achieve the instructional objectives the teacher has described

• Figuring out how best to use the time one has to accomplish a particular learning task

• Trying to focus one’s attention on the task at hand

Three of the following are examples of comprehension monitoring. Which one is not?

• After reading a chapter in a textbook, Dwayne makes sure he has accomplished the objectives presented on the chapter’s first page.

• Annette looks at all the headings and subheadings in a chapter before she begins to read the chapter itself.

• Cara stops at the end of each section to see if she can summarize what she’s just read.

• Bruce asks himself questions about the material he is reading and tries to answer them.

Maps, matrixes, and historical time lines help students learn by facilitating:

• Use of mnemonics

• Organization

• Self-regulated learning

• Rote learning

When students summarize material they are studying, they learn it more thoroughly. Which one of these students is most effectively summarizing?

• Laura writes down everything she can remember from the lesson.

• Nora writes each main point on a separate index card and then jots down all the details she can remember about each one.

• Jerry writes down the important ideas and identifies relationships among them.

• Phyllis lists the general themes of a lesson in five or six words.

Which one of the following pairs of students best illustrates a difference with respect to students' epistemic beliefs?

• Julie likes going to school because that's where she sees her friends every day, but Janette likes going to school because of all the new things she learns there.

• Loren is well aware of the criteria his teacher is using to evaluate his classroom performance, but Luke is clueless about why he's doing poorly in the same teacher's class.

• Irene thinks that doing well in high school is important for getting into a good college, but Isabelle thinks that she can get into college with mediocre grades as long as she has high SAT scores.

• Keith thinks that learning chemistry is a process of memorizing symbols and formulas, but Kareem thinks that chemistry involves trying to understand the nature of elements and compounds.

Considering trends in metacognitive development, only one of the following statements is accurate. Which one?

• Learners of all ages generally know the things they know and the things they don’t.

• Students across the K-12 grade span often think they know things that they really don’t know.

• Students tend to know a great many things that they don’t realize they know.

• Elementary students have a better sense of what they do and don’t know than high school students do.

Intentional learning, as described in the textbook, would be most important for which one of the following learning tasks?

• Learning how to spell words that violate common English letter-sound relationships (e.g., the term hors d’oeuvre)

• Revising previously inaccurate understandings of scientific phenomena

• Learning that performance on classroom tests is usually better if one studies a little bit every night rather than cramming at the last minute

• Learning how to ask grammatically correct questions in the English language

Three of the following are possible reasons that many students don't use effective learning and study strategies. Which one is not a reason that theorists have offered?

• For some students, things learned at a rote level stay with them longer than things learned meaningfully.

• Students think strategies involve too much time and trouble.

• Students have insufficient knowledge about a topic to use such strategies effectively.

• Students believe they won't learn no matter what they do.

Research indicates that study skills training is most likely to be effective when:

• Students focus on learning one specific study strategy.

• Students focus on learning facts rather than on developing higher-level thinking skills.

• Students have little or no background in the topic they are studying.

• Students are given reasons why certain study techniques are helpful.